And he taught,
and said unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of
prayer for all the nations? but ye have made it a den of robbers.
Insights: Yesterday we learned
there were very religious people who were selling doves and so forth in the
temple, but their hearts were far from God.
Jesus, then stated in today’s verses that His passion was for a
relationship between creation and Creator.
You might be saying to yourself, “Jesus did not say anything about a
relationship between creation and Creator.”
Yet that was exactly what Jesus was describing when He declared that
God’s house was to be a house of PRAYER
for all nations. Prayer is
nothing more than communication with God.
Communication is the very basic element needed in order to have a
relationship. If we do not interact with
someone, we have no way of knowing who they really are. And I believe that may be the very heart of
the problem of the modern church. I
think we have a lot of religious people, people like in yesterday’s verses, in
our churches, but these very same people really do not know who God is and what
He is like. God wants to let them know
who He is and what He is like, but they are unwilling to stop an engage Him in
conversation. Notice that I used the
word passion to describe Jesus’ desire for communion with His creation. Think about it just for a moment. He single handedly disrupted the market place
of buying and selling. He overturned the
money changer’s tables. He was driven to
remove any obstacle that might hinder a person from praying to the Father. It is absolutely fundamental for us to daily
fight for our time alone with God. Our
relationship with God is something that can so easily get pushed out and before
we realize it, weeks, months, and possibly years go by before we recognize that
we have not spoken to the Father. What a
tragic thought that we so easily dismiss the presence of God in our lives. Beloved, fight! Fight with passion for your time with
God. Do not let anything distract you
from the relationship that Jesus so passionately desires to have with you. Make the Lord literally your first thought of
the day and your last thought at night and all throughout the day; speak with
Him for His guidance and love. You will
be amazed at the adventure God will take you on if you live with this kind of
love for Him.
Questions:
- How regularly do you pray?
- Do you passionately guard your time alone with God?
Prayer: Loving Father, forgive me for taking You for granted so
often. Increase my love for You and let
my desire for quality time with You grow.
May our communication together be sweet and refreshing. Amen.
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