THE FORCE OF FAMILY PRAYER

         Paul of old declared to Timothy:  "This know also, that in the last
days perilous times shall come."  He said nothing of atomic bombs or
intercontinental missiles or death-dealing submarines.  Rather, the
times shall be perilous because "men shall be lovers of their own selves,
...blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,...without
natural affection,...despisers of those that are good."  (2 Timothy 3:l-3).

         Honesty, character, and integrity do not come of legislation or
police action.  Only as we build back into the fiber of lives the virtues
that are the essence of true civilization will the pattern of our times
change.  That building process must begin in the homes of the people.
It must begin with recognition of God as our Eternal Father and of our
relationship to him as his children, with communication with him in
recognition of his sovereign position, and in supplication for his guidance
in our affairs.

         Prayer, family prayer in the homes of this and other lands, is one
of the simple medicines that would check the dread disease that has
eroded the fiber of our character.  It is as simple as sunshine and would
be as effective in curing our malady.  We could not expect a miracle in a
day, but in a generation we would have a miracle.

         I feel satisfied that there is no adequate substitute for the morning
and evening practice of kneeling together--father, mother, and children.
This, more than heavy carpets, more than lovely draperies, more than
cleverly balanced color schemes, is the thing that will make for better
and more beautiful homes.   In remembering together before the Lord
the poor, the needy, and the oppressed, there is developed, unconsciously
but realistically, a love for others above self, a respect for others, a desire
to serve the needs of others.  One cannot ask God to help a neighbor in
distress without feeling motivated to do something toward helping that
neighbor.  What miracles would happen in the lives of the children of
America, and of the world, if they would lay aside their own selfishness
and lose themselves in the service of others.  The seed from which this
sheltering and fruitful tree may grow is best planted and nutured in the
daily supplications of the family.   I know of no better way to inculcate
love for country than for parents to pray before their children for the
president and the congress or the queen and the parliament of the land
of their citizenship.

         On billboards in some of our cities a statement read, "A nation at
prayer is a nation at peace."  I believe this.  I hope this is more then a
catchy motto.  I am satisfied that we shall not have peace unless and
until we request it in the name of the Prince of Peace.

         I know of nothing that will ease family tensions, that in a subtle
way will bring about the respect for parents which leads to obedience,
that will affect the spirit of repentance which will largely erase the blight
of broken homes, than will praying together, confessing weaknesses
together before the Lord, and invoking the blessing of the Lord upon
the home and those who dwell there.

         I have been impressed by a statement made by James H. Moyle,
who wrote to his grandchildren concerning the family prayer of his own
home:  "We have not gone to bed before kneeling in prayer to supplicate
divine guidance and approval.  Differences may arise in the best governed
families, but they will be dissipated by the spirit of prayer...Its very
psychology tends to promote the more righteous life among men.  It tends
to unity, love, forgiveness, to service."

         We have reached the tragic point in our history where evidently
we cannot invoke the blessings of God in our schools, but we can pray
in our homes.  The family is the unit of society.  The praying family is
the hope of a better society.

         Some time ago I was touched by the heartbreaking statement of
a young missionary in Japan.  He said, "I have been here for months.  I
can't learn the language.  I dislike the people.  I am depressed by day
and weep at night.  I wrote my mother and pleaded for an excuse to
return home.  I have her reply.  She says: 'We're praying for you.  There
is not a day passes that all of us do not kneel together in the morning
before we eat, and in the evening before we retire, and plead with the
Lord for his blessing upon you.  We have added fasting to our prayer,
and when your younger brothers and sisters pray they say, "Heavenly
Father, bless Johnny in Japan and help him to learn the language and
do the work he was called to do."'"

         This young man then went on to say through his tears, "I will try
again.  I will add my prayers to theirs and my fasting to their fasting."

         Four months later he wrote a letter in which he said, "A miracle
has happened.  The language has come to me as a gift from the Lord.
I have learned to love the people in this beautiful land.  God be thanked
for the prayers of my family."

         Can we make our homes more beautiful?  Yes, through addressing
ourselves as families to the source of all true beauty.  Can we strengthen
our society and make it a better place in which to live?  Yes, by
strengthening the virtue of our family life through kneeling together
and supplicating the Almighty in the name of his Beloved Son.

         This simple practice, a return to family worship, spreading across
the land and over the earth, would in a generation largely lift the blight
that is destroying us, and it would restore integrity, mutual respect, and
a spirit of thankfulness in the hearts of the people.

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