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 Becoming a House of Prayer
by Ray Starks, 1/1/04
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Isaiah 56:7b—“For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
A few gatherings ago, we as a body had a unique time together in small groups discovering some truths about prayer. These truths were as old as the Word of God, but became fresh and alive as we worked through them. Many of us left that gathering with a renewed awareness of the importance and power of prayer.
I have to confess that I really don’t understand prayer. I know in my head that it is conversation with my Creator. I know He answers me. I know as His disciple, I should pray more often. I know it is God’s will for me to be a praying person. But in spite of all this head knowledge—I don’t pray as I should and I don’t see results as He promises.
I was studying the Word and found in Matthew 7 where Jesus was preaching to the masses in a section traditionally called, “The Sermon on the Mount.” In this passage, Jesus told them (and us) a few truths about prayer. He said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Prayer is a process of asking; seeking; and knocking—three different approaches to prayer, but all three have the same result—answers.
Prayer is asking and receiving. When we know the will of God regarding a need, whether it be material or spiritual, we can ask and receive. “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”—1 John 5:14-15. Praying according to the will of God gets answers—plain and simple.
Prayer is seeking and finding. When we do not know the will of God regarding a need, whether it be material or spiritual, then we are to seek His will in prayer concerning this need until we find it. This is prayer for knowledge of the will of God in a specific need. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you and you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart, and I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”—Jeremiah 29:11-14a. God knows our future in all matters. We need to ask Him to reveal it to us so we can pray according to His will.
Prayer is knocking and opening. When we know the will of God, and yet we find a closed door, we are to knock, and keep on knocking until God opens the door. This is persistent prayer; prayer for mountain-moving faith. Knocking prayer keeps on until the impossible becomes the possible. This is miracle-working prayer. In Matthew 17, Jesus was rebuking His disciples for their lack of faith in healing a demonic man. When they asked Him why they could not cast the demon out He said, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.”—Matthew 17:20. Too often we pray and see little or no answers and we give up thinking God can’t or won’t move. Our faith is too little to keep on knocking. We need to pray to God for added faith in God so we won’t give up on God too soon. As our faith is increased, and we keep on praying according to God’s will, we will see answers.
All things are possible when we ask, seek, and knock.
In 2004, why don’t we, as a body of Christ, decide to become people of prayer? Together, let’s commit Edge to be a “house of prayer”—doesn’t that seem like the will of God?
May God bless us everyone, this new year, as we become a “house of prayer.” This is gonna be good.
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