Introduction
If you are in college and the professor tells you that you need to know this one thing what he or she is saying is that this one thing certainly is going to be on the next test. If your parents tell you to get your chores done before they get home but they emphasis make sure you get this one thing done, they are telling you that they are going to check on that one thing to make sure you did it. If your employer says I am going to be gone from the office for a little while but make sure you handle this one thing. As an employee, it would be smart to handle that one thing.
What I am trying to tell you that when someone says something to you that involves the phrase “this one thing,” you ought to pay attention to it. It is important. It requires your action.
Do you realize that Jesus is just like the college professor I used in my example? During His earthly ministry several times, Jesus used the phrase outright “this one thing,” but there were also several times He implied that phrase by what He said. And we, as believers in Jesus Christ, need to take heed to His instruction, just like the student ought to take heed to the words of their professor.
So, let’s look at our first “this one thing.” This one is an implied “this one thing.” Jesus returned to Jerusalem for the Passover, entering the city triumphantly in what has become known as Palm Sunday. At some point, He enters the temple, and He notices that there are some merchants selling to the people doves and they are profiting from these sales. At that point, Jesus makes an amazing statement. And it is the implied “this one thing.” My House shall be called a house of prayer.”
Let’s read the Scripture.
Matthew 21:12–13 NKJV
12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
My house shall be a house of prayer. He didn’t say my house shall be a house of good Bible teaching. He didn’t say that my house should be a house of sweet fellowship. He didn’t even put them on equal standing. My house should be a house of prayer, good Bible teaching, and sweet fellowship. What He said was: My house should be a house pf prayer.” So, what Jesus is saying is that this one thing prayer ought to excel in my church house. This is what the church ought to be excellent at.
I can probably say that the church has not taken heed to that one thing. Let’s see if I am right. We are going to do a church survey right now.
Raise your hand if you feel our church’s prayer life is poor.
Raise your hand if you feel that our church’s prayer life is acceptable.
Raise your hand if you feel our church’s prayer life is excellent.
The truth is: with Jesus saying stress this, it ought to be the one thing that the church excels at.
And just so you know 14,000 Christians were surveyed by Crossways Ministry in November 2019 and 72% rated their prayer life acceptable or below. And those people walk into the church house, and I cannot image suddenly the church prayer life excels. The church’s prayer life reflects your home prayer life.
And my question is why would Jesus use pray rather than the other ministries to tell us this is where this church need to excel?
Reason #1
Prayer is the one thing that draws me into fellowship with other Christians and together we are in fellowship with God.
Matthew 18:19–20 NKJV
19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Let’s think about this for a moment. When I am praying with you, you and I are in fellowship with one another; we are both engaged with one another, and as we pray, Jesus Christ joins us in fellowship. There is no other part of the church service where we are tied so tightly together as in prayer.
When I am preaching, hopefully I am in fellowship with God. And if you are listening, you are in fellowship with God. But that connection between you and me is there but it is not nearly as close as standing together holding hands voicing our petitions to God. I am standing up here at the podium and you are sitting out there in the pew. I am talking to you, and you are sitting there quietly.
When we are having fellowship you and I may be closely knit together, but I have seen some fellowships where we do little to invite Jesus Christ in to participate.
Listen, to what I am saying, in the church house prayer is the closest thing to what heaven is going to be like. In heaven, we will have fellowship with one another, and our fellowship is with Jesus Christ. We will be close to each other and to Jesus.
And if prayer is just an add on to the service and the reason we come is for the music or the preaching, we are not doing this one thing Jesus said: My house is a house of prayer.
We are going to change our prayer time starting next week. After we take our prayer request, we are going to bow our heads no one looking around and you can leave your pew and go pray with someone. If you have a problem with someone, you can go pray with them. If you know someone is hurting, go pray with them. You can come to the altar to pray, and if you see someone at the altar, you may just want to come along side of them and pray silently. You may just want to take the hand of your family and pray together. And after a few moments, Bro Greg will close the prayer time.
My hope is that this becomes the most exciting part of our service.
Reason #2
Praying together with someone helps us put a situation in perspective.
James 1:5 NKJV
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
If you watched Monday Night football this past Monday night, you saw that terrible injury that occurred to one of the Buffalo Bills defensive players. Both teams gathered together to pray for this young man and something interesting happened on the field. After this got up from praying, members of the opposing teams were hugging one another, they were crying together. I saw the two quarterbacks hugging one another with tears coming flowing from their eyes.
And finishing that football game were not on the mind of the Buffalo Bills or Cincinnati Bengals. The most important game of the year for these two teams. The care of that player was paramount on their mind.
What we saw with our own eyes is that prayer changed their perspectives.
And that is the same thing that should be occurring in the church house. If I have a problem with you, I ought to be able to go to you and say pray with me invite God into our prayer and you and I should come away with a different perspective of each other.
If you are battling a sickness, grab some people to pray with you, invite God in, and you can come away with a different perspective. You may discover that it is no longer your battle but God’s battle.
Listen, when the church goes together in prayer, it puts our situations that we are dealing with in perspective.
Reason #3
If you look at the life of Jesus, prayer was the one thing that Jesus modeled and spoke about to his disciples often. Obviously, there is an importance to prayer and by Jesus saying my house is a house of prayer it ought to be important to the church.
Luke 18:1 (NKJV)
1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart...
Did not Jesus model a prayer for His disciples that we call the “our Father.”
Do you see what Jesus says about prayer? He ought to always pray. It goes in line with what the Apostle Paul says when he tells us to pray without ceasing.
Think about this: we are told always to pray and then we come to church on Sunday morning, if you come to Sunday School and church, you might be here a little over two hours. In that time, prayer is the thing that I can say that is done the least. Bible study number 1; fellowship with one another number 2; and prayer number 3.
How does that compare with Jesus saying, my house is a house of prayer.
Conclusion
Prayer works; and this church house ought to be a house of prayer.
