A House of Prayer Christian Living         Bobby Stafford

A House of Prayer

Introduction:

Jesus, in Matthew 21:13, quotes Isaiah 56 which says that the temple, the house of God, was to be a house of prayer.  “And He said to them, ‘It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.’ ” NKJV  This denoted the spiritual nature of God’s house, both then and now.  Paul tells Timothy in I Timothy 3:15 that the church today is the house of God and the principle remains the same – God’s people, the church, are to be collectively a house of prayer.  (I Timothy 3:15) “but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” NKJV

Theme:

We are to see the importance, the necessity, of being a praying people, those who are always in a spirit of prayer and pray regularly.

Body:

I.            Great Men of God Have Always Been Men of Prayer

A.   David  “A man after God’s own heart”  Psalm 34 is a psalm of David.  It stresses the importance of prayer in his life, as do the words of  Psalm 86:1-6. “Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me; For I am poor and needy.  Preserve my life, for I am holy; You are my God; Save Your servant who trusts  in You!  Be merciful to me, O Lord, For I cry to You all day long.  Rejoice the soul of Your servant, For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.  Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications.” NKJV  He could never have been a great man of God without constant communication with the Great I Am.

B.   Moses  He was one who sought God’s way.  (Exodus 33:13) “Now, therefore I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight,  show me now Your way, that I may know you and that I may find grace in  Your sight. . .” NKJV  How beautiful!

C.  Elijah  He defeated the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel because of prayer.

(I Kings 18:36-39) “And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.  Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.’  Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.” NKJV

D.   Daniel  Who can forget Daniel’s courage.  Even though a royal decree had been issued forbidding praying to any one beside King Darius, he knelt and prayed anyway.  (Daniel 6:10) “. . .And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”  NKJV

E.    Apostle Paul  Many times we read of him praying with or for others.  One of the most touching prayers is when he prayed with the elders at Ephesus.  (Acts 20:36-38). “And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.  Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more.  And they accompanied him to the ship.” NKJV 

II.          Jesus is our Greatest Example of a Man of Prayer

A.   His closest disciples, the twelve apostles, were with Him day and night.  As far as is recorded, they never asked Him to teach them to preach like He did, to perform miracles like He did.  But listen to  Luke 11:1. “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’ ” NKJV  They understood the importance of prayer in His life.

B.   We see Him praying at all great events of His life:

1.   Baptism

2.   Selection of apostles

3.   Transfiguration

4.   Instruction of the Lord’s Supper

5.   Before the crucifixion

6.   His last words before dying were a prayer. 

C.  He often prayed for long periods of time.  I’m sure this included meditation and contemplation.  A communion with God.  Why?  He loved God the Father.  When two people truly love each other,  they find time to talk!

No Time for God?

What fools we are, to clutter up  Our lives with common things  And leave without heart’s gate  The Lord of life and Life itself – Our God.

“No time for God?  As soon to say, no time  To eat or sleep or love or die.

Take time for God  Or you shall dwarf your soul,  And when the angel of death  Comes knocking at your door,  A poor misshapen thing you’ll be  To step into eternity.” 

  Unknown

Please don’t overlook the obvious lesson!

III.        How to Become a House of Prayer

A.   Be a thankful people.  (Ephesians 5:20) “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” NKJV  Be thankful for Christ and His church, the congregation here, the faithfulness of those loyal to Him.

B.   Learn to withdraw.  Everything in your life is not an emergency or a crisis.  Practice sacrificing certain activities so as to have more time for prayer.  Spend less time watching TV, reading newspapers, some recreation . . .  This may mean getting up early, staying up later.  Let’s follow the example of our Savior who often withdrew to pray.

C.  Be earnest in your prayers.  (Romans 15:30) “Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me,” NKJV  Exert one’s strength with; be earnest in aiding; strive earnestly in prayer.  Our word agonize comes from this Greek word.  God doesn’t want trite, half-hearted prayers, but ones in which you put everything you’ve got in the prayer. 

(Luke 18:1-8) “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: ‘There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.  Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary!’  And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’  Then the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge said.  ‘And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?’ ” NKJV

D.  Pray for inner spiritual growth.  Pray, as Paul did in Ephesians 3:14-21.  “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.” NKJV  If we do these things, we can truly be a house of prayer.+

Invitation:

There may be those here today for whom family and friends have been praying that one day they would answer Christ’s invitation to become a child of God. 

Bobby Stafford 

August 26, 2018