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Returning to the Altar of Prayer


Returning to the Altar of Prayer
Matthew 21:12-15

            For the last few weeks I have been burdened to pray for the state of the church, our nation, and the upcoming election.  We are living in perilous times.  I believe it is imperative that we return to the altar of prayer individually and corporately.  

            It is time to rebuild the altar of prayer.  God is calling His Church back to the place of prayer.  We must not just be a praying church, but become a House of Prayer.  We are faced with serious problems in our nation and society today.  Marriage is under assault.  Unemployment continues to affect millions in our nations.  The Middle East has become unstable and threatens to unleash violence and draw the nations of the earth into war.

            The answers to the perplexing problems we face will not come from man.  We must pray and ask God for divine intervention into our society and into our personal lives.  In Matthew 21:12-15 Jesus went into the Temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of those who were selling doves and profiting through the manipulation of God’s people.  

The Temple had ceased to be what God had called it to be.  In Matthew 21:13 Jesus redefines God’s original purpose for His house, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.”   When you read this passage of Scripture you learn that there are four things that get restored when the corporate altar is rebuilt and reestablished in the House of God:

1)   Prayer gets restored to a place of priority – Matthew 21:13
2)   Power is released for miracles – Matthew 21:14
3)   Purity is released – Matthew 21:12
4)   Praise is restored and becomes joyful and jubilant – Matthew 21:16

When we rebuild and repair the broken altars in our personal and corporate lives we will see the breakthrough and the revival that we have been longing and praying for.  Will you join me in repenting of our prayerlessness and rebuilding the broken and neglected altars of prayer

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