Sermon Title: My House Shall Be A House of Prayer
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
“I don’t have time to pray.” We often express this thought because we wrongly believe that what we do is more important than prayer. Nothing could be further than the truth. Prayer is not only more important than what we do, but it is so much more powerful. Why is prayer so powerful? Because in a sense, it was what you and I were created for – to be in relationship with the living God.
Rev. Rick Astle, in his book, The Priority of Kingdom-Focused Prayer, speaks to this when he writes: “The fact that God created us in order to have fellowship with us, coupled with the fact that He sent His only Son Jesus to earth to restore that fellowship after it was broken, tells you something of the priority God places on relationship! There’s no doubt about it, your Heavenly Father wants you to know Him on a level deeper than just a ‘casual acquaintance.’ His priority goal is to reveal Himself to you. So if you want to love the Lord more deeply and obey Him more readily, you will need to begin with knowing Him more intimately. The believer’s ‘Divine Domino Theory’ is really very simple and works as follows: Priority time given to Bible study and prayer moves you to know God; knowing God moves you to love God; loving God moves you to worship and obey God.”
This coming Sunday, our guest preacher, Rev. Don Evans, will speak about the importance of prayer not only in the life of individual Christians, but also in the church. I hope that you will have an opportunity to come and hear his message, and you will be encouraged to make prayer a priority in your life.
