Homeschool Prayer Challenge Week 26: Spiritual Accountability

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We’re 26 weeks into our series of praying for our homeschools – I’m so thankful you are joining me! You can learn more about the series here. We’ll pray about a new area of our homeschool journey each week and dig into God’s Word with daily devotional reflections.

Today we’re talking about something that’s often overlooked but so important: accountability in our walk with the Lord.

If you’ve been following along since the beginning, can you believe we’re already halfway through this year of prayer? I just want to say thank you for checking in each week, for your commitment to grow closer to the Lord, and for praying faithfully over your homeschool.

I’ll admit it—you’ve helped motivate me to stay accountable in praying for my homeschool and staying in God’s Word every day.

When We Need the Nudge

Let’s be honest: life is full.

Homeschooling, parenting, housework, everything else—it doesn’t always feel easy or convenient to spend time in Scripture.

But it’s necessary.

Prayer and time in the Word are spiritual disciplines we need if we want to grow our relationship with God.

Even though we know the peace and comfort that come from walking closely with Him, we often still need that nudge—someone checking in, someone encouraging us to keep going.

Accountability Isn’t Always Comfortable

Accountability can be tough though. We say we want it, but when someone really checks in, it’s easy to get defensive.

If someone asked you, “How much time have you spent reading God’s Word this week? What have your family devotions looked like?”—you might have a great answer. But if not, the temptation is to justify, explain, or brush it off.

Still, we need this kind of spiritual accountability! Not to make us feel condemned, but to allow the Holy Spirit to convict us, refine us, and help us grow to be more like Jesus.

Sometimes, we get too comfortable excusing one another. I’ve heard plenty of conversations that go, “Yeah, this season is just really busy. God understands.” And while He is full of grace, we shouldn’t use that as a reason to neglect His Word.

Let’s not forget: we have a real enemy who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) That’s why this matters so much.

Everyday Accountability Examples

The other day, I told a friend we needed to have them over for dinner soon. I truly love having people over! An added bonus is it give me a good reason to clean the house (anyone else like this??). When someone might drop by, you’re a little more motivated to tidy up.

It’s kind of the same in homeschooling. If you’re in a state where you have to submit reports or portfolios, you’re probably more on top of things. If not, it’s easier to let the record-keeping slide a bit.

And our spiritual lives? Same story. When no one’s checking in, it’s easy to get lazy.

So—who knows that you’re working on your prayer life this year? Who have you told that you’re trying to keep God at the center of your homeschool? Who are you checking in on? Who are you praying for? Who are you celebrating spiritual victories with?

A Sweet Example from My Son

My son has gotten used to us reading The Ology together each night. And some nights, I’m tired and don’t feel like it. But he faithfully gets that book out without fail. That’s a gift from God. And even though he doesn’t realize it, he’s helping keep me accountable.

Outside of our kids, though, let’s take time this week to ask the Lord who He might be leading us to encourage, and who could help encourage us. Accountability goes both ways. Let’s also pray for boldness to speak the truth in love when needed.

What Does Accountability Look Like?

Here are a few ideas of accountability questions you could use with a partner:

• How often are you spending time in God’s Word?
• Are you regularly spending time in prayer?
• Are there any areas in your life that are hindering your spiritual growth?
• What temptations are you facing right now?
• What Bible verses are you memorizing?
• How have you shown honor and respect to your husband this week?

The key is to find someone you love and trust—someone who will check in on you, and who you can check in on, too. You’ll both grow spiritually through it.

Learning from the Early Church

Funny how God works: I already had this topic planned for the week, and at church we ended up talking about Acts 2 in our Life Group.

We looked at how the early church lived—fellowshipping, praying, and doing life together. They didn’t live isolated lives. They held one another accountable, grew in the Word, and were ready to share the gospel because of it.

We need more of that kind of community today. Real relationships. Real vulnerability. And real accountability.

So this week, let’s pray about what spiritual accountability looks like in our own lives.

• Who are we accountable to?
• Who can we encourage?
• Who can we lovingly challenge to grow in Christ?

Let’s not walk alone.

A Prayer for This Week

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the opportunity to homeschool. You are so faithful to guide and strengthen me each day. Thank you for revealing yourself to me in the everyday moments, and for giving me your Holy Spirit that leads me to walk in your truth.

I’m praying this week for accountability in my spiritual walk. Help me to come to you, humbly, each day before teaching my kids, eager to learn what you have to teach me. Reveal to me how to live in you fully, how to empty myself to keep you first. I pray that the result of being in your presence would overflow into my kids and our homeschool.

Bring people into my life that will hold me spiritually accountable. And put people in the lives of my kids, too, that will encourage them to grow their walk with you. Strengthen us all with your spiritual power, that we may fully understand the extent of your love and grace for us.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

Join the Challenge

Finally, if you want to join in on the challenge from the very beginning, make sure to sign up below, and you’ll receive a printable prayer and journal pages each week, right to your inbox. Join in any time, and you’ll start the following Monday with Week #1!

Simply click below, follow the instructions, and you’re in.

You’ll also be signed up for the Blessed Homeschool Newsletter and receive my FREE Scripture Memory Cards (designed to complement the prayer challenge) as a bonus.

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