THE GOSPEL FAITH MISSION INTERNATIONAL (GOFAMINT)
GOFAMINT DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING COVERED MONDAY 08/04/2019 - SUNDAY 14/04/2019
LESSON 7, 14/4/2019
CONSISTENT LIVELY FAMILY ALTAR
Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 1, 25Devotional Reading: Eph. 6:10-18
Topic For Adults: The Family That Prays Together, Stays Together
Topic For Youths Topic: Making Daily Family Altar Lively
Topic For Intermediate: Strengthened Through The Daily Family Altar
Lesson Scriptures: Jer. 33:1-3,; Prov. 1:10, 28-33; Acts 1:12-14
MEMORY VERSE: “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mk. 1:35) NKJV
DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING
MON. 8/4/2019 AN ALTAR FOR DIVINE ENCOUNTER GEN. 35:1-7; PROV. 4:20-23
Simply put, an altar is a place of spiritual encounter, where the creature meets with theCreator. It is a place where the mortal meets with the immortal for spiritual renewal,
instructions, and divine guidance. An altar is a place of communion with God. God desires
us to make an altar for Him. The question is, do you have an altar for God in your family?
The altar built in Bible times were made of stones. Today, the altar that would be acceptable
to God will be the altar of your heart! What or who do you have in your heart, God or
Satan? For your altar to attract divine visitation, be holy and pure, do away with idols or
foreign gods, give God your prompt and total obedience and don’t go back to your idols
again. God is willing to abide on the altar of your heart, only if you will allow Him.
Point of Emphasis: God is willing to abide on the altar of your heart, only if you will allow Him.
Prayer Point: Heavenly Father, continue to make my heart and life Your dwelling place in Jesus’ name.
Reading the Bible through in a Year: Jer. 12-14
TUE. 9/4/2019 CONQUER WITH THE TOTAL ARMOR OF GOD EPH. 6:11-17
The world we are in is a world of battle. This battle is a very fierce one 24/7 and withoutbreak or truce. Everyone on earth is engaged in this battle and no one can be neutral. The
battle is fiercer when you are a Christian. The word of God in the passage for this morning
devotion enjoins us to put on the whole or total armor of God; and this is because we
wrestle against invisible but formidable and highly organized powers of evil. These evil
powers are categorized as: principalities; powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in
high places. We can conquer or overpower these evil powers only when we put on the total
armor of God which includes: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the
helmet of salvation, the word of God and prayer. One of the places to do so is in the place of
effective, lively and consistent family altar.
Point of Emphasis: Use your family altar to put on the total armor of God.
Prayer Point: Father, I receive the grace to put on Your total armor from now on in Jesus’ name.
Reading the Bible through in a Year: Jer. 15-17
WED. 10/4/2019 CREATE ADEQUATE TIME FOR PRAYER 1 THESS. 5:17-22
One of the much talked-about but much neglected means of grace is prayer. The place ofprayer in the life and family of a Christian cannot be overemphasized. The family altar is a
place where the family is expected to meet with God on daily basis, both in the word and
prayers. It is a place to commit the day to the Almighty God, reject the things that are worth
rejecting and claim those that are worth of claiming. Negative dreams or revelations are to
be cancelled in prayers and positive ones are to be claimed and prayed into manifestation in
the place of the family altar. It is in the consistent and effective family altar that children
born into the family are brought unto salvation and trained in the art of prayers. Families
with effective, lively and consistent family altar have built intercessors around themselves.
Your family altar should not be a sleeps arena.
Point of Emphasis: Don’t turn your family altar to a sleep arena, rather use it for prayers.
Prayer Point: Father, turn every request I make in my family altar to testimony in Jesus’
name.
Reading the Bible through in a Year: Jer. 18-20
THUR. 11/4/2019 MAKE YOUR FAMILY ALTAR LIVELY DEUT. 6:4-13
There are families where the family altar has become inconsistent, inactive anduninteresting. To make the family altar an interesting and lively one, each member of the
family should have a role to play. For example, while the mother leads the opening prayer,
one of the children may lead the choruses; the Bible passage may be read verse by verse by
other members of the family, while the father may then lead the devotion. In a place where
the father or mother is the only one doing everything without involving others, members of
the family may feel left out and disinterested. The word of God and prayers should also be
given the place of preference in the family altar. You will give place to dozing and sleeping
when you don’t engage other members of the family in the family altar.
Point of Emphasis: To make the family altar an interesting and lively one, each member of the family should have a role to play in it.
Prayer Point: Heavenly Father, raise intercessors and teaching priests in my family through
our family altar in Jesus name.
Reading the Bible through in a Year: Jer. 21-23
FRI. 12/4/2019 DON’T RUSH OUT WITHOUT MEETING GOD MK. 1:32-35
A lot of things happen in our world on daily basis. Many of such daily happenings are bothnegative and unpalatable. Sometimes, children of God are also involved in such evil
occurrences and as a result, they suffer the negative consequences of such evils. It is true
that men can be guided, instructed and delivered from such evil occurrences if they have
taken time to meet with God in the word and in prayers before venturing into their activities
for the day. It is also true that when we make our family altar a consistent one, the
Almighty God will be there waiting to meet with us and give us divine guidance for our
daily activities. Only foolish people go out daily without consulting their maker for instructions as to what is to be done for the day. Don’t rush out without meeting God. You will not rush into evil in Jesus’ name.
Point of Emphasis: The Almighty God is daily waiting to meet you at the family altar, don’t fail to keep your appointment with Him.
Prayer Point: By your grace oh Lord; create a consistent spirit in my family members to always meet you at our family altar.
Reading the Bible through in a Year: Jer. 24-26
SAT. 13/4/2019 FAMILY ALTAR: THE HOME CHURCH FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY PROV.22:3-6
Since it is called the family altar, then every member of the family must be involved in it.There are instances when parents think their children are too young or immature to be
involved in the family altar. They think that the children cannot add anything meaningful to
the devotion and they should be left sleeping and not to be disturbed while the father,
mother and their grown children would go for the family altar. Experiences have shown that
babies can hear even while in the womb, hence, no child is too young to be involved in the
family altar. The family altar should be a place of fellowship and a mini-church for the
entire family. It is what you train your children to be that they will grow up to be. Your
family altar can be used to raise committed workers for the church of God, if handled
rightly.
Point of Emphasis: It is what you train your children to be that they will grow up to be.
Prayer Point: Father, let my family altar be a training ground for all members of my family in Jesus’ name.
Reading the Bible through in a Year: Jer. 27-29
SUN. 14/4/2019 GOD ANSWERS PRAYER WITHOUT DELAY ISA. 58:1-8, 65:23-24
The only constraint to a Christian’s prayer is sin. God hates hypocrisy, conforming to theways of the world and neglecting the way of God. Anyone who indulges in sin always
experience doom. Let every member of your family keep to God righteous command and
abstain from things that are abominable to God. Sin and wickedness in the life of any
Christian puts a barrier and obstacles to his or her prayer. He that promised to answer
prayer is faithful. He says in verse 24 that “before they call, I will answer”. Take every request
to God in prayer. He will answer you.
Point of Emphasis: God answers prayers without delay if it is done in righteousness.
Prayer Point: Our Lord and God answer our prayer concerning (name them) in this family.
Reading the Bible through in a Year: Jer. 30-32
BACKGROUND
One of the Christian virtues that have been cultivated and held in very high esteemby successful Christians through the ages is meeting God daily in the place of the family
altar. It is at the family altar that divine guidance and instructions for the activities of the
day are received. Believers have testified to how successful their daily activities have been
when they maintained a consistent family altar with God. The reverse was the case when
they failed to make use of the privilege of the family altar. The lesson of this week is aimed at waking believers to making their family altars both consistent and lively, just as the
patriarchs of faith have done.
NOTES ON THE TEXT
PART 1: CONSISTENT LIVELY FAMILY ALTAR: A NECESSITY – JER. 33:1-3
The family altar is a place of spiritual traffic. It is a place where the entire familycongregate on daily and regular basis to meet with God. It should be a place of meeting with
God to receive divine leading, guidance and direction. It is a place for the family to draw
divine strength to face the day and the challenges of life, as well as to receive divine power
to live and sail through the day without fear and without sinning. A child of God who
ventures into the day without asking from God is not better than a goat. This is because a
goat goes out at the break of day without acknowledging its owner or receiving directive
from him. Many children of God have rushed into avoidable negative situations and
circumstances simply because of their inability to tell God about their movements. The
Bible enjoins us to redeem the day, because they are full of evil. How can we do that when
we fail to meet with God daily in the place of the word and prayers? However, as important
as the family altar is, there are families that have totally neglected the art of joint fellowship
with God at the family altar. The family altar should be a virtue that should be cultivated by
every Christian family. How consistent is your own family altar?
Jeremiah 33:3 shows God’s readiness to answer prayer not only for the people of
Israel and Judah but every Christian family that prays He will restore us to peace, prosperity
and spiritual wholeness.
PART 2: AGENTS OF INCONSISTENT FAMILY ALTAR - PROV. 1:10, 28-33
The benefits of a consistent and lively family altar cannot be overemphasized. It is atthe family altar that we draw power and strength to face the rigors of a new day. The family
altar prepares us to meet God on daily basis. It provides divine leading, guidance and
instructions; and it also grants the privilege of daily fellowship to the whole family.
However, many things are responsible for the inconsistent daily family altar in the homes of
many saints. Some of which are: (1) irregular time of gathering: In some homes, there is no
specific time for the daily family altar. When the father is ready, the mother is still sleeping.
This leads to discouragement and the altar is sometimes forsaken and forgotten altogether.
(2) Uncooperative spouses or children: When someone is leading and the other members of
the family are not following, it is no longer a family altar but an individual thing. When this
persists, the other person may lose interest in it. (3) Turning the family altar to a one-man
show: Perhaps it is only the man or the woman that is always leading and doing everything
at the family altar while other members are not involved. Maybe the only thing the other
members of the family have to do is to echo “Amen and Hallelujahs”, and then the altar
becomes boring and lacks interest. How is your own family altar? Is it a one-man show and
a place of monologue with no dialogue? Probe yourself and ask from your family why they
are too disinterested and unresponsive in your family altar.
The family members should resist every agent responsible for inconsistent family
altar in their family. They should develop a close relationship with God by nurturing their
spirit man through prayer and studying the word of God. They must know that disregarding
consistent family altar will bring tragic and unpleasant result to their family (Prov. 28:26).
PART 3: MAKING YOUR FAMILY ALTAR LIVELY – ACTS 1:12-14
We are all aware that the listening span of young children is very short. The way theparents handle the family altar will, therefore, contribute to a large extent to their responses
to the family fellowship. Some of the points suggested hereunder can help you to make your
family altar lively and interesting to the entire family. (a) Acknowledge the presence of God:
In every gathering of the saints, we must acknowledge that the Almighty God is present
with us, either we see Him or not. This should be taught and communicated to every
member of the family. (b) Have regular time for family altar: maintaining a regular time for
the family altar shows our seriousness to it. Whatever the time the family has chosen should
be maintained as God will already be there waiting for you. (c) involve every family
member: It is called family altar for a purpose and as such, every member of the family
should be involved whenever we gather for the altar. While the man, who is the head of the
family, is expected to act as the priest of the family and in teaching the Bible to the family;
the wife who is his subordinate could lead prayers, the children could take turn leading the
worship or praises and the Bible could be read by the family verse by verse. It is true that
when every member of the family is involved, the family altar will be both lively and
interesting and as a result, everyone will look forward to it on daily basis. (d) Give time to
Bible reading and prayers: The family altar should be the first Bible school for every member
of the family, hence adequate time should be given to its teaching. Likewise, prayers must
be offered to God to internalize the lessons learnt and to commit the family to the able
hands of the Almighty God. Remember that when the family altar is lively and interesting,
there will be no reason for its inconsistency.
Every family member should know that those who wish their family the outpouring
of the Spirit to scale through the hurdles of life have the responsibility to commit themselves
to meet with God always. Family members can re-enact the Pentecost experience by their
self-devotion to the Lord.
CONCLUSION
The daily family altar could be the first place your children would hear the gospel ofthe Lord Jesus Christ that is able to save their souls, and how better for them to hear it from
you as their father or mother. As the parents and leaders they look up to, your action will go
a long way to shapen their interest or disinterest in the things of God. Handle your family
altar with all the seriousness and importance it demands and you will always see God in
action.
QUESTIONS
1. In your own words, define the family altar.2. Looking at your own family altar, how consistent and lively is it?
3. What are those factors making your family altar not interesting and inconsistent?
4. What are the action points you gained from this teaching that can help you make your family altar vibrant, lively, interesting and consistent?
5. What should your family do to receive the outpouring of God’s power to overcome problems in life?
6. What benefits are you deriving from your consistent family altar?
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