"Our Home: A Place of Prayer" (Psalm 34:3)

"Our Home: A Place of Prayer" from Psalm 34:3 was preached by Dr. Mark McElreath at the City Baptist Church of Atlanta on June 22, 2025.

Find out more about the City Baptist Church of Atlanta at www.citybaptistchurch.com.

Transcript

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Welcome to the City Pulpit. Bible messages from the pulpit ministry of the City Baptist Church in Atlanta.

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Please take your Bible with me. Let's go to Psalm 34. Psalm 34, and we're continuing this morning in our Christian home emphasis. We've already had three Sundays. Our home, a place of peace, our home, a place of purity, our home, a place of parenting. And now today we're going to look at our home, a place of prayer. Let's begin with one verse in Psalm 34. Would you look with me, please, at verse 3 in Psalm 34? David, the human penman here, he says, Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. And we'll look this morning at our home, a place of prayer. As we look at Psalm 34, verse 3, would you mark that one word in verse 3? That word together. Together. It's a wonderful thing when a church magnifies the Lord together. It's a wonderful thing when a group of people, a Bible study, or a Sunday school class magnifies the Lord together. But I think the most wonderful thing we can see is when a family magnifies the Lord together. I believe a part of this is talking about prayer here, because all through this psalm, David is speaking of prayer. If you look at verse number four, he says, I sought the Lord and he heard me. He says down in verse number six, he says, This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. If you look at verse number 17, he says, The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth. What does that mean? They're praying. And there's not just prayer going on here in Psalm 34. There is a crying out and seeking the Lord. I mean, he says in verse 6, he says, This poor man cried. He's saying, I had nothing, and I called out to the Lord, and I'm thankful he heard me. In our church, we should be a praying church. But in our homes, we should have praying homes. Now, how are we going to do that? You know, there should be, in our homes, I think there should be an attitude of conversation that exalts the Lord. And I think that can be shown through our prayer. You know, you can listen to people pray and you can tell a lot about them. You can just hear people talk and you can tell a lot about them, right? But there should be an attitude of exalting the Lord when we speak in our conversation. Sometimes you talk to people, and, you know, there are people I've been in churches, and there's people I won't say, How are you doing? Because I'm afraid they will actually tell me. I'll just say, I'm glad to see you today. You know who I'm talking about. Now, no one here, I'm sure, but those people popped in your mind. You don't want to say, How are you doing this morning? Because the organ site will begin, right? Now, if there are needs and there are prayer requests, we certainly need to share those. But there should be an attitude of exaltation toward the Lord when we're speaking to others and when we're speaking to Him. And in our home, we should be magnifying the Lord. We should be exalting the Lord together. I mentioned it earlier. I'll say it again. Maybe you say, Pastor, I'm the only one in my home. I mean, when I'm there, it is me, right? Well, great. Then you have one person to worry about. You have one person you're responsible for. That your home be a praying home, a place of prayer. When we pray, we're inviting God into the process. When we pray, we're showing our children an emphasis. When we pray together, there are things we pray for in our home, and there are things that our children are learning to pray for. They're praying for this building and things. And when they hear mom and daddy pray for something, you know what those children realize? If this is important enough to take to God, for mommy and daddy, it's important enough for me to take to God on my behalf. So would you write down some things for me? As we think about our home as a place of prayer, this Christian home month, would you write this down first of all? Number one, let us pray for our children. Let us pray for our children. Would you hold your place here with me and go to the book of 1 Samuel? 1 Samuel, let's look at chapter 1. 1 Samuel chapter 1, we come to a mother's prayer. And this mother's prayer is coming from a lady named Hannah. Hannah is praying for a child. She's barren, she has no children. If you look down with me in verse number 10, it says, And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. She is seeking God. I mean, her spirit is broken, seeking God for a child. You skip ahead to verse number 20, we find here it says, Wherefore it came to pass when the time was come, about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son. In God's timing, she brings forth a son. His name is going to be Samuel. And it says, Because I have asked him of the Lord. And then it says in verse 24, and when she had weaned him, she took him up with her and three bullocks, and one ephah of flour and a bottle of wine, and brought him into the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. And they slew a bullock and brought the child to Eli. Eli is the high priest in the temple. Or in the tabernacle. And she said, O my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed. I hope you mark that in verse 27 there. For this child I prayed. And the Lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him. Therefore, also I have lent him to the Lord, as long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord. And he and she worshipped the Lord. We find here she calls out the Lord, God answers, and she says, For this child I prayed. You know what that tells me? And we need to remember this. And people make jokes about this, and I don't think it's a good thing to joke about, but no child is an accident. All of them have been sent from God. Now, sometimes families say, Well, you know, we didn't know this one was coming, and people like to laugh about that. But you know what? Every child that comes, God sends that child. And you say, Pastor, you don't know certain circumstances I know, and there are certain things that have happened. Well, tell me this: is every life precious? Is every life precious before God? Does God have a purpose for every life? Then there must be some reason that God brought this child into the world. And we've got to pray for them that God would give them to us. There was a time my wife and I, we were told, and we were told we'd never have children. And we thought, well, Lord, it's all in your hands. Doctors can say things, and we realize there are many people that can't have children, and we said, Well, we're just going to go to the Lord and pray. We prayed for a long time and prayed for it was a couple of years or more. And the Lord blessed us. That's only of the Lord. That's a blessing of the Lord. We prayed for those children, and then when they came, you know what we have to do? We've got to keep praying for those children. You know, sometimes there's more effort put into the baby shower than there is in the raising of the children. You know, I could say the same. Sometimes there's more work put into the wedding than there is put into the marriage. Look, that continues on. That's an ever, ever continuing work that's going on in praying for our children. Skip ahead with me to the book of 1 Chronicles. If you're in 1 Samuel, it's just a few books over. 1 Chronicles chapter 29, here we find the Father's Pra. Here we find David praying. 1 Chronicles chapter 29. Look with me, please, at verse number 18. David says, O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee. Now look at verse 19. And give unto Solomon, my son, a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, thy statutes, and do all these things, and to build the palace for the which I have made provision. Now, David was a man of war, and David wanted to take the tabernacle, the temporary dwelling place that God had given where he would dwell among his people, and build a permanent temple. But God says, You're a man of war. I'm not going to give that work to you. You're not going to build the temple, but you can make provision and begin to get all the supplies together so your son Solomon can do it. And the time comes, he says, now Solomon's growing, and Lord, I'm praying, verse 19, that you give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart. Now that doesn't mean sinless perfection. He's not going to be without sin. Solomon was a child and he was a sinner. You know why? Because his daddy, David, was a sinner, and his daddy before him was a sinner, and my children are sinners. You know why? Because I'm a sinner and they're all born sinners, okay? This is not perfection, but this is a heart that is mature and whole and really entirely given over to following the Lord. Now skip ahead with me. If you're in 1 Chronicles 29, look please at 2 Chronicles chapter 1, probably on the next page over. 2 Chronicles chapter 1, God comes to Solomon. He's now king. Now, would you look with me at verse number 7? It says, In that night God did appear unto Solomon and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee. Can you imagine God coming to you and say, You tell me what you want, I'll give it to you. Verse 8, he says, And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast showed great mercy unto David my father, and has showed made me to reign in his stead. Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be established, for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth and multitude. Give me now what? Wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this thy people that is so great? And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart. Now connect second or connect 1 Chronicles 29, 19. David praying, Solomon would have a perfect heart to 2 Chronicles 1.11, where Solomon says, Give me wisdom and knowledge. And God says, And this was in thine heart. Thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of thine enemies, nor yet thou hast asked long life, but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people over whom I've made thee king. Isn't that interesting that David prays his heart would be right and wholly given over to the Lord? And when the time comes, Solomon can ask of God something. He doesn't ask for riches, he doesn't ask for victory over his enemies. He says, Lord, give me wisdom and knowledge. That's what's in my heart. You know why? Because a daddy thought it was important enough to pray for his son. And we who have children have got to believe it is important enough to pray for those children. Maybe our children are babies or they're teenagers, they're adults, they're out of the house. We should be praying for them. Never be pessimistic about the power of a parent's prayer. Maybe you say, Well, they're gone. They're off. I spoke with a woman recently. And she said, My children are adults now. They're gone. What can I do? She can pray. She can still reach all the way to where they are. They may live hundreds of miles away. Their prayer gets there. A text message may be blocked, a call may be canceled, but a prayer always gets through. Pray for our children. If you were to walk through rural Epworth, England in the early 1700s, you wouldn't find much there. You'd find a struggling minister, and you'd find a lady named Susanna, and you'd find a woman who had given to 19 children. Nineteen children. Ten of them would make it into adulthood. They would make it out of, ten of the nineteen would make it out of infancy. And you wouldn't find much there. You'd find a small home next to a church and a struggling minister and a mother who decided she was going to be personally responsible for the spiritual well-being of her children. Now you probably can't name 17 of those 19 children, but you've heard two of their names. That's Susanna Wesley. And she raised two boys, one named John Wesley, one named Charles Wesley. And every day for two hours, Susanna, small home, and sometimes 10 children running around in that home, she would take her large apron and she would sit down and she would pull that apron up over her head and create a little tent. And for two hours each day, the youngest child to the oldest child knew, don't mess with mama. Because she had her Bible out, and she was reading her Bible, and she was praying, interceding for those children. In fact, every week she took one hour of personal one-on-one time with each of those children. That's some dedication. But she worked with them and labored with them. And two of those children. One of those children was Charles Wesley, who would go on to write over 6,000 hymns. We sing some of them today. And can it be? That's Charles Wesley. Hark the Herald Angel sing? That's Charles Wesley. Came from a mother laboring over and praying over her children. John Wesley. Many believe John Wesley, preaching in the early to mid-1700s, before mass transit, before amplification, no microphones, traveling by horseback, spoke to, preached to over one million people in his lifetime. He's called the father of Methodism. He helped spur on, he and George Whitfield and great preachers like that, the first Great Awakening across the British Isles and across the United States. And yet all of that comes out of a mother who birthed 19 children in a small little house who said, if there is one thing I can do, I can pray for these children. Maybe we say, What can I do? God has given me no great gifts. God has given me no, I have nothing to give, but He's given me this child. Well, you know what she thought? I think she thought, then I can do something with these children. And those children, you may not know the name Susanna Wesley, but you know Charles Wesley and you know John Wesley and hundreds of thousands, yay, into the millions of people have listened to their music and been edified and encouraged, people being saved and sent out because of a mother's prayer. Many of you know the name Douglas MacArthur. He wrote a father's prayer. Douglas MacArthur was a five-star general, one of the few five-star generals ever reached that rank in the army, was general of the army in World War II and took back the Philippines. He wrote this prayer. He said, Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid. One who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat and humble and gentle in victory. Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds. A son who will know thee, and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge. Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm, and here let him learn compassion for those who fail. Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high, a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men, one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past. And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength. How can we, how can we pray like this and truly seek the Lord to move? Would you go with me to the book of Matthew, chapter 18? Matthew chapter 18. The Lord Jesus Christ speaking here on prayer. And in Matthew chapter 18, he says in verse number 19. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. You know what I think that is? I think it's an invitation for a mother and a father to pray for those children. Maybe it's for a grand a grandmother and a grandfather to pray for those grandchildren, or a or an aunt and uncle to pray for those nephews and those nieces. If two will gather together, maybe you say, well, Pastor, I'm just one. Great. Then you find the second one and you enter into a bond of prayer for that child or for those children. We're praying for children. Forty children came in this past week. Forty different children came into this place for summer day camp and heard the gospel. Many of them, a large amount of them. They'd never, they've never heard the Bible taught before. All of it entirely foreign. Who will pray for those children? I'm praying. I'm praying God raises up. Child evangelists, you call them whatever you want. We've got to reach this next generation. Because most of them were going into their homes, and I spoke with their parents and I met them. Most of them coming out of single family homes. And we've got to come alongside and bring the truth and say, here's what the Lord teaches about himself. Here's what the Bible teaches about salvation. Here's what the Bible teaches about life and purpose. Heard a statistic just this week. There are seven million working age, able-bodied men in the United States. Seven million of them who will not work. Well, what makes the difference? There was a round table. They were talking about. What makes the difference? What's the answer for this? You know what the answer I think is? It's knowing the Lord and understanding that work and duty are not a part of the fall, all that came in God's perfect world. That there is a dignity in work, there is provision in work. And who is going to teach them about this? We've got to pray for these children. My pastor, for many years, Pastor Sexton, and maybe you say, boy, Pastor, you really quote him often. Yes, he was my pastor for 14 years, so I heard a lot of his messages. He said, You will never know the heart of your spouse until you hear that person pray. You know, I understand what is meaningful to my wife by what she prays for and how she prays for it. She'll learn the same thing about me. What are we truly seeking God for in our families? I can pray or I can I can say, I'm praying God makes my son a doctor or makes him a lawyer, a teacher, whatever it is. But are we praying, God, what do you want for this child? And God help me to put everything into them so they are prepared to do it. They're prepared for it. Praying for our children. Would you write down a second thing? Not just praying for our children, would you write down secondly? We must pray with our children. We must pray with our children. This is beyond the mealtime prayer, by the way. This is not sitting down and we're ready to eat and it's hot and we need to eat it while it's hot, and we mumble some prayer and we all start eating. No, it's beyond that. There must be family prayer. Do we fight with our children? Yet we never pray with our children. Do we encourage them on the ball field, cheer them on, yet we never pray with them? Do we help them with homework and studying, yet we never pray with them? Galatians 6.2 says, Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. You know what we do when we pray with our children? We're helping them bear the burdens of the family with us. Now, they don't need to know everything. Children don't need to know, don't need to know everything going on in the family. But there are things they need to know about, and they need to know you've got to enter in with us in praying for this. We're bearing this burden together. We pray, and this is the timing that we have. We pray at night. We all pray, and all the children, all the children pray, and of course, they're different ages and different maturity levels, and those all those prayers sound very different. The things they pray for are different. Well, you know what they pray for? They pray for this, the purchase of this building. They know the price, they know the amount that it costs, and of course, they don't truly understand what that value is. They just think, well, if that's what it is, we just ask God for it. I'm like, Lord, give me that kind of faith. I mean, if that's what it is, we just ask God for it, right? They pray, they pray for the school, they they call out names of children they know and pray that they would be saved. Why? Because we're praying with them. We're teaching them by our own prayers how we ought to pray. One writer says this in writing on the home he says, regardless of how verbally savvy your teenager is, meaning they don't talk a lot, he will not be able to argue with your prayers. Regardless of how smart mouthed your daughter can be, her tone will be silenced against your prayer on her behalf. Walls that no argument, no shouting, Match, no standoff can break down, will literally melt against the echoes of your praying voice. Now we should be praying for them, but we should be praying with them. Our children should hear me pray. Your children should hear you pray. And they should be invited to pray. You say, well, Pastor, my child is young, they don't know the Lord yet. That's okay. You know what? I always had my children, even before they came to know the Lord, if they could frame a prayer, I would have them pray. I think it was good practice. And I think it showed that they could talk to the Lord. And then there came a point where they understood they were a sinner, they needed to be saved, they accepted Christ as their savior, and now the Lord hears those prayers. But I was teaching them, this is what it's like. They're getting in the habit of it. I don't think there's anything wrong with that at all. They didn't believe those prayers were saving them. And they were very childish prayers, I understand. But now they're building their own prayer life because we're praying with them. There's an old song called My Mother's Prayer. It says, I never can forget the day I heard my mother kindly say, You're leaving now, my tender care. Remember, child, your mother's prayer. I never can forget the voice that always made my heart rejoice. Though I have wondered, God knows where. Still I remember mother's prayer. Though years have gone, I can't forget. Those words of love, I hear them yet. I see her by the old armchair, my mother dear in humble prayer. I never can forget the hour. I felt the Savior's cleansing power. My sin and guilt he canceled there. Twas there he answered mother's prayer. Oh, praise the Lord for saving grace. We'll meet up yonder face to face. The home above together share, reminding me of my mother's prayer. You know what Jesus did if you're in Matthew 18? Would you turn one chapter over in Matthew chapter 19? Look at verse number 13. It says this. Then were brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them and do what? And pray. And the disciples rebuked them. And Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them and departed thence. What's he doing? He's laying his hands on these children and he's praying with them. And they would bring them far and wide just to have these children come, and he could pray with them. Are our children hearing us pray? And maybe you think, well, Pastor, we've never done that before. It's going to be really awkward. That's okay. You keep doing it, the awkwardness will fall away. The clumsiness will fall away. And I'll tell you this: if you start doing it regularly and you miss a day or you forget on a day, your children will start holding you accountable. Dad, are we going to do that? Yes, you're exactly right. That's a good thing. We have a we have a, and this is not how you have to do it, but we have a certain thing, certain things the children do every night in preparation for bed, and then we sit down, we read a book. We're actually reading a science book now that we got from Dr. McIntosh from the City Symposium, reading through that. We sing a song out of the hymnal, we just turn to the next song in the hymnal, just systematically singing through all the songs in the hymnal. And then we read a portion of God's word, and then we pray from the youngest to the oldest. And you know what that does as well? It always opens up conversation. You say, My children never talk, they never ask questions. If you sit down and you read things and you sing and you pray about things, that will open conversation. But they're getting to know the Lord. And you know what also is happening when we pray together? They're getting to know me and they're getting to know you. And you know what that does for me? It makes me up my game. I realize there's things I've got to do better in. There's ways I've got to work harder at being the Christian I'm supposed to be. Because I've got to be the Christian before them. How are we going to pray with our children? Pick a time each day, schedule it. Start today. Do it even though it's awkward or difficult. And you and your child pray. All of you praying out loud before the Lord. Let me conclude here. If you're in Matthew 19, would you just turn over a couple chapters to Matthew 21? Jesus said this about his house. Matthew 21, verse 13. And he said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer. And God helping us, let us make each and every one of our houses a house of prayer. Stopping. You know, if we're going to pray, you know what we have to do? We have to turn the music off. We have to turn the TV off. We have to turn the podcast off. We've got to shut things out. Many times we don't like silence. But all of that is turned off. And we're just speaking to the Lord. For our children, yes. And with our children. That they may hear us pray to the Lord. That they may hear us. What is on our heart? What emphasis are we placing? What are we as a family seeking God for? That's how they will learn to pray and make our house a house of prayer.

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