House of Prayer
It is Friday morning, 10th December 2021 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
“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.’ ”
Matthew 21:13
Now, this statement by Jesus is mentioned in all the Gospels, so it must have been very, very important. Prayer is the engine room of the church. The church that does not pray will not last. Church also is a sacred place. It is a place where people can come and worship the Lord at any time of day or night.
At Shalom Farm, we have a thatched chapel next to the tabernacle, the main church, where we meet. And that little thatched chapel which seats about 100 people, is open 24/7 - every day and every night. It is never locked. People can come there, they can sit and they can pray without any interruptions. We have a big window in the front of the chapel. People can sit there and look out to see the animals on the farm and the crops growing. It is a quiet place.
We need to remember that we need to have a place where we can go and be quiet before the Lord and not allow it to be interrupted by a den of thieves. I can hear somebody saying, “I don’t have a chapel where I can go.” Well, Susannah Wesley, the mother of the great revivalist, John Wesley had, I believe, 18 children! She was the wife of a Padre. They had a very small little cottage and she had nowhere to go either. But, you know, every morning she would sit in front of the fire and she would throw her apron over her head, all 18 children knew that ‘mom is now speaking to Jesus’ and there was absolute peace and quiet - no interruption.
You cannot pray effectively to Jesus if you are multi-tasking. And I am talking to moms. You are doing a fantastic job but you have got to give the Lord a special place in your life if you want your life to go well. He has got to have top priority. A quiet time cannot look like a marketplace. You can’t be trying to have a quiet time when you are listening on your cellphone, the children are shouting and there is noise. Dad, you must take authority in the home. There has got to be a place where the Lord has got top priority.
It is either God or the world, it can’t be both. Now, we need to clear out that muddy temple today and we need to give the Lord priority. And I will tell you what, you will have a lot more time than you ever thought you had before because when you put Jesus first:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these (other) things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33
Have a wonderful day as you clear out that temple and you give the Lord the top place in your life.
God bless you and goodbye.