Cover Your Home

Gentlemen,

If you are reading this, it is because you care about your family and the kind of home you are building.

Family is everything and if you are married with kids you have a heavy responsibility to cover your home in the best ways for their sake. They need a man that is strong, loving, compassionate, and a true leader.

You set the spiritual atmosphere.
You set the purpose.
You set the outcomes you are achieving together on this journey we call Life.

Do NOT take this lightly. I believe God places men in families on purpose, and He entrusts them with leadership that goes far beyond provision.

Covering your home is one of the most meaningful ways you live out that responsibility, so let’s unpack what this means.

“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Psalm 127:1 (ESV)

Your role is defined as always in the depths and Truth of Scripture. God never asked you to carry your home by yourself. He has entrusted you to steward the weight of responsibility, but still be invited to lead it with Him.

After all the weeks we discussed things like Prayer and the Word, I’m convinced that is how that leadership best takes shape. Prayer is not a reaction to problems. It is a choice to align yourself before moving forward.

I’ve had so many moments in my life that have been filled with insane amounts of anxiety from decisions or obstacles or hard choices or things that happened I wished never had. And the ONLY thing that could ever bring me peace and surety was through the power of prayer.

And as the saying goes, Prayer doesn’t just change things, it changes me.

C.S. Lewis said it like this: I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time – waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God – it changes me.

Years ago I found myself facing insecurity and struggling with my purpose. I had so much to be thankful for but just didn’t feel like things were working in my life. Nothing seemed to be changing or aligning until I hit a breaking point and finally CHOSE to make a change.

The big change that would forever transform my life?

I decided to hug my wife every morning and pray with her while hugging her before the day took over.

That decision reshaped our home. Alignment grew between the two of us which then led to setting a much more positive and encouraging atmosphere for our kids. Arguments became fewer and further between. Even high stress moments stopped carrying the same weight. As I covered my home more intentionally in prayer, my own sense of purpose became clearer and stronger.

Prayer did not remove responsibility. It anchored it.

One of my favorite men in Scripture, Joshua, understood this kind of authority:

“As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15 (ESV)

The key word here is will.

Not we might or we’re thinking about it or we want to.

We will.

Joshua chose direction for his home before circumstances forced it. And this is exactly what it means to cover your home. As a man, you get to decide what will shape it. What voices get access. What habits are reinforced. What spiritual tone is cultivated.

Or lack thereof.

This responsibility can be equally destructive to your home if you fill it with negativity, foul music, media, video games or just a general apathy. The things you put into your mind and heart will determine the trajectory of your life.

Galatians summed it up like this: “Whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

So what can you do?

Will it until you feel it. Listen to the commands throughout the Playbook that’s been given to us to learn every aspect of what it means to Lead Your Family well.

Recently, my son Clay and I were hunting for his elk. We had spent an entire cold day hiking and searching without seeing anything. Nothing was moving. Nothing was happening.

At some point, it hit me that we had skipped the most important part of our day.

Prayer & a Devotion which is how we normally start our hunting days. So we stopped. We talked about it. We acknowledged that we should have started the day differently and so we spent time talking about it and why it’s important to start our day that way.

Less than an hour later, we got on the elk.

We hadn’t changed our strategy. We hadn’t discovered a hidden spot. We simply realigned ourselves first and then moved forward. As we were hiking out of a little rise a local had told us to go, the elk appeared out of nowhere. Not only that, they began moving toward us so I quickly had Clay set up across from a saddle where I thought they might work toward. Sure enough, one eventually stepped out broadside on that saddle, and Clay made the shot.

We’ve been eating excellent ever since :)

That moment was an incredible reminder of how important it is to be intentional with your start.

When we choose alignment before action, everything carries a different weight. We move with clarity instead of frustration. With peace instead of pressure. Whether the outcome is immediate or not, we are no longer moving alone.

Scripture calls us into that posture daily.

“Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (ESV)

Again, not a suggestion. But a command.

So the moral here is to start your days right. Get your priorities together. And never underestimate the power of prayer to cover your family and set trajectory toward things aligned with God instead of your own.

To me that’s what it means to Cover Your Home.

Alistair Begg has a great clip going viral again recently where if we answer that question above with the first person, I, then we’ve not understood Salvation. Instead it should all be focused on HE.

Mark Driscoll is consistently speaking into the need for men to lead families and I got to hear him speak on this topic a few years ago during a study on Genesis. Worth the time if you need some extra encouragement and motivation.

Chris Koerner is a really interesting entrepreneur. He starts dozens of businesses every year and has been on countless podcasts explaining his business model. This is a great convo he had on The Diary of a CEO podcast.

We are building lives, families, and legacies that last.

Rooting for you always,

Joshua Brown
Chief Firestarter at Soulfire

PS: I recently launched the Soulfire Brotherhood membership, but too many of you have NOT taken the next step. I want to know WHY. Reply to this email with exactly what is holding you back, or go ahead and jump in now.