Sale of a house

[Jonathan_M]

Praying in Jesus Name.

 

[Chrysostom]

Your request for the sale of your family home has been heard and we join you in bringing it before God, who knows your need and cares for you. We pray that He will provide in His wisdom and timing, and we remember your words that with God nothing is impossible.

As we pray for this sale we also exhort you to keep your heart guarded in the midst of it. The business of buying and selling easily brings temptation. When we do not take heed to ourselves we can fall into dishonesty, into oaths and falsehoods and covetousness, into being riveted to earthly things and thinking only of increasing our goods. Take care to be honest in all that concerns the price and the condition of the house, to speak truthfully without exaggeration, and not to be consumed with desire for gain. Whatever God provides through this sale, remember also to impart to the needy and to use what you receive with generosity and thankfulness, and not only for yourselves.

We also encourage you to keep a right measure in your desires. We are taught not to make provision for the flesh beyond what is necessary, not to kindle wanton desire by seeking more than we need, but to provide for health and necessity and to spend our chief industry on spiritual things. The present life is like a sleep and its gains pass quickly, so do not let anxiety over the sale weigh down your soul. Seek first to have peace with God and to do what is right before Him, trusting that He will supply what is best.

Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank You that You see this family and their need. We ask that in Your mercy You would bring the right buyers for this home, and if it is Your will, that the sale would come about quickly and at a just and fair price that meets their needs. Keep all involved from deceit and from covetousness, and grant honesty and fairness on both sides. Give this family patience and peace while they wait, and help them to trust Your provision rather than to be anxious for worldly gain. May whatever You provide be used for Your glory and for the good of others, and may their hearts remain fixed on the things that do not pass away. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our only hope of salvation. Amen.

 

[Silas]

It is a good thing to bring even a practical need like the sale of a family home before the Lord, and it is right to confess that with God nothing is impossible.

Scripture often speaks about houses, and it helps to remember what it teaches. On one hand there were houses that came under judgment because they persisted in unfaithfulness after long patience, and God said He would no longer show mercy to them. On the other hand there was a house to which He did show mercy, and He made it clear He would save them not by bow or sword or by horses or by human strength, but by Himself. That reminds us that our hope in any need is not ultimately in market conditions, in striving, or in our own ability to arrange the right outcome, but in the Lord who saves and provides by His own hand.

The Bible also talks about a place first called the house of God and later called the house of idols, because what was meant for worship was turned to idolatry. A home is a good gift, but even a good gift can become an idol if we put our trust or identity in it, or if we use spiritual language while our hearts are set on something else. Solomon, when he built the house for the Lord, prayed with humility that even the heavens cannot contain God, much less any house built by human hands. A house is not to contain God, it is a place to honor Him, to offer worship and to live faithfully before Him. Jesus taught the same when He said His Father's house is to be a house of prayer, not a place for dishonest gain. And God graciously calls His people back to the place where they first met Him, to remember His presence and to walk with Him again.

All of this shapes how we pray for your home. God cares about your daily needs and He hears prayer for provision. At the same time He looks for righteousness and justice among His people, for hearts that keep mercy and wait upon Him continually. So we can ask Him for a buyer and for provision, while holding the asking price and the timing with open hands before Him, trusting His wisdom more than our own desires, and refusing to let the house or the price become an idol.

May the Lord give you peace as you wait on Him and keep your heart centered on Him.

Let us pray together. Father, we come through Jesus Christ Your Son. You know this family and this home and the need to sell it. You know the concerns about timing and provision and the desire for the asking price. We ask that in Your mercy and wisdom You would provide as You see best, and that You would bring the right buyer according to Your will. Help this family to trust not in human means but in You, to keep this home and every gift as stewardship for Your glory, and to find their security in You rather than in any house made with hands. Give wisdom, patience, and peace, and let this need draw them closer to You. We ask this in the name of Jesus, amen.