“Jesus entered the temple area and drove out
all who were buying and selling there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those
selling doves. ‘It is written,’ he said
to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a
‘den of robbers.’’” (Matthew 21:12-13)
God longed to see His temple used as a place
of prayer and some did use it so. The
early days of Jesus’ life includes a short story about a woman named Anna. Luke says, “There was also a prophetess,
Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her
husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was
eighty-four. She never left the temple
but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she
gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to
the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-38)
Anna spent all of her time at the temple and it was devoted to
prayer. God rewarded Anna’s faithfulness
by allowing her to see and know the Christ-child.
But God no longer has a house! Paul declared to the people of Athens, “The
God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and
does not live in temples built by hands.” (Acts 17:24)
God dwells in a “house” made, not by human
hands, but by Himself, for He dwells in the people who are His. We are His temple, His dwelling-place. (1
Corinthians 3:16)
And God still longs for His temple to be a
place of prayer! God longs for His
children to be people of prayer.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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