A young married man had been awakened and happily converted, who lived in a fashionable quarter of New York City. He determined he would never be ashamed of his Lord, and said to himself: “Now, I must obey God and honor Him in my family. I must set up family worship.”
Composing the household was his fashionable young wife and a worldly-minded sister. The tempter immediately suggested: “Wait; don’t be in a hurry; not tonight; you never prayed in your life. Wait and learn first.” No, he must pray now. That night was the time. He did not know what his wife would say, nor his sister, but his purpose was fixed.
Going into the library, he asked his wife if she would object to his reading the Bible and praying, having informed her he had been converted. With great politeness she said: “Certainly not, if it is your pleasure.” He sat down and read a portion of Scripture, then kneeled down to pray, while both wife and sister sat upright, looking on. He cried out in the earnestness of his soul, and soon the two hearts heretofore uninterested began to be moved. First his young wife, yielding, got down beside him, and put her arm about his neck, crying. Immediately the sister knelt on the other side weeping. As he prayed the Lord moved upon both sister and wife, and there was a homemade anew by the grace of God. And family prayer was ever afterward kept up in that home.
What if this young husband had never had the courage to take up family prayer, or had refused what his conscience approved? Would such results have taken place?