Be a House of Prayer

Blankets of snow hid long stretches of South Dakota soil and reflected a boldly shining sun as we drove home from church last Sunday afternoon. My brother and I listened with great interest as Dad (the only other person in the car besides Lucas and me) shared bits and pieces of his and Mom's growing up years. Every now and then we get the pleasure of hearing them reminisce. Sometimes we hear about times their lives were touched in life-impacting ways by special people. Sometimes they tell us about an amusing way they learned a hard lesson. Sometimes our hearts are sobered as we realize the hardships they have experienced that we have never known ourselves, and sometimes we hear about wonderful ways that God answered their prayers. Dad was adding to our collection of stories in the latter category as he recalled our move from Tennessee to South Dakota almost 18 years ago.


Dad and Mom had 4 kids when God lead them to move to the Sioux Falls area and plant a church. My parents had made commitment to not borrow money, believing that "God's work done in God's way will not lack God's supply," but the house they wanted to move in to, which was ideally located right across the street from where my dad would soon be pastoring, was $3,000 above their current funds. Their realtor was quick to suggest they take a loan-- after all, the house would be unavailable in 2 days! But Mom and Dad did not waver from their standard to not borrow money and resolved to make the need a matter of prayer alone.

During his interaction with the realtor, Dad faithfully witnessed to the man, sharing many testimonies of how God had answered prayers in times past, and could indeed answer prayers now in the time of need. How well placed his faith was! That afternoon, Mom received a very unexpected phone call from a lady living in the eastern United States. She had heard of the church-planting ministry my parents were embarking on and felt lead of the Lord to financially aid in any way profitable to them! It's easy to imagine the joy in our home when this lady generously gave us the needed $3,000 the very day before the sale on the house was to be closed.

The following morning, when the testimony was shared of how prayer had once again been answered in such a timely way from such an unexpected source, the realtor's heart was stirred within him and he asked if he could get to know this God himself. Dad sat down with him and explained the gospel until it was clear he understood well the way of salvation, and that night they knelt together on the floor of the little church across the street and a new name was written up in glory!

The Scriptures are replete with the command to pray. Jesus was grieved that the Temple in Jerusalem had been reduced from a house of prayer to a place to sell. He said, "Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves." (Mark 11:17) Over and over again we are commanded to pray! I Thessalonians 5:17: "Pray without ceasing." Mark 13:33: "Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is." Luke 21:36: "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Oh, that we would remember how desperately vital prayer is to our winning the victory in this race!

Oswald Chambers wisely said,

Prayer does not fit us for the greater works;

prayer is the greater work.

We think of prayer as a common-sense exercise of our higher powers in order to prepare us for God's work. In the teaching of Jesus Christ prayer is the working of the miracle of Redemption in me which produces the miracle of Redemption in others by the power of God. The way fruit remains is by prayer, . . . Prayer is the battle; . . .Whichever way God engineers circumstances, the duty is to pray. Never allow the thought - "I am of no use where I am;" because you certainly can be of no use where you are not. . . . "Whatsoever ye ask in My name, that will I do." . . .

There is nothing thrilling about a labouring man's work, but it is the labouring man who makes the conceptions of the genius possible; and it is the labouring saint who makes the conceptions of his Master possible. You labour at prayer and results happen all the time from His standpoint. What an astonishment it will be to find, when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you had been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.