Don’t
Play Pray (A House Of Prayer)
Scripture Text: Mark
11: 15 - 17
As the sermon title suggests, we should take prayer seriously.
When we hear from God about a mission He has for us, how do we
respond? Do we react with fear like Jonah and run away from God
or do we run to Him for help and strength? As we grow spiritually,
our priority to complete God’s work should increase. From
this week’s passage we can learn how, as God’s people,
we should pray and receive boldness and faith to carry out His
work.
In
the scripture text, we read that the temple was turned into a
market place. The religious leaders were making money out of the
worshippers and were also making it difficult for foreign worshippers
to worship the Living God. There are several lessons to be learned
from this episode of Jesus cleansing the temple.
1.
Cleansed To Know God’s Presence
The temple was a place
of worship. Likewise, when we go to church which is God’s
house, we should go there to worship God and experience His presence.
We must remember that God is the rightful owner of the church
and that true worshippers commune with God in spirit and in truth.
They are God-fearing people whose greatest priority is to give
God all the glory.
When self-centred people
rule in God’s house, the house will become a den of robbers.
If we are not careful, we can become a part of that den of robbers
as our own selfish motives rob God of His rightful place as owner
of the church. Therefore, we must always check whether our church
is running its own agenda or that of God’s. Have we been
obeying God’s vision to make disciples of all nations? Also,
have we been making sure that our church a house of prayer?
2.
Communed To Understand God’s Priority
When God’s house
is a house of prayer, His people will be able to understand His
character, purposes and priorities.
We read in Psalms 103:7 that God revealed His character to Moses
and His deeds to the people of Israel. Moses got to know God in
a personal and intimate way like a friend, but the Israelites
got to know of God’s deeds and actions. Unlike Moses, the
Israelites only knew about God from what they witnessed but sadly,
they did not know Him. Salvation is for all races and types of
people. God wants all the people in the world to worship Him and
the Jews found it difficult to understand this.
Why did Moses know God
so well? It is because he spent time communing with God unlike
the Israelites who were satisfied to have merely witnessed what
God could do. Likewise, as we commune with God through prayer
and seek to know Him, God is faithful and will reveal to us His
holiness, help us to understand Him and empower us to be more
Christ-like.
As we get to know the
mind of Christ, our thoughts and feelings will be sharpened to
hear God’s voice and God will show us His priorities. Through
daily communing with God, God will guide us to know His will and
show us what is of importance to Him.
Conclusion
When we are a praying
church, our spiritual senses will be sharpened and our spirit
strengthened so that we will be able to carry out God’s
work in our lives. So let us do the following:
(a)
Get rid of negative thoughts on God’s mission.
If God has placed on your
heart a mission, do not continually dwell on the negative or less
attractive things of the task like discomfort. Instead, look with
anticipation on the challenge before us and know that God is with
us and will enable us to do it.
(b)
Learn from godly examples.
Let us be inspired and
encouraged by the lives of godly people like Wesley’s mother.
She did not, even though she was recently widowed, hinder her
sons when they decided to be missionaries for Christ in the United
States. She gave priority to God.
(c)
Praying is not an excuse not to act.
When we become a praying
church, God will give us the boldness and faith to carry out His
works. Without Him we can do nothing, but with Him we can do extraordinary
things. However, once convicted, we must act.
Prayer
Response
Dear Lord Jesus, help me
to desire to know you in a personal way. Strengthen my prayer
life, so that I may know you more and recognize your priorities
and will for my life. Please use me for your glory. Amen
Devotional
based on message by Pastor Leslie Lim