This morning while I was on my way to work like any normal day, a song I haven’t thought of in a while was suddenly stuck in my head – House of Prayer by Eddie James.
I became a big fan of Eddie about a year and a half ago after seeing him lead worship live, and House of Prayer is one of my favorite songs that he has written. It’s also one that I’ve picked up and started playing on occasion when I lead worship! The lyrics are simple and repetitive, but pretty awesome. The gist of the song is this: Lord, make me a house of prayer, with an added loop of this: May the fire on my altar never burn out
I sang this song sooo many times over the course of last year while I was on mission, but honestly I’ve probably thought of it twice since coming back home last November… including today.
It seemed kind of interesting to me for some reason, so I asked Holy Spirit if there was a reason why this song was on my mind.
After a little bit of time, I felt like He said:
Denea, you need to be a house of prayer.
I wasn’t quite sure what that was supposed to mean, exactly, so I asked this, “Is there something in particular I need to be praying about?”
I waited for a response, but honestly I didn’t hear much of anything, so I went about my business as usual.
Then, out of nowhere while I was standing in the women’s locker room at work, about to start my cleaning routine, suddenly I had an urge to open the Bible app on my phone. I grabbed my phone, hit the app, and quickly read the verse for the day: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV))
Some of you out there are probably like well, that’s a pretty well known and often quoted passage. What does that have to do with anything?
Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing, but here’s what I’m figuring out…
Admittedly, my prayer life hasn’t quite been as intense as it was last year. I mean, trust me I talk to God all the time, but I’ve only been spending time in true prayer when I feel like He’s put something specific on my heart. For example, a couple of weeks ago He hit me kinda hard about praying some specific things over a friend.
The thing about it, though, is this verse is telling me to pray without stopping. To constantly be in an attitude of prayer. And not only that, but also to rejoice always, and to give thanks in all my circumstances because it is God’s will for me.
Throughout the rest of my time at work, though, I was trying to fit all of the pieces together, and figure out what being a house of prayer has to do with that entire passage from Thessalonians.
I’m home now. And just a moment ago I felt like I should get a little bit deeper with these verses, so I looked up the original Greek for the word translated, rejoice. The Greek word here is Chairo – which, according to HELPS Word-Studies on biblehub.com is properly translated as “to delight in God’s grace” or “to be glad for His grace.”
Interesting. Especially since my joyfulness and gladness have been a little lacking lately, and I’ve specifically asked God to help me in this area. I mean, I’m way better than I was last month, especially since the blog I posted on April, 23rd (here: http://deneaallman.theworldrace.org/post/still-broken-still-beautiful), but the joy still feels to be missing something.
Still having a little trouble putting all of the pieces together about what all of this is supposed to mean, I asked God if He could make it a little more plain, and show me what a house of prayer has to do with joy and gladness. Like… what does this really mean, ya know? How it all connected?
It’s been about another hour, and I’ve spent some time reading over a bunch of different passages about the House of Prayer, and in doing so I came across this from Isaiah 56:
“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and holds fast to My covenant [by conscientious obedience]; All these I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar: for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” (AMP)
I think over the years I’ve seen a clear correlation between thankfulness and joy, but prayerfulness and joy… well, that hasn’t exactly been something I’ve ever noticed before. Here in Isaiah, though, God clearly makes a connection between the two… stating He will make them “joyful in {His} house of prayer.”
I wonder if this attitude of prayer, this attitude of offering ourselves up and showing ourselves weak by having to rely on Him for our needs and the needs of others should also be a reminder to us of His grace. We are nothing without Him and His grace. We are nothing without His sacrifice. We are nothing without His love and guidance and direction and… well… His help. So maybe by giving ourselves up to Him, by sacrificing our control and offering our desires to create our own solutions over to Him in favor of His will, His commands, His covenant (as Isaiah puts it) and His control, perhaps that is what leads us to delight in that grace that He gives us. Maybe it leads us to finding joy and happiness and gladness in His house of prayer, which now, because of Christ’s sacrifice and the tearing of the temple veil, has become those of us who are believers. We are the temple for His Holy Spirit as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, and that temple is a House of Prayer. At least, it seems that it should be.
What I think I’m getting from all of it is that being a house of prayer is an act of submission and sacrifice. We are offering ourselves up to God. We are giving in to His will, His commands, His control of our lives and those around us, and admitting that we are weak and can do nothing apart from Him. But knowing and understanding that God is a loving Father who is gracious and merciful and kind to us, and He’s always looking out for the good of those who love Him, we can find delight and gladness in that grace. We can be thankful no matter where we are or what we are going through because His grace has been gifted to us.
So, I end with this:
May the fire on my altar never burn out as I continue to sacrifice myself, my pride, my control… all of it up to You. Through this, teach me to be joyful at all times, to be full of peace and gladness as I become a house of prayer to You. Teach me to lay down myself, knowing that I am weak, but in my weakness I am strong because of You, and You, alone, God. Your grace is my delight. It covers all of my sins, guides my life, and makes everything worthy of my thankfulness, no matter the circumstance.
#40dayswithjesus #daythree
