It’s so easy to get swept away in the busyness and become distracted from what is really important.

But when we are distracted and don’t take the time to invite others into our homes and our hearts, Satan rejoices.

I’m not here to say that you need to change your schedule, change your plans or change your priorities.

The biggest way we can overcome this struggle is to take a stand against Satan and defend our homes from his schemes. When we take this step and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, our plans and priorities will naturally align with God’s will.

Don’t get overwhelmed thinking you need to change so much that you back down and give up. I’ve done this countless times. And again, Satan rejoices. Satan wants us believing it’s too hard, too much and that we aren’t good enough for real hospitality.

I’m telling you right now, Satan is a liar.

God will empower you for real hospitality and give you the courage and the guidance to invite others into His consuming grace.

So I am going to direct you to a few powerful ways to put on the armor of God and defend your home and heart against Satan so that you can invite others into real hospitality.

Write Out Specific Prayers

It’s so easy to say that we will pray for these things and even to spend time praying about them silently. But it is when we write down our prayers that we open the door to dedicated and fervent prayer.

I originally got this idea from the movie War Room. It was really amazing to see someone write out prayers and the power and strength that comes when you see God answering them.

Since then, I’ve created my own little portable “war room” in a journal. And it has been an enormous blessing to see God answering those prayers.

I’ve taken time to write out prayers about specifically putting on each piece of armor and about specific people. I’ve also written out prayers of surrender and prayers asking the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to opportunities.

And because of this intentional place for prayer, I’ve seen God at work in big ways.

I encourage you to find a notebook, a journal or an actual closet if you have one, to write out prayers and ask God to reveal opportunities to you for real hospitality. Pray against Satan and put on the armor of God.

When we stand against Satan in fervent prayer, God empowers us and equips us for His mighty will.

Ask God to Open Your Eyes to Satan’s Schemes

This has been a game-changer for me. For so long I had heard about “Satan at work” in our lives but hadn’t really seen specific areas in which I felt he was attacking me.

And yet I was plagued with fear, insecurity, anxiety, bondage and pain. I was crippled in so many ways that were not visible to me.

I saw this again play out in my marriage. So many of our arguments seem to come from nowhere and go nowhere. It was as if we were arguing in circles about...nothing!! And it made me feel utterly hopeless.

When I started praying that God would reveal Satan’s schemes to me, I started to actually see when something was not of God. When something was spurred on from a lie. When something was simply a distraction.

I saw the bondage I was in, the insecurities in my life that were based on lies. And more importantly, I began to see the path to healing.

I began to become aware of the arguments that I got into with my husband that were based on nothing at all and were distracting us from either an important moment of communication or something good that God had for us in that moment.

When you take time to pray for God to reveal Satan scheme’s to you, your eyes will be opened to distractions, bondage, insecurities and fears based on lies that affect your heart, your home, your family and your ministry.

We are called to invite others into our homes, we are called to real hospitality. Don’t let Satan’s schemes keep you from answering this call.

Find Several Sources of Accountability

It’s so easy to purpose to invite others in, to answer God’s call, to go out and make disciples. I’ve spent most of my life with the idea that I wanted to do this. But to actually be intentional and commit is a completely different story.

For years my husband and I have said to each other that we need to have people over more. We just need to do it. But we haven’t.

It wasn’t until we started sitting down and picking a night or a couple and texting them in that moment that we actually started to do this. We still are not great at it, but we’ve started to find ways to keep ourselves accountable.

Challenge yourself to grow in hospitality. Whatever that looks like for you, find someone you can reach out to and ask them to check in on you and keep you accountable.

You can also write down a list of days or people that you want to invite in and tape it to your fridge or bathroom mirror until you get those scheduled.

Being intentional and finding accountability are essential parts of following through, especially on something so powerful as hospitality.

As the last post in this series, I would love for you to comment with anything you’ve learned or put into practice.

Hospitality isn’t easy, I know this firsthand. But if you can learn what it takes to be truly hospitable, overcome the barriers that keep you from inviting others in and stand against Satan’s attacks on your home, you will find that you are beginning to answer God’s call to hospitality.

Do you have any tips to share? Or ways that you’ve seen God work in you through hospitality? I’d love for you to share in the comments below!