Praying over your home

In three years, my husband and I will have lived in four different homes in four different states. Each time my husband and I learn that we’re moving, we immediately begin our house hunt. Once we find the one, I love thinking about how our furniture and decor will look in the space, and I daydream about how we will make it feel like our own. How a home feels is the most important thing for me.

Whether you’ve moved a lot or a little, rented a home or bought a home, lived in the same house for years or just moved into something new, you might agree with me that the way your living space feels is one of the most important things about it. And sure, we can use furniture and decor to make our space feel a certain way. Maybe your oversized fluffy pillows make your home feel cozy, or the perfect paint color makes your entry way warm and inviting. And all of that stuff is great, and super fun. But there’s something more important than decor that your house needs. I can tell you from experience that as much as decor can change how your space feels, it will never transform your home as much as praying over it will. 

When you pray over your living space, you invite God into it. You’re telling him to enter into it and use it for His glory. You’re allowing His presence to wash over every person that comes into your home, including yourself and your family that lives there. So whether you’re going through a time of transition into a new place like me, or you’re in a home that you’ve dwelled in for years, the time to pray over your living space is now! 

Here are some scriptures from the Bible that you can pray over your home:

• Proverbs 3:33 The Lord blesses the home of the righteous.
• Proverbs 14:1 Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
• Proverbs 24:3-4 A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding; By knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure. 
• Matthew 7:24-25 Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse because its’ foundation was on the rock.
• Colossians 2:6-7 So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, being rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. 

Not sure how to start praying over your home? Here are two practical ways you can start praying over your home immediately!

1) Walk into each room of your home and pray for the specific activities that go on in these spaces. For example, you might go into your kitchen and pray that God would use mealtimes to bring your family closer together. You might step into your office or work space and pray that you’ll remember that God created you to work (Genesis 2:15) and that you are called to work enthusiastically as something done for the Lord and not for people (Colossians 3:23, mix of translations). You might stand in your child’s room and pray that they feel God’s comfort as they sleep and experience true joy as they play.

2) If you have company coming over, whether they’re coming for dinner or they’re staying for a week, pray that they will feel God’s presence while they are there. Pray that they will experience God’s love and peace within your walls. Pray that God will equip you as the host, and see your responsibilities not as a burden but an opportunity to share His love. 

One quick word of encouragement to help get you started: Don’t underestimate the power your have in how your house (and the people who enter it) feels. God has given you authority over your living space and wants you to steward it well. That can look a lot of ways. It looks like finding joy in household chores, it looks like finding contentment in your current space even if you wish it looked different, it looks like loving the people that live in your home well, it looks like inviting people over for meals, maybe it looks like hosting a Bible study or a game night or a play date for your kids. Stewarding your home well will look different for everyone, but one thing we can all do is pray for our homes and ask God to help us use our space to glorify Him with it.

Reflection Questions

How does your home currently feel to you?

How do you want your home to feel? How do you want the people who enter your home (you, those you live with, and guests) to feel?

Keeping in mind how you want your home to feel, write out a prayer for your home using specific Bible verses, and asking God to bless it and fill it with His presence.

What are a few ways that you can steward your home well, knowing that God has given you the authority to over it? Pick one thing from this list and do it this week!

What is one Bible verse you can pray over your home this week? Commit to doing this!