Prayers For A Holy Household

By Kim Butts

"Oh God, show me more of Your holiness.
Show me more of my sinfulness.
Help me to hate sin and to love righteousness as You do.
Grant me a deeper conviction of sin and a more thorough spirit of repentance.
And make me holy as You are holy."

    I have adopted this prayer from Holiness (The Heart God Purifies) by Nancy Leigh DeMoss as a way to keep my heart pure before God, and I want to share it with Herald readers all over the world because I believe it is life-changing! Pray through this prayer very slowly and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart.

    We cannot be a holy people unless we also recognize our sinfulness and acknowledge it before God. Character development is crucial from the earliest ages. Our children must know that sin is always crouching at the door and that all of God’s people must learn how to master it through the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. We can only grow in holiness, and be transformed into the image of Jesus, as we recognize sin and learn to hate it as much as God does. We must learn to love righteousness through a willingness to have repentant hearts. Our homes will not reflect the holy character of Christ apart from a continual determination to reflect Him in our thoughts, words and actions. Therefore, I strongly suggest that, as a family, you use the prayer above as a model to incorporate into your daily family prayers.

    Also, here are thirty days of powerful verses and prayers to pray with and for your family to draw you all toward a transformational life of holiness. The first week, I have given you some sample prayers based on the Scriptures. Encourage the other members of your family to take turns praying from day to day. Then, spend some time listening, and share with one another what God has spoken into your hearts. Holiness is lived out in prayer…but also in action. What will you do in response to His call to be holy?

    DAY 1: The Holiness of God: "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness" (Psalm 29:2). Father, continue to show our family more of Your holiness. Help us to wake up each day worshipping the splendor of Your holiness and giving glory to Your Name.

    DAY 2: Sharing in His Holiness: "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness" (Hebrews 12:10). Holy Lord, give us wisdom to discipline well, as parents, and show us how to accept discipline without argument, as children, so that we are always prepared for the discipline You give in order that we might share in Your holiness as we grow into the image of Jesus.

    DAY 3: Recognizing Our Sinfulness: "When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’" (Luke 5:8). Just as Peter recognized his sin when he came face to face with the holiness of Jesus, help each one in our family to also humble ourselves before Him. Make us quick to confess our sinfulness before You so that You can cleanse us and make us more like Your Son.

    DAY 4: Acknowledging Our Sinful Natures: "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature…" (Romans 7:18a). Gracious Father, You know the struggle we have with sin, even when we want to do the right thing. Help us to win the battles large and small that we come up against every day – the temptations to sin with our mouths, our minds and our bodies. May we always be aware that the Devil wants to do damage to us – even destroy us so that we cannot bring glory to Your Name. Holy Spirit, control our minds so that we might have the life and peace Your Word promises (Romans 8:6).

    DAY 5: Who May Stand in His Holy Place? "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false" (Psalm 24:4). Holy God, teach us to have clean hands and pure hearts. Give us strength to stand firm against anything that is or could become an idol in our souls and in our home. We want to stand in Your Holy place washed clean of every sin!

    DAY 6: Obedience to the Word Can Keep Us Holy: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word. I seek You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You" (Psalm 119:9-11). Father, help each person in our home to keep his or her way pure by living according to Your Word. Give us a longing to seek You with all of our hearts, and keep us from wandering away from Your commands. Help us to be more diligent about memorizing Your Word so that we might not sin against You. Keep our ways pure and holy before You!

    DAY 7: Righteousness Leads to Holiness: "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness" (Romans 6:18-19). Lord Jesus, because of You, we have been set free from sin, and Your righteousness has become our own. Give us strength to choose holiness over the temptations of the world.

    DAY 8: Be Holy Because He Is Holy: "But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’" (1 Peter 1:15-16).

    DAY 9: Perfecting Holiness: "Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God" (2 Corinthians 7:1).

    DAY 10: Our Spiritual Act of Worship: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1).

    DAY 11: Putting on the New Self: "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24).

    DAY 12: Create Pure Hearts in Us: "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).

    DAY 13: Brothers and Sisters of Jesus: "Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers" (Hebrews 2:11).

    DAY 14: Prepared to Do Any Good Work: "If a man cleanses himself from the latter [ignoble purposes (2 Timothy 2:20)], he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work" (2 Timothy 2:21).

    DAY 15: Called to Be Holy: "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life" (1 Thessalonians 4:7).

    DAY 16: Chosen to Be Holy: "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight…" (Ephesians 1:4).

    DAY 17: Do Not Cherish Sin: "I cried out to Him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me" (Psalm 66:17-20).

    DAY 18: The Home of Righteousness: "But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him" (2 Peter 3:13-14).

    DAY 19: Pursue Righteousness: "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Timothy 2:22).

    DAY 20: Holiness in Action: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" (James 1:27).

    DAY 21: Sacrifice and Holiness: "...because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14).

    DAY 22: Peace and Holiness: "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

    DAY 23: The Prayer of Jesus: "Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified" (John 17:17-19).

    DAY 24: Pure as He Is Pure: "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2-3).

CHARACTERISTICS OF HOLY PEOPLE

    "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved…" (Colossians 3:12):

    DAY 25: Our Clothing: "…clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (Colossians 3:12).

    DAY 26: Our Forgiveness: "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3:13).

    DAY 27: Our Love: "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity" (Colossians 3:14).

    DAY 28: His Peace: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful" (Colossians 3:15).

    DAY 29: His Word: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God" (Colossians 3:16).

    DAY 30: Our Actions: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:17).

Holiness Blessings for Your Family

    Blessing your family in prayer is powerful. It is a practice that will be transformational to your children and your spouse. Every day, find time to touch each family member on the shoulder or the head, say his or her name, and pray a blessing over him or her. Find one of your own, or choose one of these blessings:

    (Name), may He strengthen your heart so that you will be blameless and holy in His presence when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones. (See First Thessalonians 3:13.)

    (Name), this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and so that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ…. (See Philippians 1:9-10.)

    (Name), may God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (See First Thessalonians 5:23.)

    (Name), the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. (See Numbers 6:24-26.)

    May you and your family draw close to the heart of God as you are transformed into the image of Jesus. May His holiness characterize all that you are and all that you do.

    "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8).