Declare this: “… as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15 NKJV).

Did you have a check? A momentary doubt? A question? A twitch? A little discomfort? If you did, stop and pray until total faith is in place, until you can declare this with complete assurance that it will be so. Pray: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 NKJV). And He will!

In Matthew 7:24-25, Jesus said, “‘Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.’” As Christians, we do listen to the sayings of Jesus, and we also do them, so Jesus counts us as wise builders. We’ve built our homes of the Rock that is Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). We’ve prayed together, gone to church together, and served the Lord together as a family. We’ve made decisions for our families based on the Word of God and prayerfully. We are wise builders.

But now the rains and floods have come. The storms have come.

I had never really thought about this teaching of Jesus’ being a promise for those who love and pray for a prodigal, but I now see it. In his book, Love Like You’ve Never Been Hurt, Jentezen Franklin says, “When you think you cannot love … the child who stole your money, remember that the Rock you build your house on is stronger than the sin. The Rock is stronger than the rebellion. The Rock is stronger than the iniquity. The Rock is stronger than the addiction” (2018, p. 155). The Rock is our Lord!

And even though the rains and floods, the storms, have come, we have a promise that our house will stand, because we are built on the Rock.

So, when doubt creeps in, as a wise builder you can declare in full faith, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”