Covid-19??: An Urgent Call To Revive Our Family Altars??!

“A family altar will alter your family”-Anonymous

There have been a lot of conspiracy stories around the Covid-19 pandemic but I have chosen to see this pandemic in another light. I believe strongly that this critical time is meant to revive our family altars and bonding. In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, I want to emphatically say that the family altar is actually a place to alter the situation of things around us. The only force that can be strong enough to destroy the evil intentions of all these conspiracies is the fire from our family altars. I repeat, the only antidote to the conspiracy theories and hidden intentions of evil people in high places is the fire from our family altars!

 Whether it is the 5G conspiracy, Covid-19 conspiracy, New order conspiracy, Mark of the beast conspiracy or Chinese Supremacy conspiracy, they all have one antidote that God want to use in this end time, which is the family altar.

Unknown to the people in high places behind these conspiracies, they taught they can only achieve their sinister goal by keeping people indoors when actually God's plan is to keep people indoor and use the fire from their family altars to destroy the root of all the conspiracies!

God has a grand plan to use the fire from our family altars to alter the situation of things in the world. Somebody once asked me: “Pastor, where do we go from here when churches and mosques are closing up every day? My answer was very simple: God wants us to return to that which cannot be closed up and that is our ‘family altars’. Our core enemy presently is anything that pushes us to relegate our family altars, as God wants us to return to His original plan which has always been the family altar.

In this perilous times, when churches and mosques are closing down, we must now fall back on our family altars. It is now becoming glaring that our family altars and not religious altars are actually our spiritual backbone. This is a time to go back to our family altars; a time to reconnect back to God and teach our children godly principles. No church can be stronger than the sum of the family altars it represents!

This Corona Virus crisis is a call to revive our family altars. Many families have dead or non-existing family altars because our spiritual leaders have not been putting a high premium on family altars. Pastors and parents are sometimes culprits in the deterioration of the fire on our family altars due to their consistent negligence of the family altar. In this time that we are, Pastors are to emphasize the importance of family altars and not keep harping on the issues of mobile offerings and tithes. When the family altar is strong, it will unfailingly reflect on sacrificial giving.

For many Christian families, spiritualities are meant for the Church alone; all prayers, teachings and worship must be only in the Church. In many of these families, there has been the abdication of godly leadership, family worship and spiritual leadership. Many heads of family have abdicated their responsibilities to pastors and prophets, and in a way, that has become so sympathetic and appalling. Many men of God refuse to put this error in proper perspective as they are actually beneficiaries of dilapidated family altars.

A man of God that is profiting from people’s dependence on him will not be so much perturbed about dysfunctional family altars.

God is speaking to families through this Covid-19 crisis to go back to repair and revive their family altars. The family that will stay together must first pray together. Parents must take up their priestly roles in the lives of their children. Parents must know that they are the first prophet in the lives of their children. If there is one thing that will determine how far we will go in this turbulent times, then it is our family altars. This difficult time will put a serious demand on our family altars.

What is a Family Altar? It means a particular time or place set aside for your family to fellowship together. This is the time to pray and share the word of God together as a family. It is also a time to praise God and count our blessings. You can even extend it to a time to share testimonies, God’s goodness and Holy Communion with one another. If you really want to confront issues that border on your family’s peace and stability, then you must have a vibrant family altar. One of the most important things you can do to secure the spiritual atmosphere in your home is establish a place of corporate prayer. It is only through the family altar that spiritual exercises like prayer, teaching, praise and worship can be introduced into our homes. In other words, the family altar is church in the home.

Our children are being fed with junks from the internet, social media and negative peer influence because parents are not taking their places in the lives of their children. Until we take our rightful places as parents, our children will continuously be displaced. Pornography, masturbation and sexting are satanic habits that have taken roots under the family roof because parents are not sensitive enough to the spiritual needs of their wards. Family devotions and African values have been substituted with African magic!

The Altar connotes a place of intimacy and communion with God. Abraham was called the friend of God because of the way he related with God through his family altar. What made the difference was his attitude to the family altar. Genesis 18:19 captured it succinctly on how Abraham put the highest premium on the family altar: “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” As a parent, can God trust your commitment to your family altar?

The physical world can be controlled from your prayer altar. The progress, peace and tranquility you desire in your home in this challenging times can be gotten from the prayer altar. The key to raising our children in the Faith is the household. For too long, parents have delegated both the time and task of religious practice to the Church. We lose in the lives of our children when we fail in our responsibility of having a vibrant family altar at home.

Do you have an altar in your house? I do not mean a pile of stones or an altarpiece, but rather a family altar where you can reflect on your commitment to the Lord, educate your children in the faith and seek the salvation of your family. If you do not have it, I encourage you to get one. If you already had one but not vibrant, then revive it. Don’t be unfortunate in this perilous time with a dysfunctional altar! Don’t expect the church or another person to do what God has called and equipped you to do. Disciple your family.

If you are not together in one place as a family, then bring in technology like Zoom or engage the family on WhatsApp. Bring creativity and fun through your family altars, do not allow it to be taken over by boredom and routine. You can even play games, like interactive games and memorizing bible verses. Make it a delightful, happy, interesting time filled with enthusiasm so that the whole family looks forward to it with real expectancy. Do not make it so long that the children despise the time it takes. Better have it short and sweet, vital and satisfying, so their appetites hunger for more.

Make it more dynamic and full of life rather than a dull, repetitive one. Make it more inclusive for the children and give everybody a platform to express their spiritual needs. Be sensitive to your children’s attention spans as we often lose them when this is not taken into consideration. Most times, children are present physically but are no longer mentally and emotionally available when we drag the devotion more than necessary. Do not spend time in criticizing or gossiping on your family altars - it is not a place to judge others but rather to share love. It is a place to solve problems and not to criticize others.

You can make it morning and evening. Make the evening devotion more reflective to review the day, to confess where we have failed, and to give thanks where we have succeeded.

 Generally, the family altar fosters unity, harmony and love in the family. It creates an atmosphere for miracles, signs and wonder in the family. Family altar is a great avenue to hear God and get direction for the family. The benefit of family altar cannot be over emphasized. Do not trivialize or look down on the family altar. Every believer who desires to have a home that will be Heaven on earth should not neglect the family altar. You must fight for your family if your family must take flight!

In this time of Covid-19, stay strong, stay united as a family and stay safe.

Please join the Hashtag #ReviveYourFamilyAltar on Social media and share this piece with your loved ones!

 “Real casualties are people that are casual with their family altars”-Gbenga Adebambo