Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1836-03-08
PARENTS DEPARTMENT.
From HILLS Lectures on the Religious Education
of Children.

;aEANs.on which the most reliance is to be
placed, in course Of effort to bring up chill
dren in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. The first and most important is
prayer. Without this, all others must fail.
The prayer Of faith may, alone, be attended
with the most important resul's. Prayer IS
the moral lever, by which the devoted saint
may move the world. 1t is that means which
God most frequently blesses to the spiritual
good of those who are destitute of religious
feelings. The elFectual fGrvent prayer OF
the righteous mail availc;h much with God.
Prayer "gives exercise to filth and love,
Brings every blessing from above"
What man is there amongst you, who if
his son ask bread, will he give him stone !!
or if he ask him fish, will he give him u
serpent! Ifyc then, being evil, know how
10 give good gifts to your children, how
much more shall Your heavenly Father give
TIC Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Of
e.lecting al! the great moral changes IN our
world, PRAYER is the most successful r.cans.
"Wr,s;iing prayer can wonders do,
Bring relief in deepest straits;
Prayer c.n force passage through
Iron bars and br4zcn gates
You are to employ this as the first means
Tor the spiritual welfare Of the children God
has given YOU. "This duty commences" !"
says Mr.. James, "with the birth Of the
child; nay bcfore,-tor in the vcr: prospect
of its birth, there should be earnest prayer
Offered to God, for divine grace TO discharge
those Obligations which the expected charge
Will bring upon the conscience of the father
and mother. And from that time till the
death ofcithcr parent or child, earnest,secrct:
believing PRAYER, should never cease to be
presented for our offspring. Oar prayers
should principally respect the spiritual well
fire of our children. Daily should VIC wres-
tic with God for their eternal sa!vation.
How little can we do at most for their wei.
fare: and how inefficient without Gods aid,
is all that we can do. That parent has neg
lcc.ci an important part of his duty, who
has neglected, for single day, to be;r his
children on his heart before God in private
prayer. Who can subduc their tempers,
or change their hearts, but God and We
are not autherizedto expect it without prayer.
1t is necessary also, not only to pray for
but to pray rih them. Hence, certainly,
we should take them apart, each by himself,
to Commend them to God, and thus make
them witnesses Of our deep solicitude, and
our intense agony for their eternal welfare.
IL they have been wicked and disobodicnt,
j; nlay be well after they have been brought
to right state Of feeling, and we ourselves
have forgiven them, to conduct them to
throne Of grace, and plead for forgiveness
for them there"
Family Prayer, properly conducted, is
very important means Of Christian educa-
ton. The necessity and propriety ofthis,
arises ou; Of the constitution of the family
and were it not enjoined in the word Of God,
either by prccept or example, would be still
binding 6n the conscience of every praying,
faithful parent, by the relation in which he
stands to his family, and the extent of their
dependence on God. Do we not want family
mercies, and who can bestow them but God !
So obviously obligatory is this duty, and so
naturally does its performance arise, out of
all our conjoint feelings as parents and Chris
tans, that those who neglect it, cannot even
pretend to feel the right influence of Godli-
ness. The following remarks, by the same
author, are so important, that am unwilling
to withhold them. Family prayer. " should
be observed with the greatest regularity and
an uninterrupted constancy. What dis
grace to parent is it for child or domestic
10 inquire, are we to have prayers this morn.
ing, or this evening? How can it be omit
ted for day, without danger and without
SIM
"All the members of the family should
be present, except very young children, who
cannot be made to sit still, and whose IT,
Quictude and restlessness are disturbance
to all the rest, and utterly destroy the solen,-
nifty ofthe service"
1t should be attended in the morning at a
season most convenient, and when there will
be the least probability ofinterrupton. Eth
or Immediately after rising, or Immediately
after the morning meal. Some families are
guilty of practice which merits rcproof
viz. attending to family worship, while some
individuals are employed in preparing for
the moraing repast, by which the attention
is diverted from this important duty.* FAM
ly worship should be performed in the eren-
ing as soon as the labors of the day are
finished-and before the younger members
ofthe family are disqualified for profitable
attendance on this duty by a disposition to
sleep. No one, who is old enough to be
benefited, should be suffered to retire to rest
till after evening worship. Every member
of the family should be present, both morn