House of Prayer for All Nations Part 1

This Extract is taken from my book "God's Heart Cry for Revival. This section talks about how the true Church is meant to Function.

Playing Church

Many Christians have been playing Church and living a life of prayerlessness for too long. The Lord’s return is imminent and I am afraid that if we do not change He is going to find the Church without oil in her lamp. It is time to raise ourselves up out of our apathy and seek the Lord our God with all our heart. It’s time to change. I can hear the Lord calling His Church to get serious.

House of Preaching?

Jesus said, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’” (Matthew 21:13) Many Christians and Pastors believe this to mean the Church as we know it. Jesus did not say that His house would be called a house of preaching and a one-hour prayer meeting once a week. He said a house of prayer. Preaching should overflow out of prayer. Prayer should not be the extra bit we do when we preach. When the Church begins to pray and take prayer seriously, our preaching will become fruitful. The disciples prayed for 10 days and preached for 10 minutes on the day of Pentecost, and their power and authority was astounding; 3000 were saved.

We Are a House of Prayer

God said through Isaiah, “My house will be called a house of prayer, for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:7b) The Bible refers to the believer as being God’s house. “But Christ is faithful as a Son over God’s house. And we are His house, If we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.” (Hebrews 3:6) We are that house of prayer. Every corporate, united believer is a house of prayer. Prayer is supposed to radiate out from us on a continuous basis, as we are meant to house the prayers of God for all nations. This then means that before anything else that we do for Christ, prayer is supposed to be our passion, and flow in and out of us like breathing. This is the call.

Spiritual Death

When someone dies spiritually it is usually accountable to a poor prayer life. The writer of the book of Hebrews says that a poor prayer life is accountable to letting go of the courage and hope of which we once boasted. I have seen a number of once passionate Christians, myself included, lose their way because they do not maintain their boldness and zeal for the things of the Lord. They lose their prayer life and even complain that God does not answer their prayers, no matter how much time they put in. Their prayer life becomes their test of faith, and they let go and seek the world’s answers. But if we hold strong to our courage and hope in Christ, we automatically continue to pray.

Stir Yourself Up

As the ministry of Jesus Christ becomes more important to us than the affairs of this world, we begin to seek hard after the Holy Spirit. In our quest to have the Holy Spirit empower us, we pray. My word today to anyone who has lost their fervour to serve Jesus and live in the Spirit is, stir yourself up in the things of the Spirit. Just like a man who desires to train in the gym to improve his physical body, he will begin to read motivating articles about training, watch video’s and listen to men and women accomplished in this area. Likewise Christians should watch motivating videos, listen to motivating tapes, read motivating books and of course belong to and regularly attend a Spirit-filled Church. Then you will force yourself to be stirred and the Holy Spirit will begin to put Jesus into perspective, and He will once again have that place of highest honour in your life.

Robert Cartledge

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