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