Scripture to Memorize
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Proverbs 31:26–27
Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God. I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense.
Nehemiah 13:7–9
Guided Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for the example of Nehemiah’s life. Thank you for showing me (through him) that it’s okay to be greatly displeased by things in my household that don’t belong there. My home is your home and if there’s anything in it that displeases you, I want to remove it and purify my home. Holy Spirit, guide me in this process. Give me wisdom as I seek to make my home a holy sanctuary. Amen.
Personal
The Proverbs 31 woman spoke with wisdom as she watched over the affairs of her household. But the voice of wisdom isn’t always speaking words everyone longs to hear; sometimes the voice of wisdom needs to speak out for truth and take a firm stand against ungodly influences in the home.
If you are unfamiliar with the story of Tobiah (from today’s Passage to Read), let me briefly recap. Tobiah was one of the sworn enemies of the Israelites. He did everything he could to oppose the rebuilding of the walls that protected God’s people. Then Eliashib, who was supposed to be protecting the house of the Lord, invited one of God’s sworn enemies to move in. When Nehemiah learned about it, he pitched a fit. We might think he overreacted when he took everything out of Tobiah’s room and gave orders to have it purified. But it wasn’t an overreaction. It was an appropriate response.
Part of watching over the affairs of our household is carefully guarding what we allow to come into the rooms of our house. This applies even to those rooms that belong to someone else, as long as that someone else is under our authority.
Today I want you to move from room to room in your house. Go in a spirit of prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit if there is anything offensive. In particular, take a long, hard look at every book, painting, plaque, print, periodical, DVD, CD, and the like. Some of these may be Trojan horses that bring the forces of darkness into your home.
If you’ve traveled to other countries, be particularly alert to the fact that some items sold as tourist trinkets are actually foreign idols. Cartoon characters, action figures, computer and electronic games also warrant special scrutiny. I know, I know, some of you are thinking, Donna’s going a bit overboard today. Fine. This is between you and God. Listen to his voice, not mine. Tempted though I am to give more specific direction, I’m going to trust this process to the Holy Spirit.
Let me share an example from my own life. The level of conflict in our home had been escalating dramatically. My then sixteen-year-old daughter, Leah, who had been homeschooled most of her life, had begun attending the local high school. I found her newfound interests and attitudes intolerable; she found my continuing efforts to control her every thought and action equally intolerable. A war of the wills was underway—and my teenager was winning decisively. For some reason, all of our knock-down, drag-out fights occurred in one particular room. One day I was sitting in there and Leah said, “I don’t know how you can stand to sit in the screaming room. All we ever do is fight in here.”
The screaming room.
I was crushed to think my children would grow up remembering there was a room in our house devoted to screaming. That’s when I decided to change the dynamic completely. I took almost everything out of that room and either threw it out, gave it away, or moved it elsewhere in the house. Then I moved every sacred object (crosses, Scripture verse plaques, mission-trip artifacts) from elsewhere in the house into that one room. When I had completely re-created the room, and spent an entire night praying aloud in it, we celebrated with our first family communion.
Now this room is our family prayer chapel. And guess what? Ever since we’ve instituted our weekly gatherings, the level of conflict has plummeted. Yes, we still have our challenges but there has definitely been a shift in the atmosphere. And the perception of that room has turned 180 degrees. Now it’s the most peaceful room in the house. I believe the peace we are fostering in this room is permeating the rest of the house. Peace has a powerful way of spreading.
If you have a teenager, particularly a troubled teenager, I urge you to consider prayerfully a Nehemiah purge of your house. First, approach the child and invite his or her participation. If the child is not open, you may have even greater cause for concern. This is very delicate. People have different convictions about personal privacy and invasion of space. Let the Holy Spirit and wisdom guide you. But remember, this is your home and you are in authority. Nehemiah didn’t hesitate to invade a complete stranger’s room because it was defiling everyone else.
Again, I’m going to be completely open with you. I am not one to see a demon under every rock, and my husband is quite conservative theologically and levelheaded to the extreme. With that said, we were going through an extremely difficult time with one of my daughters, and I decided to pray over her room. My husband sat in our family prayer chapel, praying aloud, while I went upstairs. When I returned, he reported that he had distinctly felt something evil come down the stairs and go out the front door.
You can choose to believe this or not, but we can both assure you it’s true. And this occurred in a Christian, homeschooling household. Do not deceive yourself into thinking the Enemy hasn’t managed to sneak anything in through something you thought was completely harmless.
Your assignment for today is a spiritual one. Please include your husband if you possibly can; invite your children, too; go from room to room, purifying your house.
After Nehemiah emptied out the room of anything offensive to God, he purified the room and brought in items that were suitable for the house of the Lord. You might consider doing the same. Although I previously advocated keeping collections to a minimum, I’ll admit I do have one: crosses. The walls in my house are covered with crosses from around the world. You may want to invite your pastor, priest, or church elder over to your home to anoint it with oil, sprinkle it with holy water, or bless it in whatever manner seems most appropriate, based on your spiritual convictions. We invited a spiritual leader from our church to come in and pray over every area of our home.
Affirmation: I purify my home.
Rid your house of anything that might be offensive to God or anything that might serve as a foothold for the Enemy. Consider replacing the items with Scripture plaques, crosses, or other sacred items. Pray over and spiritually purify your home. Invite a spiritual leader to bless your house, if you desire.