A House of Prayer for All Neighbors
I read an encouraging piece of research recently reported by the Barna Group. This research sates:
“A majority of practicing Christians participates in spiritual conversations, prayer, and Bible-reading with their household.”
This research specifically reveals that 73% of Christian families are gathering to pray together weekly and 51% pray together every day or two.
What a joy to hear about family members seeking the Lord together!
The same Barna Group research noticed a connection between these spiritually vibrant households and hospitality. It seems that the more a family grows together spiritually, the more likely they are to open their home to their neighbors. And the more they open their home to their neighbors, the more likely they are to share Christ with their neighbors and pray with their neighbors. As the research reports:
“Generally, faith formation is connected to and increases with a spirit of hospitality.”
Of the families who regularly welcome others in their home:
46% pray with their neighbors
51% enjoy deep conversations with their neighbors
85% have friends they count as family
These blessings of hospitality seem commonplace among spiritually vibrant homes.
So how do we lead our families toward this sort of biblical hospitality? How do we begin to love our neighbors, welcome our neighbors, invite, know, and befriend our neighbors?
I believe we can start by simply leading our families to pray for our neighbors. When we pray for our friends and neighbors, our hearts become burdened for them and we naturally find ourselves more intentional in reaching out to them, talking with them, and finding opportunities to get together with them. When we pray for our neighbors, we are more likely to open our doors to our neighbors.
Jesus taught:
“My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations” (Mark 11:17).
As we cultivate houses of prayer for the nations, perhaps our families could grow this year into A House of Prayer for All Neighbors.
Four Steps to Growing into A House of Prayer for All Neighbors
Make a Prayer List: Talk with your family members about neighbors, co-workers, classmates, friends, and relatives and make a family prayer list.
Pray Regularly as a family for these friends. As you gather around the dinner table or before bed at night, spend some time praying for the neighbors on your prayer list.
Welcome them into your home. Invite various friends and neighbors into your home in order to get to know them better and to show them the love of Christ. Barna Group research reports, “Two in five respondents (40%) say that nobody comes to spend time with them or other household members frequently.” This could be the year your family commits to be part of the 60% of Christian families that frequently host friends and neighbors.
Continue to pray for them, build that relationship, open your doors, and become A House of Prayer for All Neighbors.
Family Discussion Questions (kids answer too):
1. Outside of our family members, who is someone who has opened their home to us?
2. Why do you believe the Lord put us in this neighborhood?
3. What are some ways our family can be a blessing to our neighborhood?
4. How could our family grow in our hospitality?
5. Who is one neighbor or friend you know that we should put on our family prayer list? Write their name down.
6. How could our family begin praying for these people regularly? What are the best times each week for us to pray together?
7. Who should we pray for first? Who should we invite into our home first?
Dr. Jonathan Williams, Ph.D. (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founder and executive director of Gospel Family Ministries. This ministry focuses on strengthening family ministry in the local church and cultivating family worship in the Christian home. Jonathan is the author of “A Practical Theology of Family Worship” and “Gospel Family.” He also teaches as an adjunct professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX, and is the managing editor of the Southwestern D6 Family Ministry Journal. Previously, Jonathan served for 10 years as the senior pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church, a multi-ethnic church of more than 50 nations. He lives in Texas with his wife and three children.
To read more of the Barna Group research, see their book, “Households of Faith.”