Each Christian family must have a routine time of focusing on the scripture and praying for one another.  Here's what has worked well for us...

2Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

2Timothy 1:9-10 [God] has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

Has God's light shined in your heart? Jonathan Edwards gives the best description I've seen of the effects of that light. Test your heart and see if you are in the faith. I lived many years acknowledging that Jesus was Lord and agreeing with church creeds, but this sense of pleasure and delight in the excellency of God did not occur until much later. This is the heart-sense we need to unveil before our children. And we must pray for God's light, it is a gift we cannot strive toward.

from A Divine and Supernatural Light by Jonathan Edwards

[The] spiritual and divine light ... may be thus described: A true sense of the divine excellency of the things revealed in the word of God, and a conviction of the truth and reality of them thence arising. This spiritual light primarily consists in the former of these, viz. a real sense and apprehension of the divine excellency of things revealed in the word of God. A spiritual and saving conviction of the truth and reality of these things, arises from such a sight of their divine excellency and glory; so that this conviction of their truth is an effect and natural consequence of this sight of their divine glory. There is therefore in the spiritual light,

1. A true sense of the divine and superlative excellency of the things of religion; a real sense of the excellency of God and Jesus Christ, and of the work of redemption, and the ways and works of God revealed in the gospel. There is a divine and superlative glory in these things; an excellency that is of a vastly higher kind, and more sublime nature, than in other things; a glory greatly distinguishing them from all that is earthly and temporal. He that is spiritually enlightened truly apprehends and sees it, or has a sense of it. He does not merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but he has a sense of the gloriousness of God in his heart. There is not only a rational belief that God is holy, and that holiness is a good thing, but there is a sense of the loveliness of God’s holiness. There is not only a speculatively judging that God is gracious, but a sense how amiable God is on account of the beauty of this divine attribute.

There is a twofold knowledge of good of which God has made the mind of man capable. The first, that which is merely notional; as when a person only speculatively judges that any thing is, which, by the agreement of mankind, is called good or excellent, viz. that which is most to general advantage, and between which and a reward there is a suitableness,—and the like. And the other thing is, that which consists in the sense of the heart; as when the heart is sensible of pleasure and delight in the presence of the idea of it. In the former is exercised merely the speculative faculty, or the understanding, in distinction from the will or the disposition of the soul. In the latter, the will, or inclination, or heart are mainly concerned.

Thus there is a difference between having an opinion, that God is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness. A man may have the former that knows not how honey tastes; but a man cannot have the latter unless he has an idea of the taste of honey in his mind. So there is a difference between believing that a person is beautiful, and having a sense of his beauty. The former may be obtained by hearsay, but the latter only by seeing the countenance. When the heart is sensible of the beauty and amiableness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the apprehension. It is implied in a person’s being heartily sensible of the loveliness of a thing, that the idea of it is pleasant to his soul; which is a far different thing from having a rational opinion that it is excellent.

A common objection is that the "Old Testament" God is mean and violent while Jesus and the "New Testament" God are nice, peaceful and mild. Serious Christians readily agree that God is the same throughout, yet many still find the Old Testament outdated or not "relevant" to our modern lives. We're tempted to turn chiefly to the New Testament for insight and wisdom and largely ignore the Old Testament, though it comprises 75% of inspired scripture. We may read the classic stories of David and Goliath and Noah's Ark but generally skip the mysterious prophetic books of Jeremiah, Obadiah, Amos, and the like.

As our family nears the completion of reading the Old Testament together, we are reading through these prophets. I can see why many are discouraged reading these books, and why many would not read these to their children. For example:

Amos 9:1-4
I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, "Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, And break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; They will not have a fugitive who will flee, Or a refugee who will escape.
"Though they dig into Sheol, From there shall My hand take them; And though they ascend to heaven, From there will I bring them down.
"And though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them.
"And though they go into captivity before their enemies, From there I will command the sword that it slay them, And I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good."

This is the stuff of nightmares, hardly conducive to sleepfulness.  Rather jolting when compared to a sweet bedtime story or the common children's bedtime prayer "...I pray the Lord my soul to keep..."  And these prophets roll on for hundreds of pages, requiring months to read. As the daily readings turn into weeks, then months, one message becomes very clear: the Lord God is angry beyond expression and is relentless in His crushing of sinners. For me, "relentless" is the word that keeps coming to mind as we continue reading.

Rather than dismissing these books as too frightening or relevant only for ancient middle eastern cultures, we should embrace all the fury revealed in these writings. For this fury is aimed directly at you and me. God is indeed relentless and will not quit punishing until His indescribeable fury is quenched. For though His anger surpasses description, it is not unjust.

We love Jesus too little when we do not appreciate His work adequately. When you understand that you are the target of the punishment described by Amos, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and the others, you will fall in eternal laughter at the feet of the Lord Jesus. He took on Himself all this wrath and exhausted every penalty which you and I justly deserve.

So read the whole Bible, even the prophets - especially the prophets. Read it out loud with all the little children gathered round. Be appalled and terrified at the incredible violence and destruction God pours out on sinners. Then turn and adore the Savior, who took away the shame and guilt of His people. Pray that He will "keep your soul", then slide off into perfect blissful rest - tearfully, gratefully laughing yourself to sleep.

More on reading the Old Testament prophets:
The Prophets and the West (by Gene Edward Veith)
The More Things Change (by R.C. Sproul Jr.)

Here are several widgets we've developed recently to allow homeschoolers and other bloggers to easily display the Children's Catechism, George Washington's Rules of Civility, Luther's 95 Theses, the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights, and quotes from great composers. My daughter Grace worked on the content of the Composer Quotes widget and we assembled it together.

The widget displays a random item when it first loads and the user can then navigate with simple links. Try them out right here and then "embed" your favorite in your site's sidebar. If you have questions or suggestions for other types of widget, let me know.

If your family struggles with reading the Bible's Old Testament histories, you may try this idea of reading harmonious sections in two "tracks".  In a chronological reading of the Old Testament, various historical periods are covered in more than one book.  The harmony between Samuel+1&2Kings with 1&2Chronicles is well known.  Likewise many of the prophets spoke in the same time periods, sometimes to the same king or addressed similar issues.  So another way to read the Old Testament is to read these harmonious sections in two tracks. 

In both tracks, you'd start with Genesis through Ruth.  As you come to the time of David, you can then follow one of the tracks.  Follow that track until the time of the return from Exile, when you'd finish with Ezra, Nehemiah, and other books of that period.

Specifically, here's the "common" start for either track:
Genesis 1 - 22
Job
Genesis 23 - 50
Exodus.... [More]

Then choose one of these tracks to continue past the Judges period:
Samuel/Kings Track
I Samuel 1 - 16:13
Psalm 23
I Samuel 16:14 - 19:11, Psalm 59....[More]

Chronicles Track
I Chronicles 1-10
Psalm 63
I Chronicles 11-12
Psalm 32, 69, 70...[More]

and finish the history with this "common" end:
Ezra 1 - 5:1
Haggai
Zechariah...[More]

Here's a plan that covers the major themes of the Bible in smaller readings of about 10 to 15 verses.  Young children can do at least one reading daily.  Older children may read several throughout the day.  Adults unfamiliar with the Bible can use the plan to more quickly learn the major themes.

The readings alternate through the New and Old Testaments, with Psalms and Proverbs mixed throughout.  The table below shows the first 135 readings of the 700+ total included in the attached file.  Print out the file and let your children use it as a daily checklist - it will help them develop a lifelong habit of daily scripture reading...

Generations have enjoyed learning Biblical truths with various catechisms.  The Children's Catechism is simple enough for the very young, yet contains the most profound truths of the Christian faith.  Here are ways to have a rich, daily time of family devotion.  See our online Family Devotion booklet for more ideas.

The family should work together on memorizing passages of scripture.  You can memorize sections of scripture up to a chapter or more in length by simply taking a verse at a time. Memorize a phrase or sentence, making sure not to start the next phrase until everyone has the current phrase well memorized.

Before going on, be blessed and motivated by this video of captivating "preaching" straight from the scripture: Ryan Ferguson presents Hebrews 9 and 10

[More...]

With regular Bible reading as the centerpiece, other resources can be used to draw together Biblical ideas.

Dad should lead the family in prayer, thanking God for what was just studied and asking Him to enable the family to faithfully fulfill what's been learned.  You may want to base your prayers on the Lord's Prayer using this outline...