Chuck and I made a prayer altar in our home last October. It was something we had both been thinking about for a while and the time just seemed right. Our built in bookcase in the den was the perfect spot once we moved our stereo out of the way. 
We didn’t really have any idea what a prayer altar looked like. We decided to just walk through the house and gather up some things that were special to us and see what happened. It was a lot of fun…sort of like going on an Easter egg hunt!
We arranged what we’d found on the bookcase, rearranged it, edited it, added more things…until our prayer altar looked and felt right. Here’s some of the things we included:
Family pictures, The Message Bible, our Celtic Daily Prayer books, God Calling devotional book, framed Bible verse from our friends Mary Kay and Dave, a rock from the Pecos River in New Mexico that we found when our daughters were young, a candle, flowers to remind us of the world God made, a plastic bluebird from our grandson Wesley, an arrowhead from our friend, Helen, a small cross from our friend, Lori, a handmade basket from our friend, Donnie, a stack of Bibles that include Chuck’s childhood Bible, the Bible Chuck gave me when we were dating, and Chuck’s dad’s Bible he had as a child, a rug from a friend in China, a Bluebird painting, a picture of our church, and a plaque with a poem “God made us a family” that hung in our kitchen when our girls were growing up.
When we come to our little altar each morning we bring the people we love and a lot of good memories with us. We read together from our Celtic Prayer Books, Chuck reads a Psalm, I read from God Calling, we sit down and pray silently for our family and friends and others, then we each write down something we are thankful for and read it out loud. It’s a simple, peaceful routine. Our sacred space is a special place to meet God and start the day.
What a beautiful idea for your home! I enjoyed reading this so much. Having a “special place” to go talk to God is always wonderful!
Thanks for your comment, Linda! I’m glad this post struck a chord with you. Come back to see us.–Debbie
It is very sweet and Emma is on it too!!
Yes, I love that picture of Mama and Emma. Emma was such a sweet, cuddly baby…she still is now that I think about it!
Thank you for your site
I made with photoshop backgrounds for myspace or youtube and whatever
my backgrounds:http://tinyurl.com/6rbxmr
all the best and thank you again!
WOW!!! I am so excited to finally found this site!! The Lord has been dealing with be about family communion and a family altar. I didn’t have an altar in the home growing up and wasn’t really sure what could or couldn’t be there. There were somr ideas I had, but I wasn’t sure if they would line up with Gods word. I felt like if I could just find something someone has done that was simliar in thought that I knew that my ideas were just fine. Then I found your post. Thank you so much for obeying the Lord. You have blessed me beyond measure with this. I pray that the Father will bless you for what you may see as just a simple thing, but has been the answer to my hearts desire for my family! Powerful!
Jake, glad you found us and glad you found our experience helpful. The things on our altar remind us of family, shared experiences, and things that have special significance to us. In all of these things we have witnessed the presence and guidance of God, so when we see each photo or object, we are reminded of God’s work in our lives over a lot of years. I pray that your altar will be as meaningful for you as ours is for us. -Chuck