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A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE2 Chronicles 6Pre-Introduction In some ways it is difficult to stand up and preach about prayer. After all, is there anyone here who feels that they are the absolute authority on prayer? Yet, over the last year the Lord has really been altering my understanding about prayer, especially corporate prayer. So what I desire to do is share with you a part of the vision of prayer that I am beginning to understand. Now, I think that the first thing we need to deal with is what I am not going to do. I do not desire to lay on your shoulders an obligation, or heap guilt on you, to try and motivate you to pray. I have sat through to many of those sermons myself while I was growing up. They are ineffective, and only steal our desire to pray. If this was not the case I would stand up here and speak the obvious, “We don’t pray enough,” which of course is true no matter how much you pray; and then send you on your way to begin praying more. Instead, I think that we need to have our perspective broadened. We need to see the where prayer, especially believer’s praying together, fits in to God’s work. I believe that if we can see the place of prayer in our personal and corporate lives, as well as the riches promised through prayer, then the Lord will have opened the eyes of our hearts and we will seek prayer, not out of obligation but out of desire. Prayer Dear Heavenly Father, clear our minds of the weight of religious obligation and open our eyes to see the provision and grace which rests in your hands. Remove from our hearts the loves which distract and entangle us, and fill us to overflowing with your Spirit. Teach us how to be one, as you and Christ are one. We pray to you through the power of your Spirit, in the Name of your Son, to you our Father who loves to hear our prayers. Amen. Introduction My primary text for today can be found in 2 Chronicles chapter 6. Yet, we will also touch several other passages as well. So hang with me and if you miss a reference catch me after the service and I will help you out. As was read for us earlier, the prophet Isaiah records God’s proclamation that states; “my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” I think that 2 Chronicles chapter 6 provides an excellent example of these words. In this passage Solomon is standing before the people and praying a prayer of dedication for the temple. In this prayer Solomon is inaugurating the ministry of the house of God, and in its function. The words which really stand out in this chapter are: this House and Your Name. They appear in almost every sentence and therefore require consideration on our part. What is significant to us about this House and the Name it bears? When you start into this chapter the question that jumps out is; “did God need a house?” Did he have physical form that needed shelter from the very elements that He commanded? Why would God desire to have a house built for Him? In verse 18 Solomon addresses the absurdity of God dwelling in a House made by men. He prays, “But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built.” Solomon also declares heaven as the dwelling place of God in verse 21. Yet, the building of the temple was not just the whim of David and Solomon. It was a vision that God had placed in their hearts. God proclaimed of David that; “you did well to have this in your heart.” So why did God desire a house built to bear His Name? As we can see in Solomon’s prayer, God’s desire was for the temple to be a focal point, or vehicle of God’s activity and presence. It was a place where the presence of God could be identified, and accessed through prayer. Through the temple, God would hear, forgive, act, judge and bless for the purpose of bringing glory to His Name through out all the nations. People would be drawn to the temple because of the Name it bears, and the out working of His mighty hand. You may be wondering what the dedication of the temple has to do with our prayer life today. Yet, what was true of the temple of Solomon, as the house with God’s Name on it, is also true of the Church, the Church of Christ, with the Lord’s name on it. This can be seen in the words of Peter found in 1 Peter 2:5, “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Or in Hebrews 3:6; “and we are his house, if we hold onto our courage and the hope of which we boast.” Or in 1 Corinthians 3:16&17; “don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” Christ has fashioned us into His temple, built us into His house, which is a House of Prayer for all Nations. Do you get the impact of that? If this were a Psalm there would be a Selah located right after that statement. It is worth stopping and meditating on. Christ has fashioned us into His temple, built us into His house, which is a House of Prayer for all Nations. The Church is to be A House of Prayer for all Nations because . . . I. It is Built by the Son of David The temple of Solomon was really the temple of David. As we see in the beginning of 2 Chronicles 6, it came in revelation through David, and to realization in David's son. In scripture both David and Solomon are types of Christ. Jesus is David's greater Son, and He combines all that is spiritually represented by David and Solomon of sovereignty, kingship, exaltation, universal triumph and glory. God sent the prophet Nathan to David, to tell him that though he should not build the House himself, he was nevertheless to be the one to gather all that was necessary for it. In so doing he became the instrument of making it possible. This so satisfied David that the inspiration of it God dwelling with His people motivated him to go out and subdued all those nations which had been historic thorns in the side of Israel. And when he had subdued all the nations round about, and a universal triumph had been established, then the House came into being through Solomon. Let’s carry that forward to the triumph of Christ on the cross. He possesses the universal victory. He is exalted, enthroned in virtue, with all of His enemies overthrown by the cross. A victory confirmed by His resurrection. With this victory, He builds His House. Not by our effort, but by the removal of our sin and the application of His righteousness to our life He has made us children of God. His actions have given us access to the Father, and His precious promises in Christ as sons and heirs. Jesus spoke of this with His disciples in John 16, declaring the day when they would have direct access to the Father; a Father who would answer their prayers because of His love for them. As we see in Solomon’s prayer, the House itself is meant to provide the Lord with a place, or a vessel, through which He can reach all people. God moves through His House, and therefore He must have a House built on prayer. Solomon is declaring the poring out from heaven of the gracious goodness of God, the interventions, the undertakings and resources of God, world-wide. He is declaring the House the vehicle of what God is, and what God has, unto all peoples. When you progress farther in the chapter you see people coming to the House because of the Name it bears. People from other nations will be drawn to the blessing poured out from God, through the House of the Lord. God, in Christ, has associated Himself with His Church, the Body of Christ, for this world's good. Through prayer we have access to the gracious goodness, the interventions, and the resources of God. The implications are not simply for us individually, but for us corporately. There is something profound that takes place when we gather together. In Matthew 18 verse 20 Jesus states, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” This does not mean we don’t have individual lives and individual roles to play, but we do need to understand that we are the building blocks that Christ is using to build His church. Prayer is not simply a private exercise; we are not an only child but a family. In the book Answering God Eugene Peterson states it the following way “Prayer often originates when we are alone. Deep within us are ‘sighs too deep for words.’ We pray our guilt, our hurt, our gaiety on the spot, not waiting until we can meet with a congregation or get into a church. All the same, for these prayers to develop into full maturity, they must be integrated into the praying community. As Peterson points out personal prayer is important, it is that the base or foundation for that prayer needs to be found in our praying together. A great example of this can be found in the Psalms of David. The Psalms where birth out of the prayer and praise of David’s life, but were given to be used by the community. The Church is to be A House of Prayer for all Nations because . . .
II. It Bears His Name This idea of our life in prayer together, and not our personal prayer life, being the focal point may sound strange, maybe even a little harsh. Some of you may be puzzled by that idea, wondering how something so uncomfortable, intimidating, and often frustrating could possibly be so important. In theory we all agree with how important prayer is, but corporate prayer? Others may even want to argue the point with me feeling that I have fallen into the easy trap for preachers of overstating a point. Yet, corporate prayer is tied up in the very nature of who we are, and the Name we bear. In 2 Chronicles we see that one of the important facts about the temple is that it bears the Name of God. By God putting His Name upon the house there is identification which takes place. All these things are tired up in who we are in Christ, as the house which bears His Name. When I was a kid and was going out my father would often tell us to behave, “because the name you bear is mine.” Thou my father was jesting, making light of the fact that we all had the same last name, there is truth to be found in that statement. Because I bear the last Name of Perdue there are things which identify me. The name Perdue in French means “the lost.” At one time in France it was decided that children who were orphaned and whose family were not known, would be know as the lost, Perdue. Because I bear that name I am identified by that past. Having the name Perdue also identifies me with my family. Just last month I was doing a little work at a company in Monroe. When I introduced myself, the man’s first response was; “Are you Robert’s son?” The name I bear ties me to my past, and to others who bear the name as well. We see this same identification process taking place in 2 Chronicles 6. By God placing His Name on the temple, He was identifying it with His past work. In verses 5&6 Solomon quotes God as saying; “Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built for my Name to be there, nor have I chosen anyone to be the leader over my people Israel. But now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there, and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.” By placing His Name upon the temple God is connecting it with His past activity, with His current work, and with the future out pouring of His mighty hand. He is identifying Himself with His people, and with His promises. We also are brought into identification with Christ as His church. Because we are His church we are identified with Christ and His work. We do not have access to the throne of heaven because we are such good people. He doesn’t hear our prayers because we have done some great thing, or followed some prescribed ritual, or provided the necessary sacrifice. Our prayers are heard because He has identified Himself with us. Christ has come and, “called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (2 Peter 2:9b). Without Christ we were locked in slavery to sin, unable to call out to God. Through His death He has taken objects of wrath, you and I, and fashioned us into coheirs of the promises of God. By placing His name upon us He has opened up the very thrown of heaven. Now, through Christ and in His Name, we can come boldly to the throne of God; confident that our prayers will be heard. Not only does His Name identify us with Christ and His work, it also identifies us with each other. I think that as American Christians this is often a difficult one for us to grasp. We all tend to read scripture through cultural eyes and see things in a very individualistic way. Yet, we need to understand that the Name of Christ identifies us with all of the believers which came before us, all of the believers which are in the world today, and all of the believers that God has established will be, and are not yet. For you see Christ did not come to save an individual, he came to save His church. He came to claim Himself a bride not brides. Though we come to Christ as an individual, you can’t be a Christian and not be a part of His House. When I was in college I had to write a senior thesis. I chose to write on how the first century believers met together and worshiped God. As with any senior thesis I had an agenda, something that I was trying to prove. Yet in the course of my research I ran across a book which was written by Garydon Synder. The book was on the archeological evidence of church life before Constantine. The real jewel in this book for me was found in the author’s analysis at the end. He went through and explained the different finds and their implication into the thought life of the early believers. At one point he stated the following; “Though the concept of individual Christianity, and a personal savior, is the staple of modern western evangelicalism there is no evidence of such a concept to be found in the life of early believers. The very concept that one could be a believer out side of the larger community was completely foreign.” One piece of evidence that he used to support his conclusion was art work that was found at a baptismal site. Painted on the walls of the baptismal were pictures of people in white robes. These images lead up to the baptismal, and then lead away from it on the other side. A new believer was brought in wearing a white robe and walked by these figures. The idea was to give the one to be baptized the idea of connectedness. That they were joining with all those who came before, and all those who would come after. If you get nothing else today grasp onto this concept of the corporatness of the House of God. If you let it work into your understanding it can change how you view prayer and our life together. The Church is to be A House of Prayer for all Nations because . . .
III. It Shares His Work His work is to bring glory to His Name through out all the Nations. Ephesians 6:17-18 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. John 15:16-17 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit— fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other. Mark 11:15-17 15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’" Conclusion The Church is to be A House of Prayer for all Nations because . . .
© Copyright
2005 Derek Perdue
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