One of the first things Hubs and I did after we closed on our home was to walk through the whole house together and pray.  We wanted to be intentionally grateful for our new home and we wanted to pray for the ways that our home would be used in the years to come.  It’s crazy to think of our home on that day – totally empty and clean, but badly needing a new paint job. How could we have known all the good and bad days this house would see?  How we would work together to make it a home. And how our kids would run around the halls and up and down the stairs?

Are there things I’d like to change? Yep.  But there are way more things I love. This month marks 5 years of us living in our first house and to celebrate, I’d like to share 5 really practical ways to pray for your home (plus some of the home projects we’re hoping to accomplish this year).

5 Ways to Pray for Your Home

Our homes are the central hub of our lives.  Home is where we sleep, wake, eat, work, play, and love on our people.  Too often, we get caught up in the chores of keeping up our homes that we forget to stop and take time to pray for our homes.  We forget to pray over the work we’re doing there.  We forget to pray for the ways that we actually make home in our houses.  If you’re like me, you want your home to be a place where love and life flourishes and people thrive.  So why don’t we pray for that to happen?

I encourage you to take just 15 minutes today and prayer walk your home.  Here are some simple ideas to get you started.

In the Entry Way

Pray for all those who enter your home.  Pray that your home would be a welcoming place to guests – friends, family, neighbors, and strangers.

“But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.'” Luke 10:5

In The Kitchen

Take some time to give thanks for the provision of food.  How often we take for granted the opportunity to go to the grocery store, choose groceries for our families, and fill our pantry with them.  Take some time to think about that.  It might not be gourmet – but there is always much to be thankful for.

Pray for all the meals that are prepared there – that the food would nourish those who eat it.  Pray for the conversations that are had around the table.  At breakfast when the day is just beginning right down to dinner as we recount our days to one another.  May the conversations there be useful for building one another up.  Pray that our table would be filled with family and friends, old and new.

“They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” Acts 2:46

In the Living Room

Most of our time tends to be spent in the kitchen and living room of our home.  It’s called the living room for a reason – life happens there.  As you look around your living room – whether it’s perfectly decorated and tidy, or scattered with toys all over the place – pray that it would be a place where life grows.  Pray for peace between your family.  Pray that it would be full of laughter, playing, and togetherness.

But when it’s not, that it would be a comforting place.  Life is messy sometimes.  Pray that your home would be a place to find rest and comfort and peace when things aren’t going like you hoped – and even when it feels downright awful.

Pray also for contentment in your living room.  That you wouldn’t get distracted by social media telling you that you need to decorate this more or change this or that.  But that you would be thankful for the things that you have.

“Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces.” Psalm 122:7

In The Kids’ Rooms

We didn’t have kids when we bought this house, but we knew that when we had kids, the extra rooms would be theirs.  As you walk in and past your kids’ rooms, pray that they would be places of rest for them.  That they would sleep well and be refreshed when they wake up (and if your kids are still waking up throughout the night like ours are – just keep right on praying it).

Pray specifically for each child – for their salvation and that their identity would be in Christ.  Pray that their imaginations would grow as they play in there.  And that they would learn lessons there (like putting away toys and making their beds) that would help them grow into thoughtful and responsible adults.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.” Psalm 3:5-6

In Your Bedroom

Hubs and I often find ourselves catching up with one another, going over our days, and making plans for the next days or weeks in the evenings before going to sleep.  These plans are often made in hushed whispers since the newborn is sleeping in our room these days (and the toddler makes his way in multiple times of night), but it’s still a place of togetherness nonetheless.

Pray that your bedroom would be a place you and your spouse can rest and reconnect. That it will be a place your kids can come snuggle up on Saturday mornings and make fun family memories.

Most importantly, pray that your home would be full of God’s presence and grace.  That it would be overflowing with love and that it would be a place where those in it truly flourish.

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15b

“Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Upcoming Projects for Our Home

I could write a whole list of things I would love to update and create in our home, but we have a couple of big projects we’re working on this year.

• Finish Re-doing the deck & decorate the outdoor space.
  • We started this last year and are hoping to finish it in the coming months – we’ve put all new boards down, and have to finish the stairs and railing. We’re also planning to add a gate to the stairs which will make playing on the deck with kids safer.
  • I would love to get an outdoor rug to go under the deck table.
• Build shelves in the garage.
  • For storage.  Hoping to use this extra storage to clear some of our closet space inside and to get things off of the garage floor.
• Continue to better organize and declutter the spaces inside to best serve our needs.
  • This is a part of my goal to simplify things this year.  We’ve made lots of great progress, but it’s something we continue to work on.

This might not sound like a lot, but these are a couple of “big impact” projects we decided on when we made our goals for the year.  Rather than making a laundry list of things to do, we decided to focus on a couple of things we could feasibly do with two little ones and limited time.  If we get these done quickly, we might think about taking on another project.

I’m hoping to share some updates on these projects as we make them here on the blog, so be sure to stay tuned.