Isaiah wrote that God’s house would be called “an house of prayer for all people.” Centuries later, Jesus walked into that same house, found it turned into a market, and drove the moneychangers out: “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
So it is worth asking plainly. What have we made the house of God? A house of gossip? A place for quarrels and strife? When was the last time any of us knelt down to pray in it? God did not ask for a house of singing, or a house of study, or a house of good programs. He asked for a house of prayer.
Nothing is more powerful than prayer
There is nothing so simple, and nothing so powerful, as prayer. Prayer moves the hand of omnipotence. If we prayed, we would not worry. If we prayed, we would not fear. If we prayed, we would not lack, for “ye have not, because ye ask not.”
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.2 Chronicles 7:142 Chronicles 7:14If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.King James Version
There are many frameworks for prayer. After going through a few, I have found the sanctuary to be a good one, because it holds three things together: sanctuary, prayer, and song.
Why we sing
Singing, in worship, is as much an act of worship as prayer (Ellen White, Education, p. 168). And Scripture shows what singing does:
- It drives off darkness. David played, and the evil spirit departed from Saul (1 Samuel 16:231 Samuel 16:23And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.King James Version).
- It brings the Spirit. “Bring me a minstrel,” and the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha (2 Kings 3:152 Kings 3:15But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.King James Version).
- It changes the room. Paul and Silas sang at midnight, and the prisoners heard them (Acts 16:25Acts 16:25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.King James Version).
- It stores the Word. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, singing with grace in your hearts” (Colossians 3:16Colossians 3:16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.King James Version). People who have lost the names of their own children can still sing every word of a hymn.
- It wins battles. Jehoshaphat sent the singers out before the army, and as they began to sing, the Lord set ambushments (2 Chronicles 20:212 Chronicles 20:21And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.King James Version).
And on the cross, when Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me,” He was quoting the first line of Psalm 22, a psalm that ends with the work declared finished. He went into the agony on the first line of a song, and came out of it on the last.
Three guidelines hold: singing is commanded (Ephesians 5:18Ephesians 5:18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;King James Version); sing with understanding (1 Corinthians 14:151 Corinthians 14:15What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.King James Version); and sing to the Lord, not to please anyone else (Colossians 3:16Colossians 3:16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.King James Version).
The aim
The aim of all of it is simple. To walk with God. To be one with Him. To stand in the throne room and talk with Him, and to break anything that has been keeping you from Him. “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8Exodus 25:8And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.King James Version).
This is what God desires for us as a church, and I pray it begins today: a people filled with praise, who will not excuse sin but confess it, washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, filled with the Holy Spirit, feeding on the Bread of Life, and mighty in prayer. “When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 69).
The charge
So here is the charge. For you, not for the person beside you:
- To be filled with praise.
- To get clean today, washed in the blood of the Lamb.
- To be filled with the Spirit of God.
- To devote yourself to the study and obedience of His Word.
- To become someone who prays, with a real prayer list, the kind that shows you are praying to the God of the impossible. “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?”
- To dwell in the Most Holy Place with God.
We are living in the day of atonement, and holiness has to be taken seriously. Our Father is holy, and He calls us to be set apart. Whatever will not go into the Most Holy Place with you should not be carried through your week either. Behold God, and be changed into His image. Then go and be a light.
Now walk it
This is yours to walk through. Read it, pray it, sing it. No one has to lead you. The whole path is set out, station by station, from the gate to the mercy seat, as a guide you can use on your own or with your family.