Scripture Reading: Isa. 56:7; 62:6-7; Ezek. 36:37; John 15:7; Matt. 6:10; Eph. 3:14-21
Ⅰ
The central thought of the Scriptures is that God is seeking a building as a living composition of persons redeemed by and mingled with Himself— Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:21-22; 4:16:
A
God's intention is to have a group of people built up as a spiritual building— the church as the temple of God—to express Him and represent Him by dealing with His enemy and recovering the lost earth—Gen. 1:26; Matt. 16:18-19; 1 Pet. 2:5.
B
God's building is the desire of His heart and the goal of His salvation, the expression of God as life in a corporate Body, the mingling of God with man, and the corporate expression of the Triune God—Matt. 16:18; Eph. 4:16.
Ⅱ
God's building—the church, the Body of Christ, as the temple of God—is a house of prayer—Isa. 56:7; Mark 11:17a; John 2:16-17, 19-21; 14:2; Heb. 3:6:
A
"My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples"—Isa. 56:7b.
B
"He taught and said to them, Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'?"—Mark 11:17a.
C
"These will I cause…to rejoice in My house of prayer"—Isa. 56:7a.
Ⅲ
In the church as the temple of God, a house of prayer, we pray for the fulfillment of God's desire, the carrying out of God's will, and the accomplishment of God's economy—1 Kings 8:48; Dan. 9:1-23; John 15:7; Matt. 6:10; Eph. 3:14-21; 5:27; Rev. 14:1; 21:2:
A
In the house of prayer we live and serve as a man of prayer, praying to the mysterious God in the divine and mystical realm—Luke 5:16; John 6:57; 14:9- 10, 20.
B
In the church as the temple of God, a house of prayer, we pray according to God's desire and thought; such prayer is precious and weighty, and it will shake the gates of Hades and affect Satan—Dan. 9:1-23.
C
The prayer that is pleasing to God is the prayer that asks for the accomplishment of God's will and for the completion of God's work—Matt. 6:10; Col. 1:9; 4:12; Isa. 45:11; 62:6-7; Ezek. 36:37.
D
Our prayer in the house of prayer should be for the fulfillment of God's economy—1 Kings 8:48:
１
The Holy Land, the holy city, and the holy temple are three crucial things regarding God's economy:
ａ
Christ is our good land; Christ is our city, our kingdom; and Christ is the temple, God's dwelling place.
ｂ
Our prayers should be aimed at the Holy Land, the holy city, and the holy temple; this means that our prayers should be aimed at the interest of God, that is, at Christ and the church as God's interest on earth— Eph. 1:16-23; 3:14-21.
ｃ
Daniel prayed for the Holy Land, the holy city, and the holy temple by opening his windows toward Jerusalem—Dan. 6:10.
２
To pray properly, we must pray to God in the name of the Lord Jesus, aiming at God's interest for His economy; to pray in the name of Jesus is to pray for the interest of God on earth, which is Christ as God's portion to us, as God's kingdom, and as God's dwelling place—John 14:13-14; 15:16; Eph. 2:21-22; 3:8; Col. 1:12-13.
E
In His heavenly ministry Christ is interceding, ministering, and executing God's administration, and we need to be those who respond to Christ's activities in His heavenly ministry by our prayers in the church as the temple of God, a house of prayer—Heb. 2:17; 4:14; 7:25-26; 8:1-2; Rev. 5:6; Col. 3:1-4:
１
Through our prayer Christ, the Head, is given a way to carry out His administration through His Body; as the Head is working in heaven by interceding, ministering, and administrating, we, the Body, are working on earth responding to the heavenly ministry of Christ and reflecting what He is doing—1:18a; 2:19; 3:1-2; Heb. 2:17; 4:14; 7:25-26; 8:1-2; Rev. 5:6.
２
If we seek the things which are above and have one life and one living with Christ, we will be wholly occupied with the Lord's interest; our heart will be with Him in heaven, where He is interceding for the churches, supplying the saints, and administrating God's government—Col. 3:1-4, 17.
F
The prayer in the church as the temple of God, a house of prayer, is in the position of ascension, and with this position of prayer there is the authority of prayer; when we have the heavenly position and authority, our prayers become God's administration, the executing of God's will; this is the prevailing prayer of the church—the prayer of the age—Eph. 1:22-23; 2:6; Matt. 6:9-10, 13b.
G
In the church as the temple of God, a house of prayer, we pray in an executing way, binding on earth what has been bound in heaven and loosing on earth what has been loosed in heaven; this is the prayer of the Body; we can have this kind of prayer only when we ask "in harmony"—18:18-19.
H
In the church as the temple of God, a house of prayer, we may participate in Christ's interceding life, praying at the center of the divine administration— Rev. 8:3; Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:26-27, 34.
I
The central subject and goal of prayer in the house of prayer is to prepare a glorious church for Christ, a church that will match Him and fulfill the desire of His heart—Eph. 1:5, 9; 3:14-21; 5:27.
J
The Lord's recovery is to build up Zion—the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem—and we reach Zion by praying in the church as the temple of God, a house of prayer—4:16; Rev. 14:1; 21:2.