Title: My House is a House of Prayer
Contents For two weeks before the Heavenly Love Family Festival and Evangelism Sunday on November 26, I am going to give birth to an Okdongja by praying with one soul in my heart and heart. I hope to become the saints who wake up the dawn. This text is what Jesus said when he saw the business in the temple and was angry. In (13), “My house is a house of prayer, but you have made a den of robbers.” This means that if the church does not pray, it will turn into a den of robbers. The Lord wants the church to be filled with prayer. The nickname of the church is the house of prayer. The temple should always be a house of prayer, but please fill it with a house of prayer, especially for two weeks.
◈ The word dawn in the Old Testament is rq, Bo (boquer), rj'v' (shahar) “The time when night turns into day or the end of night” “It is the time just before sunrise” “Search for early and diligently” it means In the New Testament, it is prwi?a (Froia), which means “early morning” and refers to the fourth watch of the night, around 3-6 in the morning. This dawn is the last time of the not yet bright night. That's why it's called unnamed (微明). Dawn is the time when darkness falls before the sun rises in the east.
◈ J.Calvin woke up at 4 o'clock, had morning worship, and after piling up the training of godliness first, he started the day's work. M.Luther also prayed every morning and after that, he read the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Psalms with his family in detail. He said, "If I fail to spend two hours every morning in prayer, the victory of that day will go to the devil." The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, also started praying at 4 am every day, and he called those who did not come to the early morning prayer meeting because of the cold in winter as “those who lost their first love.” Charles Spurgeon also prayed regularly every morning and read the Bible every day and immersed himself in it and meditated deeply. He said that meditating on the Bible is like crushing wine, squeezing it into wine, and mining gold from ore. J. Hudson Taylor also had a habit of praying every morning and communing with God through the Word every hour by mail. He described prayer as "the heart ascending to God."
◈ At dawn, God's work, power, and miracles took place. The time when the wall of Jericho fell before the eyes of the people who went by faith, the time when the terrible Egyptian soldiers were buried in the water after the Red Sea parted and all the people crossed the red sea, the time when the people in the wilderness gathered the manna, the time of David The main time of praise and meditation, the time when Jesus had fellowship with God through prayer, the time when Mary Magdalene witnessed the resurrection of Jesus, and the time when Peter met the resurrected Jesus at the Sea of Galilee and restored and confessed his love. The time we shared and experienced was all early in the morning.
◈ Who is the most humble before God? He is a person who prays. “Prayer is a helpless man leaning on Almighty God.” “John Bunyan”, who recorded the journey of the ancients, said, “Prayer is a shield for my soul, prayer is an offering to God. Yes, prayer is a whip wielded against Satan.” John Knox said, “A man who prays is stronger than a nation without prayer.” “Give me Scotland. Or take my life.”
◈ It is often thought that the saints are lazy and cannot pray. That's wrong. Prayer is not done out of pride. Anyone who thinks that there is no way of salvation other than prayer has no choice but to pray. The reason we don't pray is because we think there is something else we can trust. Therefore, humble believers never leave the place of prayer. There are many people who believe in their own strength and have lost their faith. What do they do first? praying to God One of the reactions that took place in the United States after the 9/11 terrorist attacks was that people began to gather to pray rather than to strengthen national defense capabilities, reorganize information systems, and punish terrorist groups.
◈ Prayer is like a strong rope that strengthens our relationship with God. Even a piano that makes a beautiful sound is useless if the wire that makes the sound is broken. (Kita, violin) The cord of prayer must not be broken. We must continue to build a relationship with God.
◈ The power of prayer does not spread the problem. Evil is not activated. The test does not spread. Why? Because there is prayer. There is a difference between filth on glass and filth on carpet. Dirt spilled on the glass can be cleaned by wiping it with a cloth. There is no difference from before. However, the dirt spilled on the carpet seeps deeply. It leaves stains and odors. Without prayer, problems spread. spread and disseminated. But if you pray, the problem will no longer spread. The place becomes clean.
◈ The Apostle Paul had a stinging thorn in his body, so he prayed to God. There are many people who pray in the Bible. A typical example is Hannah. Her husband was Elkanah, and besides Hannah, she had another wife, “Peninnah.” Hannah was childless, but Peninnah had children. (1 Samuel 1:6) “And Peninnah his adversary provoked and troubled her very much, because the LORD prevented her from giving birth.” Peninnah provoked and troubled Hannah. Believers like Hannah. They even name their children Hannah. But I cannot imagine Hannah without Peninnah. Without Peninnah, Hannah would not pray. Can't get Samuel. Peninnah is a blessing to Hannah. Peninnah harassed Hannah, but the bullying made Hannah pray and eventually got Samuel. There is someone who is tormenting me, so I pray. Let that prayer be a blessing and a success.
◈ Even when hardships come, if you do not pray, you are like a dog that you cannot build. Pray completely and earnestly. There are no dead ends for the saints. There is only a place for prayer. We must see God opening rather than blocking. The flowing water continues to flow continuously downwards. If you build a dam and block it, it waits, and when it is filled, it goes over again. When the water is filled, the dam is set to collapse. In the same way, I hope that we will become saints who break down the banks of obstacles with the river of prayer. When prayer overflows, grace (blessings, miracles, abundance) flows. Prayer is a necessity, not a luxury.
◈ The ministry of preaching was given to a few, but the ministry of prayer was given to all of God's children. We can buy land and build buildings with our offerings, but when we prayed, the ground shook (Paul and Silas). Detonating a bomb does not light the entire bomb. Just attach it to the primer. You need one person to pray like a primer. Throwing a stone into a calm lake creates a small wave. When I throw stones of prayer at the Lord's church, a strong spiritual wave arises. Let's evangelize through prayer and revive the church through prayer.
◈ Prayer is an expression of gratitude for the grace received from God and a means to make up for one's lack. Prayer is a way of expressing gratitude for the grace that saved us and the grace that has helped and protected us up to this day. Prayer is the channel of claiming to God to fill one's own needs, such as lack of faith, lack of health, lack of happiness, and lack of food. As such, prayer is the center of faith, so you can often see the essence of faith by looking at it. Faith begins with prayer and grows with prayer. If prayer is corrupted, it is evidence that faith is corrupted.
◈ It cannot be said that dawn is a particularly sacred time. However, it was definitely dawn at the time when God performed many miracles and shared more in-depth fellowship with many seniors of faith. The first hour of the day is to meet God. I would like to share with the members the true joy of meeting the first hour of the day through praise, prayer, and the Word and fellowship with God all day long.