THE HOUSE OF PRAYER (Part 1)

Text : Mark 11:15-17
Mar 11:15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons;
Mar 11:16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.
Mar 11:17 And he taught, and said to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers."
Aim : To challenge them to prayer that will impact the world.
Intro :
· Mark 11:15-17
o Truth # 1 – Church is not marketplace.
o Truth # 2 – Church is not den for robbers.
o Truth # 3 – Church is House of Prayer for all nations. – This speaks of the serious activity of the church; PRAYER, for nations depend on it.
Discussion:
A. THE BIBLICAL TRUTHS ON PRAYER
1. God, by creating man with a free will and making him a partner in the rule of the earth, has, to some extent, chosen to limit Himself. (Andrew Murray)
· Jer 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things which you have not known.
· Eze 22:30,31 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; their way have I requited upon their heads, says the Lord GOD."
· However when God’s people do not call to Him and trust Him to do these great and mighty things, He often does not do them!
2. Prayer is God’s legal ground to move in this planet. (Miles Muroe)
· He must deal with satan on grounds of absolute justice.
· The only legal ground God has is when His people prays!
· Mat 7:7,8 "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (ASK-Ask, Seek, Knock)
· Joh 14:13,14 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
o Ask in His Name! - 2Co 1:17-19 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans like a worldly man, ready to say Yes and No at once? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we preached among you, Silva'nus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No; but in him it is always Yes.
· Jam 4:1-3 What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
o Truth # 1 - Man’s way of getting what they desire is through physical means; “Fighting”. But God is telling us that we can get what we desire through prayer.
o Truth # 2 – Wrong personal passion will surely not get anything from God.
§ 1 John 5:14 - And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

3. Prayer does not equip us for the battle; prayer is the battle!” (Oswald Chamber)
· Eph 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
· 2Co 10:4-6 for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

B. THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER
1. We need to pray faithfully, passionately and persistently if we really want to impact our world!
· Faithfully – Consistency is a proof faithfulness in prayer
Job 1:5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually.
· Passionately – involves our heart, desire and our innermost part in prayer.
o Like Hannah the mother of Samuel
1Sa 1:10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD, and wept bitterly.
1Sa 1:11 And she vowed a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy maidservant, and remember me, and not forget thy maidservant, but wilt give to thy maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head."
1Sa 1:12 As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.
1Sa 1:13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard; therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman
o Examples :
§ Moses – “…Blot my name out of the book of life”
§ Stephen – "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." (Acts 7:60)
§ Jesus – "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)
§ John Knox – “Give me Scotland or I die”
· Persistently
o Luk 11:8,9 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you
o Luk 18:1-8 And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Vindicate me against my adversary.' For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

2. What to intercede for? – Matt. 9:36-38
a. Intercede for people who do not know Christ!
Mat 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
o Evangelistic Prayer List
§ List on a big sheet of paper all the names of people you knew.
§ List on a small sheet of paper 10 names of people you knew whom you think are ready for the gospel.

Conclusion:

Ø With all the amazing answers to pray God is giving today and which He has given throughout church history, why do God’s people and churches pray so little?
o The enemy seriously fights God’s people in this area because he knows what prayer can do.
o Prayerlessness is sin, because it is disobedience to what God has specifically commanded us in His Word. (Matt. 7:7-12)
o The root of prayerlessness is often slothfulness, unbelief, and selfishness.
§ Slothfulness because we allow the enemy to defeat us, sometimes because we are too lazy to fight.
§ Unbelief because faith is a choice we make to believe and trust what God has said;
§ Selfishness because so much of our time is consumed on selfish interests and pursuits (television, entertainment, computer etc.)
Ø Let’s repent from the sin of prayerlessness.
Ø Let’s commit ourselves to a life of prayer.