Luke 19:46
Saying to them, "It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves."
Saying to them, "It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves."
Where It Is Written
Isaiah 56:7
"I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”
A Den of Robbers
Jeremiah 7:11
"Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I, too, have seen it," declares The LORD.
A New Name
While the reference here is to the temple with hands, we also know that we are the temple built without hands. Therefore, this verse in Luke refers to the believer, as well.
2 Chronicles 7:16 "For I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time."
1 Corinthians 6:19 (NLT) Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of The Holy Spirit, Who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Isaiah 62:2
Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of The LORD will bestow.
Revelation 3:12
The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write The Name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.
Honor to God was not being given in either instance. We are houses of prayer, lively stones praising God and praying to God. Our voices reach His ears. Our actions are seen by His eyes. Our thoughts are known by His mind. There is no need for God to look down from heaven, because God lives in His people; He lives in our praises to Him.
In our church buildings we are to come together to give our worship to Him with our praises and testimonies. We are come into together to receive from Him The Word which He has prepared for us on that day.
In our hearts, and our lives, we are to do the same. We give Him praise and worship. We testify of God's amazing mercies and grace in our lives to anyone who will listen. We read our Bibles and study out, searching for the Truth, knowing God will reveal Himself to us in it. We pray that God manifests Himself in us through all of it, as His glory filled the temples of old, may He fill these temples, these vessels of mercy, even now.
May we, indeed, be God's houses of prayer, bearing His Name.
HOUSE OF PRAYER - Eddie James
WHEN I KNEEL TO PRAY - ElenAmor
