PRAYER’
“And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'” Matthew 21:13 from Isaiah 56:7
Prayer – Do you think Jesus would say the same thing to us if he were to show up on Sunday? Is your church really a “house of prayer”? This is not a trivial question. God Himself gave us the picture of His temple. Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7. That gives us the opportunity to look at the Hebrew word for prayer – te’fillah – instead of the Greek word that Matthew uses. But when we look, we are immediately confused.
The confusion is where does it come from? This word – te’fillah – is a form of the root palal. Scholars have suggested many different histories for this word. It might come from the idea of asking God to judge. It might be from the idea of being repentant or broken. It could come from the context of assessment. Or it might be derived from the idea of a mediator or intercessor. The truth is that we may never really know the history of this word. But we know one thing for sure – God’s house is there for the purpose of encountering Him.
Is prayer the central focus of your church house? Is prayer the priority? Does it matter more than the sermon or the music or the offering? If everything else were pushed aside except prayer, would you still find that vital connection?
When Jesus shouted these words, he was driving out those who were desecrating his Father’s house. The temple of Jerusalem no longer stands. It has been replaced with another temple – the permanent dwelling place of the Most High. But the purpose of this new “house” is still the same. It is still a house of prayer. The difference is that now it is found inside you. “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the living God?” If that’s true, then prayer should dominate your life. If it’s God’s house, then the one thing that it cannot do without is prayer.
Gary Smalley says that communication is the most critical element of relationship. In fact, if there is no communication, there is no relationship. Furthermore, deep relationship depends on full, emotional, expressive, open communication. If you are in a relationship with God, then prayer is the means of communication. How deep is your connection with God? If He your best friend, the guy you can talk to about anything? Is He the one who you can’t wait to talk to? Is He the one who shares all your thoughts, hurts, joys, struggles, laughter and tears? You are walking around in His house. Don’t you think the owner deserves some real conversation? Or do you only let Him in on Sunday, after the anthem?
