The Primacy of Prayer (1)

Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” Mark 11.17

A house abused
It’s rare to see Jesus ticked off. But there’s no denying that, as He strode through those temple precincts, wielding that whip and turning over those tables, Jesus was ticked off. And certain merchants, scam artists, and deal-seekers had the bruises and scars to prove it.

Why was Jesus so upset? What caused our gentle Jesus, meek and mild, to explode into a hurricane of rage and violence?

The answer is simple: People were using the Lord’s house for the wrong reasons. They may even have been well-meaning folk, just trying to help travelers make sure they had the right animal for their sacrifice, or providing currency exchange services to ease their way around in Jerusalem. Shouldn’t the temple be a place where we try to meet people’s needs? Shouldn’t the Lord’s house be open to any and every program that helps people get what they need?

Jesus disagreed. The temple of the Lord – the Lord’s house – was intended as a house of prayer for all the nations. The temple was the place where people should come, not to have their needs met – turning the sanctuary of the Lord into a place for robbing Him of His glory – but to turn their faces heavenward, seeking the Lord in humility, contrition, and faith, crying out to Him words of praise, adoration, confession, repentance, intercession, and supplication. The noise and clamor Jesus heard in those temple courts was not that of people pouring themselves out in prayer, but of merchants lining their pockets, customers purchasing their salvation, religious leaders counting noses, and misguided worshipers serving themselves rather than God.

And such misuse of the Lord’s house ticked Jesus off big time.

“I will build My Church”
Jesus promised that He would build His Church, and the Apostle Paul explained that His Spirit has taken up the work Jesus began, and is building His Church into “a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2.21). Indeed, Paul insists, each believer is a temple of the Lord, and should conduct himself accordingly (1 Cor. 6.19). Do we suppose that Jesus’ intention in building this temple is any different from His Father’s intention in building the temple in Jerusalem?

If we do, we are sorely mistaken. And, as churches and believers, we may be in danger of coming under the lash.

Where is the church that takes as its primary purpose seeking the Lord in prayer for all the nations? Where are the believers, members of those churches, for whom prayer without ceasing is the great project of their lives? Who begin their day in prayer, hang their day on prayer, and end it in prayer, giving thanks and praise to God for another day of life? Where are believers gathering in these turbulent times to seek the reviving grace of God according to His Word, like those first Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 4.24-26)?

If we are honest, we will admit that, in most of our churches today, as well as in the lives of too many believers, prayer is a bit like costume jewelry – it doesn’t cost much, looks OK, and you only haul it out when you need it, and then, only as much as is necessary.

But if we’re not praying, if prayer is not the defining discipline of believers and their churches, then what are we doing in the Name of the Lord? All those programs. All that frenzied activity. Those buildings and staff, budgets and grounds – what’s all this for, if not to promote and practice prayer without ceasing?

What the Lord is seeking
The Lord is seeking men and women who seek Him in prayer. He has provided abundant access for us, along with the promise that God the Father will hear and answer our prayers. He commands us to pray. He has taught us how to pray. He has provided us with abundant scripts to guide and lead us in prayer. With His Spirit He stands ready to assist us in prayer. He has explicitly declared that people ought always to pray, and not to lose heart (Lk. 18.1).

While we sit at our tables, chatting away happily about how great it is to be Christians and how much we love our church, and as the money flows from wallets to offering plates to ecclesiastical expenses, individuals offer their gifts in this or that arena of service, and the whole place teems with religious conversation and activity, a word of warning:

That familiar Face, standing in our midst, is looking for us to be looking for Him. He holds behind His back the means of bringing our programs, buildings, budgets, and all our Bible-bustle to ruin, because these are not what He is seeking from those for whom He bore the lash, the nails, the crown of thorns, the mocking, and the scourge of death.

Jesus is building His house, and all the members of it, as a temple of prayer. We will only be on page with Jesus when prayer becomes the first priority and continuous practice of all our Kingdom-and-glory seeking lives.

For reflection
1.  How is it apparent that Jesus is building your church as a house of prayer? What about your life?

2.  What do you suppose it would look like if prayer were the defining activity of your church and your life?

3.  What obstacles stand in the way of our making prayer the defining component in our existence as churches and believers?

Next steps – Preparation: Review your practice of prayer. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the highest rating, how would you assess the state of your prayer, against the expectations of our Lord? What’s one thing you could begin to do to improve that assessment?

T. M. Moore

Each of our “next steps” exercises is tied into goals and disciplines involved in working your Personal Mission Field. If you have not yet identified your Personal Mission Field, watch the brief video showing you how to get started right away (click here).

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.