People of Prayer Build a Temple of Prayer

The construction work on the assembly hall that we have anticipated for so long has finally started! On Monday, City Hall formally approved our application for rezoning. The contractor has begun preparations on site. Soon, full-scale construction will take place. According to terms of the agreement, the job will be completed within 42 weeks. Our church building plans have gone through many twists and turns, difficulties and delays. Mainly, that¡¦s due to our application for rezoning of the agricultural land to assembly use encountering many roadblocks from the different departments of both levels of local and provincial government. An extraordinary amount of time was expended because of that. As well, the increase in construction costs caused us to lose control of the budget. Still, the faithful Lord bestowed His blessings on us. First, the purchaser of our church office allowed us to continue renting the premises for our meetings after the sale, so that we did not have to move elsewhere. Then in the donations for the church building, God moved our overseas brothers and sisters to offer tremendous support during this period, reducing the pressure of financial necessity on us. On March 6 we conducted a ground-breaking ceremony. Then a week later we received approval for the rezoning. Hopefully within the next 2 weeks, we will have the Building Permit in hand. I wonder if everyone agrees, all these are the fruits brought forth by God¡¦s mercy and by prayer.

When Nehemiah heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, the city gates were burned with fire, and the Jews returned from captivity were greatly distressed and humiliated, he wept and mourned for it all, and he fasted and prayed. After about 120 days of praying, God showed him mercy through the Persian king Artaxerxes. Not only was he granted leave, but Nehemiah was also permitted to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. This was truly the gracious hand of God assisting him. The building of the wall suffered numerous threats and obstructions from their enemies, but the people worked with all their heart. (Nehemiah 4:6) Nehemiah also set half of the laborers repairing the wall to work while the other half stood watch with spears. The wall was finally rebuilt in 52 days. It can be seen then that before the work of God can commence, there must be adequate preparatory prayer. The duration of praying exceeded the actual period of construction by over 2 times. And while work was continuing, the labourers also stood watch with each other to guard against the sabotage of their enemies.

When it comes to our building plans, I wonder sometimes if the delays were a consequence of insufficient preparation in prayer and supplication by the church. Perhaps God was testing us to see if the whole church was united in seeking Him, and steadfast in relying on Him? By the same token, as to the inadequacy of our building fund, maybe God is waiting and hoping that more people of prayer will be raised up among us, so that what is called a ¡§Temple of Prayer¡¨ can successfully be built. In the past the holy temple in Jerusalem was called ¡§A House of Prayer for All Nations¡¨, but people altered its use and turned it into a den of thieves. Solomon observed of the temple he built: ¡§Who then am I to build a temple for Him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before Him?¡¨ (2 Chronicles 2:6) Many times he said, ¡§pray towards this place¡¨. We should understand that it is meaningful only if we are people of prayer and build a temple where we interact with God through prayer.

Recently, an organization conducted a written survey among 600 evangelical churches in America. They wanted to find out the 12 functions most stressed by churches in 2005 as requiring development. The result indicated that the 12 functions most emphasized by those churches were in order: preaching the gospel, sermons, home visits, counseling, worship, programs for youth, missions, social work, children¡¦s programs, fellowships, family and marriage, and finally prayers at the bottom of the list. (Note) This conclusion highlighted the reason churches in America have become spiritually weak churches. Dear brothers and sisters, let us never neglect praying. It is only meaningful if we first become people of prayer and build a temple of prayer.

Note: http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=182

By: Daniel To