Pray in 2017- Day 20- Praying For My Home
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 ESV)
Day 20- Praying For My Home
One of our greatest resources to steward is our homes. Whether you are single or married, have children or do not, are empty-nesters or in the throes of child-rearing, the home is the “where” of your life with Christ. Over the next few days we will pray for the people we share that home with. But today let’s pray for the peace and security of our homes.
And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. (Isaiah 32:17-18 ESV)
The verse above is God’s promise, so let’s ask Him to fulfill it this year in our homes. Not only should we ask Him for the peace, righteousness, and security of our homes, but we need to ask Him to reveal to us what we can do to add to those gifts. If I disrupt our peace, I want to know how, and what I need to change.
By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. (Proverbs 24:3-4 ESV)
This verse from Proverbs hangs on my wall, because it is one of my favorites. Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge radically alter a situation because through these gifts, God can show us what to do and how to deal with the people we travel through life with.
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:5-7 ESV)
I am asking God this year to make our home one of reasonableness, peace, prayer, and thanksgiving. And I am requesting His peace would reign here within our walls.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ... You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, 9 ESV)
The importance of the Bible in the establishment of a healthy, godly home cannot be overstated. Through it we learn how to love, sacrifice for each other, forgive, and ask for forgiveness. From its wealth we receive the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge we need. The words of Scripture need to flow in conversation and guide as we decide where to go and what to do.
And thus you shall greet him: 'Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. (1 Samuel 25:6 ESV)
Yes, we need the Lord’s peace. I often think peace is simply the absence of conflict, but in reality it is a supernatural gift of His presence. So I am asking the Lord to rain it down on us in 2017.
The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26 ESV)
THIS. This is the essence and heart of my prayers for our home this year. If our homes are peaceful and a place where the countenance of the Lord radiates, then the world will flock to us. Jesus can do extraordinary things through our homes, if we let Him. Lets ask Him for 2017 to be the year He does just that.
"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock." (Matthew 7:24-25 ESV)
Building our house on Jesus means that no matter what occurs this year, it will not be destroyed. We build our house on the rock through the wisdom of the Word, the understanding gained through the Spirit, and the knowledge revealed through prayer. So lets get busy and PRAY!
Day 20 Prayer-
Lord, thank you for my home. It doesn’t matter the square footage or the beauty of the decor. What matters is Your presence in it. I ask You Lord to fill my home this year. I ask You to be so present that Your Spirit is felt by all who enter. I ask You to reveal to me my sins which disrupt the peace of our home.
I rejoice and thank You for Your provision in allowing me exactly what I have. I praise You for the walls and roof You have given and the people You allow me to share them with. I ask that You would make it a peaceful habitation and a quiet resting place from the trouble of the world. Please help me add to that peace every day.
Please fill our home with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge so that Your peace reigns in our home. I ask for Your peace to not only rule over my family’s hearts but also that it would be experienced to all who enter our home.
Please give us wisdom for how You desire we use our home this year. How can we minister to each other and to others through these walls You have allotted us? Make our home a refuge from the storms of life and a place where Your love is shared. May prayer and thanksgiving abide here.
I ask You to aide me as I make Your Word more prominent in my home. Help me teach Scripture to my children and talk of Your words around my table. May the power of Your Word rule our hearts so that we honor You in how we treat each other.
Please shine upon us so that we can live in Your light. And please protect us so that whatever storms are coming this year, our home will withstand them in Your strength.
I ask You to bless our home so that it is a place You are proclaimed and known in 2017. May it exist to Your glory.
Amen.
May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions! (Psalm 20:4-5 ESV)
I pray your home is a beacon in the storm and a refuge from danger this year. How else can I pray for you? Leave a comment below.
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