Day 7: Families with Hearts Turned Home
Bible passage: Genesis 12:1–3; Malachi 4:5–6; Ephesians 5:21–33; Ephesians 6:1–4
The First Institution
Today is Thursday 9th of April 2020. Welcome to Day 7, the final day of our 7 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Tomorrow is Good Friday. Today we pray for the family.
The family is the first institution that God made. It is older than the church, the school and the state. Most of us are spending more time at home this month than we ever have. For some that has been a joy. For others it has been a strain, and some are entirely alone.
God’s Plan for Families
Blessed to Be a Blessing
When God set out to rescue the world, He began with a family. He called Abram, promised to make him into a great nation and told him that all the families on earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:1–3).
That promise was fulfilled in Jesus, the descendant of Abraham through whom blessing has come to every nation (Galatians 3:16). God still loves to work through families. A home where He is honoured becomes a blessing to everyone near it.
God’s Design
When Jesus was asked about marriage, He pointed back to the beginning. God made them male and female. A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two become one. What God has joined together, nobody should split apart (Matthew 19:4–6).
We hold to that design, and we hold to it humbly. Every family falls short of what God intended, including our own, and every family needs His grace.
Paul describes a home shaped by Christ. Everyone submits to one another out of reverence for Him. Husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave up His life for her. Children honour their parents. Fathers do not provoke their children to anger, but bring them up with the discipline and instruction that come from the Lord (Ephesians 5:21–25 and Ephesians 6:1–4).
Hearts Turned
The Old Testament closes with a promise about fathers and children. God would send a messenger whose preaching would “turn the hearts of fathers to their children”, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Malachi 4:6 (NLT)
So many homes carry the pain of a father who was absent or distant, or of a relationship that has broken down. God is in the business of turning hearts. He is a father to the fatherless and a defender of widows, and He places the lonely in families (Psalm 68:5–6). His church is meant to be a family for all who need one.
Prayer Points for Today
Marriages. Pray for love, faithfulness and forgiveness between husbands and wives, and for marriages under strain.
Parents. Pray for wisdom and patience for mothers and fathers, and for single parents carrying the load alone.
Children and young people. Pray that they would know they are loved, and that those who have wandered would come home.
Reconciliation. Pray for families divided by quarrels, divorce or old wounds, that hearts would be turned to each other.
Safety. Pray for anyone who is not safe at home, that they would be protected and find help.
Those who live alone. Pray that nobody in our church family would feel forgotten this Easter.
Faith at home. Pray that families would pray together, and that every home would be filled with God’s presence.
If your own home is not a safe place, please tell someone you trust or speak to one of our pastoral team. In an emergency, call 999.
And Beyond
Well done for completing these seven days. Please do not stop here. Keep praying for these seven areas through the year. You might take one each day of the week. And if you are not yet part of a Life Group, join one, because none of us was made to follow Jesus alone.
Tomorrow we remember the cross, and on Sunday we celebrate an empty tomb. Whatever is closed this Easter, the tomb is open.
Prayer for Today:
Father, thank You for the gift of family, and thank You that I belong to Yours. Bless the marriages and the homes in our church. Give parents wisdom and children joy. Turn the hearts of fathers to their children and children to their fathers. Heal what is broken, protect those who are in danger and place the lonely in families. Let our homes be full of Your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Keep going
See every day of this guide on our Prayer & Fasting page.
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Join one of our prayer meetings.
