A House of Prayer

Day 8 - March 14

And as he [Jesus] taught them, he said, "Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" —Mark 11:17

Jesus was speaking to the Jewish nation, which had failed to make the temple the place where the Holy Spirit overflowed and where the people were people of prayer.

In the Old Testament God’s Spirit rested in the tabernacle, and then in the temple. But in the New Testament we ARE the temple of God , we are the abode of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:9 reminds us that we’re not our own, but we’re bought with a price, and we’re now the residence of the Holy Spirit. So we see that each believer is to be a temple of prayer.

Not only should every believer pray, but the local church is commanded to pray. We are the body of Christ together.

Our church is made up of small groups. I am in a men’s small group as well as a couples’ small group. In our men’s small group we have prayed for cancer to be healed, we have prayed that God would take loved ones that were dying, and that God would do many wonderful things. The record says that God has blessed us, and that we have seen wonderful things happen in our small group. Our couples’ small group has prayed for kids to get into college, for God to provide for finances, and for our children who are on the mission fields. What a joy it is to be a part of a local church that practices prayer in everything that we do.

Pray for an increased ministry of prayer in your own church. Pray specifically for someone in your church.