by Dr. Marlin Hotle
Mark 11:17 - “He taught them, ‘Hasn’t it been written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you’ve turned it into a hideout for crooks.” (CEB)
It is noteworthy that Jesus does not identify God’s house as the “house of worship” or as the “house of preaching.” Instead, He describes it as a “house of prayer.” Coud it be that prayer is the most ccrucial and important task that the church has been assigned to perform? It is not that the other tasks it performs are not worthwhile or important. But I would suggest that it is prayer that makes them all effective.
In his book “Fellowship of the Burning Heart,” the saintly A. W. Tozer writes, “It is prayer that gives power to all the other things. Singing, giving, entertaining, teaching, sewing, working, serving: those are all good things if we set them aflame by prayer.” How true! Could it be that a church which is not a praying church is really not a church at all? I believe Tozer is correct when he further declares, “The true success of any church is going to be prayer. We can easily deceive ourselves, but our purity and our power and our spirituality and our holiness will parallel our prayer.”
There are several reasons that this is true:
1. Prayer promotes unity!
It is hard to fight while we are on our knees. As you read through the book of Acts, over and over you will read that the church was “in one place and in one accord.” And each of these times it was prayer that was uniting them.
2. Prayer perfects our focus!
I firmly believe that it is nearly impossible for Satan to get us sidetracked while we are on our faces before God. As we are calling out to Him in prayer Scripture comes alive to us and He provides direction, hope and comfort.
3. Prayer produces results!
When we pray, it moves us from asking “Can we do this” to “Does God want us to do this?” It is not our abilities, plans, or finances that will make us victorious as a church. It is that we seek God’s face, find His will, and follow His plan. And if God be for us, no man can ever stand against us!
PRAYER: “Lord, help us as your people to always remember that we are not asking you to bless our work, but we are called to do your work, and we cannot do it without being led and empowered by your Holy Spirit. We seek You and surrender to Your will. Amen!”
Passage Reading Guide: Acts 24 & Psalm 91