To Pray or Not To Pray

And as He taught them, He said, "Is it not written: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers.'" Mark 11:17

In its context, this is a pretty eye opening passage of scripture. Jesus taught these words in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem amidst an atmosphere of righteous anger -- His righteous anger! Just the day before He entered the temple area, He had pronounced a curse upon a fig tree. It quickly withered from the roots and died. That fig tree represented the nation of Israel and its outright rejection of its long awaited Messiah - Yeshua -- the incarnation of God's own Word. So when Jesus reached the temple the day afterward (which was when He made the statement above in Mark's gospel), His mood was certainly not pleasant as He had discovered how the Lord's house was being used. Irate at what He witnessed, He flipped over the tables of the money changers, the benches of those selling doves and would not let the merchants pass thru as they made a shortcut through the temple to get more quickly to their appointed destinations.

This is amazing, because these are the actions of the Son of God -- the most humble, loving, compassionate, meek and merciful man to ever walk the earth! What the scriptures reveal is Jesus giving us a brief a glimpse of the Almighty's wrath -- a Holy God in righteous anger making His judgment upon sin. So what was the sin of the people? The temple -- the symbolic place of God's manifest presence -- was being used in a way contrary to His will. And God's will was to have His people use it as a house of prayer -- for all nations.

As we break down our passage in Mark 11:17, we see that it is broken down in to two distinct parts. The first part of the verse is actually a quote from Isaiah 56:7 and in the second part Jesus references Jeremiah 7:11. These are significant passages that Jesus quotes from the O.T.

First, let's look at Isaiah 56:7. God's word in this passage (including verses 4-8) indicates that not only the Israelites themselves, but faithful eunuchs and foreigners as well as additional people to the Jewish exiles mentioned in the surrounding verses will come and find joy in the Lord's "house of prayer." That house of prayer, God's temple, was meant for all nations. It was a place of prayer - on God's holy mountain - where all nations could come to pray and find the joy of the Lord. In a sense, it was revealing to us what Jesus said we should pray about in the Lord's prayer -- "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." It is God's will for people from all nations to pray and discover God's joy!So, in a sense, Jesus is saying: "Pray and see the people come!"

Secondly, in order to get the context, Jeremiah 7:11 requires us to include verses 9-10 also. In these verses, we see the Israelites violating God's law in at least 5 different ways. To top it off and in this condition, the Israelites are coming to the place bearing God's holy name and falsely believe they have found safety, comfort and solace. There is no recognition of sin on the part of God's people. There is no blushing or confrontation of their sinfulness. The Jews of this day have reached a point where they believed that YHWH, the Holy One of Israel, just winked at their sin. And they had the audacity to try to stand before their holy God in this condition -- in His house -- the temple. If only they had experienced the kind of encounter with a holy God that Isaiah did in Isaiah chapter 6 --- they would have been undone and cried in agony and woe over their sinfulness.

But God was watching it all! And His judgment was that the Jews had made God's house a den of robbers and thieves. So what exactly had been stolen by these thieves and robbers?

1. God's glory was robbed of its holy and righteous image!
2. God's Kingdom was robbed of new converts -- from all over the earth!
3. His people, even His choicest servants, were robbed of answered prayer! In fact, the Lord told Jeremiah in verse 16 of Chapter 7: "So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you."
4. God's people were robbed of God's protection and loving presence. Instead they received the Lord's disciplinary judgment, as they would be overrun by their enemies and taken into captivity.

So let's look at today's church. Honestly, how much prayer is going on in many churches. Praise God there are some great praying churches, but they are beginning to be hard to find. There have been numerous times that as a pastor I found it extremely difficult to find people who were willing to take the time and make the sacrifice necessary for prayer in behalf of God's Kingdom. Unfortunately, there were too many prayer meetings called where no one would show up. And God's people and the Kingdom were robbed!

How many churches have you been to today that you know spend time praying for other countries -- particularly oppressed nations with little gospel witness? Countries where the few believers found place their lives on the line daily. Countries where torture, imprisonment and separation from family and yes perhaps even death can come at any time -- while we live in the extravagant Laodicean comforts of America.

How many churches blush at sin and seek to lovingly confront it as Jesus and Paul did -- to keep from making His house a den of robbers?

I am saddened that many today refer to prayer as one of the ministries of the Lord's church. In reality, it is the ministry of the church. All other ministries should come into existence through prayer and continue to operate and exist through prayer. To do otherwise, is to invite ministering "in the flesh" and the inept power of the soul.

But there is another element to consider -- the "house" that Jesus is talking about -- God's temple, the place of God's dwelling -- is within every true believer of His today. We have looked at the church on a corporate level, but what about on the personal level. How many times, like the merchandisers in the temple of Jesus' day, do we take shortcuts as individuals -- either in our daily living or perhaps in church settings -- that allow us to become as big a robbers as the money changers that Jesus saw. How are we robbing God and His kingdom as outlined above? Do we really take the time and make the sacrifice to pray? We must remember that He sees us all, and nothing is hidden from His sight.

Maybe it is time for us to allow the Lord to flip over the tables in our lives in order to make us -- as churches and individuals -- houses of prayer for all nations. If we don't, we may not see the revival and advance of God's kingdom that we would prefer. If we do though, how fast might God's word spread? I can only imagine. How many people from around the world would come to know Him? Lord, start with me. Make me a house of prayer. That should be our cry. Amen.