“He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be
called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers."” (Matthew 21:13
ESV). Jesus comes into the temple and finds an area where Jews and Gentiles
could come and pray filled with money changers and people buying and selling
items for the sacrifice. In righteous anger, Jesus drives them out and stating,
from Isaiah 56:7, that this is to be a house of prayer, but instead the space
was corrupted through merchandising and cheating.
Jesus commands they use the temple as a house of prayer.
This command applies to us as believers because our bodies are described as
temples of the Holy Spirit. I would broaden this to include our churches and
ask you to think about the decreasing importance of prayer in both cases and
how it is being replaces with other activities and interest. How many churches
still have a midweek prayer service or even a Sunday night service. How many of
you see the importance of time each day for prayer? I believe this command of Jesus
applies to us in that we are to keep our temple from pollution and embrace the
act of daily prayer.
Prayer
Father, in the same way that corruption crept into the
temple it is creeping into our churches and our lives by replacing the activity
of prayer with some worldly practice. The changes I have seen and experienced
during my 80 years of life is truly disturbing. For most believers, prayer to
involve God in our activities and ministry has been replaced with our own
effort. As a result, what is accomplished is only a reflection of our efforts,
not a joint effort with God.
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