House of Prayer

Jesus has done some pretty unusal, surprising, and outrageous things. For example the time he went into the temple and saw people buying and selling, animals bleeding, moneychangers shouting - like a big flea market. He makes whips, comes into the temple and begins driving people out, overturning tables, and scattering money and then he says "It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." This is God's house, a house of prayer not of the law, of scripture, teaching, sacrificing, or helping the needy. A house of prayer!

We see the importance and theme of prayer throughout Jesus life, multiple times in the book of Luke there are references of Jesus taking time to pray. Read Luke 5:16, 6:12, 9:18a, 9:28, 11:1, 18:1, 19:46. In Acts, a book about the early church, prayer is what brought about change, rapid revival, and the hand of God. The early church was birthed in prayer, read Acts 1:14a. Prayer is the heart beat, it is what brings about the kingdom of God. In Acts 3, when Peter and John are arrested and their lives are in danger the early church did not sit down to strategize, analyze, or organize how to get them out of jail. They prayed! With this crisis, God is telling us: The church must be a house of prayer. The main business of the church is prayer. The real work of the church is prayer. The lifeblood of any church is prayer. Is this true of the church in the US? If there is a great work of God, it is because people in the church rely upon prayer! At every hinge point in the early church, people were relying upon prayer.

If for Jesus, the main activity was prayer. If for the early church, the main activity was prayer. Then for us, the main activity should be prayer. God is saying to us: Call out to me. Call to me first. Call to me immediately. Call to me with all your heart. Call to me as the main thing. Be a house of prayer. In the book Fresh Wind Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala he writes "I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show himself mightily on our behalf." That is the way we should feel, to not want life to pass us by without seeing the hand of God move. To see God work in a powerful way, to see breakthrough!

Eight Steps for all of us to raise the bar for prayer:

1. Meet with God daily in an unhurried time.
2. Continue in prayer throughout your day.
3. Prompt prayer throughout the day (open your car door - pray).
4. Increase prayer in your small group
5. Attend our Wednesday night prayer service. Make it a regular part of your week.
6. Pray immediately, right now. Don't wait until later.
7. Assume divine appointments. Pray over the people who cross your path.
8. Fast regularly.

Discussion Questions
1. Meditate on this quote and then discuss "When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do; when we rely upon education, we get what education can do; when we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do, and so. Nor am I disposed to undervalue any of these things in their proper place, but when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do." What do you rely on?
2. Do you feel the way Jim Cymbala does? "I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show himself mightily on our behalf."
3. What if we significantly raise the bar in our prayer life, what would the church look like then?
4. Are you satisfied with your prayer life right now? What are some ways that you desire to change your prayer life?