By Dr. Sean Cole
Pastor Emmanuel Baptist Church, Sterling
In Luke 19:45-48, Jesus cleansed the temple and called it a “house of prayer for all nations.” Why does God sovereignly gather outcasts, sinners, and foreigners to His House of Prayer? So that they might serve Him. They would love His name. They would worship Him joyfully. They would pray to Him with confidence.
In I Kings 8:41-43, God instructed Solomon on WHY he was to build the Temple in Jerusalem: “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.”
God’s plan from the beginning was for His house to be a house of prayer for all nations—not just the Jews.
How does this truth relate to the mission of the church? Matthew 28:18–20 commands us to make disciples of ALL NATIONS. The ultimate goal of missions is to share the gospel so that unsaved people can repent, believe in Jesus, and become wholehearted worshippers in the household of God as adopted children.
Do you and your church family make prayer one of the highest priorities? And how does your praying influence your understanding of missions? Colossians 4:2: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “pray without ceasing.”
If you trace the early church in Acts, you will notice one dominant theme. They devoted themselves to unified and corporate prayer. Acts 1:14: “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer.” Acts 2:42: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Acts 6:4: “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” The word used here for “devote” means to “continue steadfastly” and never give up.
In the late 1800s, one Sunday morning in London, five excited college students from America wanted to hear the famous Charles Spurgeon preach at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. They arrived early and found a kind gentleman who offered to give them a church tour. At one point, the man asked if they would like to see the boiler room in the basement. It was a hot July day, so the students thought it unusual. This doesn’t sound like it would be that exciting to see where the boilers and furnaces were. Yet, they didn’t want to be rude, so they followed the man down to the basement.
The man opened the door, and there on the floor were several hundred people praying on their knees for the worship service and preaching that would begin in a few moments upstairs in the sanctuary.
At this point, the kind man introduced himself, and it was none other than Charles Spurgeon himself. He told these students that prayer was the fuel for the church. He said that he relied on the prayers of his people when he preached. He told these students that nothing of eternal value would happen in this church without these people praying.
Can you imagine hundreds of people coming every Sunday and spending time on their knees in fervent prayer? They missed hearing Spurgeon preach, but they also knew that prayer was vital to his ministry.
Do you have this same passion for prayer? Are you also passionate about going to the nations with the gospel? Do you desire to see people from all nations steeped in idolatry turn from their sin and trust in Jesus and become joyful worshippers? Would your church indeed be a house of prayer for all nations!