The Home as a Place of Prayer
![Picture of Kevin and Sherry Harney](https://www.organicoutreach.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Rectangle-71-1-300x296.png)
Kevin and Sherry Harney
Rev. Dr. Kevin G. Harney and Sherry Harney are the co-founders of Organic Outreach International. They have each written many books, including three books together, and over 100 small group study guides in partnership with Max Lucado, Dallas Willard, Randy Frazee, Ann Voskamp, Gary Thomas, Christine Caine, Mark Batterson, Jim Cymbala, and others.
Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. John 12:44-46
“It is almost impossible to get a job in this college town.”
That’s what our youngest son Nate was told when he moved to Spokane, Washington to attend Moody Bible College. Many classmates assured him that there were not many jobs available in a town with such a huge population of college students.
This did not dissuade him. Nate called us and asked if we would pray for him. He said, “I am going look for a job until I have one.” We prayed with him over the phone and he went hunting.
We received a call a few days later. Nate was employed! To his surprise, and ours, he got a job in a fabric shop. He had walked into the store, talked with the manager, and assured her that he would give her one hundred percent and work as hard as he could. She hired him on the spot.
I talked with Nate on the phone and asked, “Do you know anything about fabrics?” The truth is, he had not grown up with a mom who was a sewer so Nate never saw me doing much of anything with material. Nate responded with confidence, “No, but I am going to learn.” That night Kevin and I prayed as we took an evening walk and thanked God for his provision in Nate’s life. We also asked God to use Nate to shine the light of Jesus as he helped people with their fabric order and as he related with his fellow employees.
Since it’s not all that common for a man to work in a fabric store, it led to some humorous conversations. One day Nate called us that he had been helping a customer pick out some fabric to make something for her boyfriend. She looked at our son and said, “If you were a man, which of these two fabrics would you like best?” Nate has a sharp sense of humor so he responded, “Don’t let my apron fool you, I am a man and I would go with the fabric on the right.”
Another time he called with a more serious story. He was having a conversation with another employee after work one day and she began to ask him questions about God, heaven, and hell. She was aware that he was a Christian and let him know that she didn’t believe but wanted to hear his explanation of why he believed as he did. Through a lengthy conversation, Nate shared about sin, God’s grace, and the offer of salvation given to all through Jesus who will believe. By the end of their conversation this woman, through the work of the Spirit, had embraced Jesus and the Gospel.
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"Pray as a couple. If you are married to a believer and do not have a pattern of praying together, use the approach taught in this chapter two or three times in the coming week."
I share this story because it is a microcosm of what happens when your home is a place of prayer. Nate had been prayed for over and over since before he was born. He learned to pray in our home. Prayer formed his theology. He has become a man of prayer. Nate had been praying for God’s light to shine through him at his workplace, and his family members in California and Michigan had also been asking God to move in and through Nate as he worked at the store.
That day the angels of heaven rejoiced as one lost and wandering person came home to Jesus. This moment of glory did not come out of nowhere. It came through thousands of moments in prayer for Nate, with Nate, and by Nate over the twenty years of his life. This is one example of the power of the home as a place of prayer.
Becoming a Lighthouse
Try one of these ideas in your home and with your family…
Partner with God. Prayer is a way of joining in with what God is already doing. There is a wonderful book and curriculum by Henry Blackaby and Claude King that is all about helping people discover where God is at work and joining in with him. Take time to walk around your home and neighborhood and ask the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see where God is at work. Then commit to pray in partnership with what God is already doing for the next seven days. See if this prayer makes an impact.
Pray as a couple. If you are married to a believer and do not have a pattern of praying together, use the approach taught in this chapter two or three times in the coming week.
Make Time. Sometimes it is wise to make prayer part of the normal flow of your day. There are times to stop everything and pray…this is very important. There are also times to add prayer to what you are already doing. I know that Kevin prays for me every day as he makes the bed. He has been doing this for over a decade. I also know he prays for each of our family members as well as his extended family when he swims laps in the local pool. For years I prayed for my community as I jogged. Now I do this as I walk and hike. As you drive through your community, make this a time of prayer. Both Kevin and I pray for other local churches as we drive by them. We also pray for revival and a fresh move of God in our community. You can add prayer to your shopping experience, the time you spend on the sidelines at kid’s sports events, and to anything you do in the follow of your day.
Taken from Organic Outreach for Families: Turning Your Home into a Lighthouse by Kevin G. Harney and Sherry Harney.