Home is where the heart is….

Oh how I can identify with this phrase. 

I love being at home.

It’s not so much the physically being in my house, but the coming together as a family unit. 

Home is a place where my people gather….celebrating, eating, fellowshipping, growing….it’s a place where we do life and make memories together.

It’s a place where we find peace and rest. And also a place where we want others to find it as well.

I believe that the physical attributes only partially make up what a home is. 

It’s really the people who make a home what it is.

Knowing this has really helped me to pray specifically over my home. There’s a certain atmosphere that I want set and a feel that I want people to encounter when they enter into my home. 

5 Scriptures to Pray over Your Home (and family)

Here are a few of the ways I pray specifically over my home:

A Peaceful Home

“God, I pray Lord that as people come in our home they would be overcome with a strong sense of peace. I pray if people come in overwhelmed, they will leave with rested souls and a full heart.” Help my family find this place a safe haven and a place where they can draw near to you. In Jesus Name, Amen. “

My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. Isaiah 32:18 NIV

One of the things I desire above all else is for my home to be peaceful. I want people to literally feel the peace when they walk in.

I don’t mean peaceful as in noise….with a dog who barks at a leaf falling and a toddler…things are not always quiet.

The kind of peace that I’m referring to is more of a place of rest, like described in the verse above.

Whether it’s my husband, children or guests entering our home, I want them to feel welcomed coming in and rested going out.

A Serving Home

“Dear Lord, I pray that you will give us the courage to share your love to others. I pray Lord that those who come into our home, feel your love and are eager for more. I pray you will help us share your love to each other and pour that love on others. In Jesus Name, Amen. 

“….But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 NIV

Our family loves to have people over. We love to entertain and provide an atmosphere where people can have fun and get filled up–on food and Jesus! Because this is our desire, we want to be a family that serves.

What does this have to do with serving God? Let’s take a look…

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:34-40

 

Your home is an opportunity to show the love of Jesus! 

When we love God, we love on His people. What we do for others, we do for Him.

I want our home to be a welcoming place where people feel loved and cared for, and I believe we can do this when we have a heart to serve.

A Blessed Home

Dear Lord, we invite you into our home. We pray that you would bless us and the ones in it. We pray that you would be the center of our home and that everything we do in this house would be a reflection of you. We pray that anything that does not bring you glory, would be shown to us so that we may remove it and bring the focus back to you. 

The Lord curses the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the upright. Proverbs 3:33 NLT

We can continue to bless our house and every person who steps foot in it. 

 

A Well Built Home

“Dear Lord, help us to build our home on a foundation that centers around you. I pray that every person who enters our home will see you above everything else. I pray you would help us establish a family that brings glory to you. Help us grow little ones who turn to your word and rely on you. I pray our marriage would reflect you and bring glory to your name. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

Proverbs 14:1 NLT

As women, we have an incredible opportunity and responsibility to set the atmosphere in our homes. I don’t know about you, but I want to be a woman who builds her home and not tears it down.

How can we do that? With our words and our actions. 

Proverbs 18:21 says this:

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.

What we speak over our house and in our house has the potential to produce different kinds of fruit.

When we speak life giving words, uplifting and encouraging, we are planting seeds of goodness and harmony in our homes.

On the other hand, if we are speaking unkind or demeaning words, we are planting seeds of discouragement and division. 

A House of Wisdom

“Dear Lord, please give me the desire to crave your word. I pray that each day, I would be able to make you my first priority and spend time with you in your word. I pray you would help me learn how to be the person you meant me to be and I pray you will give me the wisdom to lead in my home and with my family. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

It takes wisdom to build a house, and understanding to set it on a firm foundation; It takes knowledge to furnish its rooms with fine furniture and beautiful draperies. Proverbs 24:3-4 MSG

It is by wisdom that a house is built. As women who want to build their homes, we need wisdom from God. 

By how do we get this wisdom?

I believe this scriptures shows us….

That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

Solomon replied to God, “You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place. O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly, for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?”

God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people—I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!” 2 Chronicles 1:7-12 NLT

God offered Solomon anything he wanted, and he chose to ask for wisdom and knowledge to build the kingdom God had given him. 

When we ask God for wisdom and knowledge to build our homes for our families and those who come in, I believe God will respond the same way.