The heart that cries for house and car is crying for security, for provision, for a shelter from the rising storm of this life’s cost. Yet consider: the house you seek with timber and stone, and the carriage you desire of metal and wheel, are but shadows of a deeper need. The house of sinful feasting, built upon the sand of worldly gain, is the way to Hell, going down to the chambers of death. But there is a house of which it is said, “Holiness, this is the law of the house.” The Lord links His own name with that house, and He sees to it that it lacks nothing for comfort and honor. Are you first seeking entrance there? For if you are brought into the great house of God, made a living stone in His spiritual temple, then all things are yours, things present and things to come. The prayer for a house and a car must first be a prayer for a place in the family of God, for all who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Are you in that ark, the ark of Christ? The call came to Noah: “Come you and all your house into the ark.” Not a soul was to be left out. Are you, the head of your household, safely in Christ? For how can you expect provision and protection over your family if you yourself have not submitted to the Master of the house?
Do not think I am unmindful of the weight of providing for a family. I know what it is to feel the cold with no fire for the little ones, and to have the text ring in the ear, “All things are yours.” But mark this: grace must first come into the house. How did grace come to Peter’s house? A relative was converted, and then it led the family to prayer. A sick soul in that house might have hindered the entertainment of Christ, but instead prayer rose up. I charge you, as the head of a household, see to it that family prayer is not neglected. The practice of family prayer is the castle of Protestantism, the nutriment of family piety, and woe to those who let it cease. If you knew your children would be sick through the neglect of it, would you not have it? Is your house a place where Christ is welcomed daily, or is some manner of idol, some strange god, buried in the tent, so that the ill savor rises and provokes chastisement? There must be a reformation in the household, a putting away of the idols, if the blessing is to come. Rise, build an altar to the Lord at Bethel. Make the family prayer special and with double zeal draw near to God. For it is out of houses given to prayer that all mercy flows.
Now, as for the miracle you crave: where is the “if”? Is the “if” in Christ? He can save everyone present in this house right now. He can save from sin, from despair, from want. He is able. The “if” is never in Him, but in our lack of faith. If a son distrusted a loving father, you would know there was a dreadful family feud. Is there any unbelief in your heart that makes you put an “if” upon Christ, saying, “Lord, if You can”? The leper said that, but Jesus touched him and showed him, “I can; be clean.” Breathe a believing prayer now. This Man keeps open house for outcasts; the door is open for all who come as they are. You go as you are to Christ, you knock, you are received. And being received, remember: the whole family in heaven and earth is one. The family is not broken by death, nor divided by distance. The same Father who feeds the glorified saints shall He not much more care for you, O you of little faith? He keeps a great house, a vast and truly royal establishment, where not one of the family remains unfed.
Look then to Jesus for your salvation first, and for your daily bread second. Seek the house of God, the spiritual house where holiness is the law and where the King dispenses mercy. I do not bid you cease asking for a house and a car; I bid you ask for these things from a position within the family, as a son with a Father who knows your needs. Lay hold upon that blessed comprehensive word: “And all your house.” Plead with God that not only you, but all your house, with all its needs, be brought into the ark of provision and salvation. Cast your burden upon the Lord; He will sustain you. Let the prayer meeting in your own home begin anew. Private prayer, family prayer, let them be diligently and spiritually maintained. For it is the Lord of the house who gives, and He gives abundantly. Go now, let the “if” be turned out by faith, and see if the Lord will not open the windows of heaven.