PRAYER: House of Prayer

The temple was not primarily established as a marketplace, a social gathering, or simply a place where religious activities happened. It was a place of encounter with God.

Imagine walking back into your room after a school year expecting to see things as you left them, but on getting in, you see that something has changed. The bed, drawers and all other furniture items are still there, but there are also other things that should not be there. Because you have been away for some time, other things have been added to the room has taken over the space.

Something similar can happen in your spiritual life where you still identify as a Christian, still attend church, still serve, read your Bible and even talk about God, but the place that was created for fellowship with God has been filled with other things.

Sometimes, you become so busy with life that prayer and fellowship with God are pushed to the corner, and the space that prayer should take is filled with worry, anxiety, entertainment, work, and the noise of everyday life. And gradually, prayer becomes something you do when you have time rather than something that defines your relationship with God.

Mark 11:17

New King James Version

17 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.’ ”

What Jesus did here was very significant. He said this after overturning the tables of the money changers and those selling in the temple, but in the verse above Jesus was quoting the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 56:7

New King James Version

7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.

This was God's declaration concerning His house; He has always desired that His house be a House of prayer.

The temple was not primarily established as a marketplace, a social gathering, or simply a place where religious activities happened. It was a place of encounter with God; it was a place where people came to seek Him, a place of worship, prayer and fellowship with God.

And when Jesus came to the temple in Mark 11, He found something very different.‭‭ The problem was not that there were tables in the temple; it was that something had taken over a space that belonged to God. The temple was supposed to be a house of prayer, but prayer had been crowded out. Commerce, noise and self-interest had filled the space.

The temple was still standing. People were still coming, and religious activity was still taking place, but the purpose of the house had been compromised. And this is where the passage becomes personal because Scripture teaches that your life is now the temple of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19

New King James Version

19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”

Sometimes the greatest threat to your prayer life is not that you have stopped believing in prayer; it is that other things have gradually taken prayer's place.

Nobody wakes up one morning and decides to stop praying; it happens gradually. You become busy, you are tired, you have work to do, you have school, you have responsibilities, you spend a little more time on your phone, you become consumed with a problem, you start worrying about something, and you tell yourself you will pray later. Then later becomes tomorrow. Tomorrow becomes next week. And eventually, something that was once natural becomes difficult. At that point, your house has become crowded.

Prayer is one of the ways we move our burdens from our own hands into God's hands. And if you have become so busy doing things for God that you have little time to simply be with God, you must understand that activity is not the same thing as intimacy. You can be doing many things in God's house while becoming distant from the God of the house.

The condition of your prayer life reveals something about your relationship with God. Prayer is not merely a spiritual duty; it is relationship.

Think about someone you genuinely care about. If you never speak to them, never listen to them and never spend time with them, eventually the relationship becomes distant. Prayer works similarly.

Prayer is where you talk to God, but it is also where you learn to listen, where your heart is aligned with Him and your desires are surrendered. Where your burdens are released, and you become conscious of His presence.

Jesus Himself modelled a life of prayer. And if He intentionally created space for prayer, you cannot assume that intimacy with God will happen accidentally in your life. You have to make room for it.

When Jesus entered the temple, He did not simply point out the problem. He dealt with what was occupying the space. There are seasons when you need to do the same thing spiritually.

Maybe you need to reduce unnecessary distractions. Maybe you need to establish boundaries around your time. Maybe you need to stop filling every quiet moment with noise. Maybe you need to deal with bitterness, disappointment or sin that has made you withdraw from God. Maybe you simply need to return.

Jesus said: “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” There is an identity attached to the house. You are not merely someone who occasionally prays; you are a house of prayer.

Don't allow guilt over yesterday's prayerlessness to keep you from praying today. God is not asking you to pretend that nothing happened; He is inviting you back.

Also, don't always wait until you “feel like praying.” Set aside time and stick to it. Create an environment where you can focus. Your prayer life needs intentionality.

Most importantly, protect the atmosphere of your house. A fire needs to be protected from things that extinguish it. Pay attention to what constantly consumes your attention, weakens your hunger for God or makes you increasingly comfortable living without Him.