Matthew
21: 1-15
1 And
when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount
of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
2 Saying
unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find
an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them,
and bring them unto me.
3 And
if any man say ought unto you,
ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
4 All
this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
saying,
5 Tell
ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting
upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
6 And
the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
7 And
brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
8 And
a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down
branches from the trees, and strawed them
in the way.
9 And
the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to
the Son of David: Blessed is he
that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
10 And
when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
11 And
the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
12 And
Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought
in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of
them that sold doves,
13 And
said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer;
but ye have made it a den of thieves.
14 And
the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
15 And
when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and
the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David;
they were sore displeased,
It
has been said that when purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable. From
generation to generation, God seeks to have communion with His people. His
delight is to have a praying people. In Genesis, we understand that he would
always come down to commune with Adam and Eve in the garden in the cool of the
day.
Genesis 3
8
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of
the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God
amongst the trees of the garden.
So
Eden was not just a place for Adam and Even to live, work and have children, it
was also a place for God to meet with them. We also need to understand that
where we live, work and raise our families are places of communion with God.
God desires to our communion because that is the easiest way to change our
lives.
A
man of prayer Wesley Duewell says: “the greatest privilege God gave to us is
the freedom to approach Him at anytime.” You are not only authorized to speak
to Him, you are invited. You are not only permitted, you are expected.
The
moment sin entered into Eden, they no longer want to communicate with God and
that was the beginning of crisis in their lives and home.
A
family that does not maintain consistent communion with God will be a crisis
ridden family. A life that abandons prayer will be filled with hellish
experiences.
Psalms 9
17
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
Following
the fall of the first generation of mankind, Noah caught the revelation of
building an altar unto God. An altar is a raised platform where sacrifices are
made to God as a form of worship thereby allowing room for supplication.
And
Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of
every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
And
the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not
again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's
heart is evil from his youth;
neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (Genesis
8:20-21).
God
did communicate with men as they raised altars unto Him from generations to
generations in the old Testament. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob were men of altars.
In
the wilderness, the Lord commanded to build an ark and a sanctuary which was
the tabernacle from where He would commune with them. They continued to relate
with God from these until later when David desired to build a temple for the
ark of God. God did not permit David to do this but allowed Solomon to build
the temple. At the dedication service of the temple, Solomon stressed that God
should put His name on the temple that it may a place of prayer. In fact, he
desired that even from the land of captivity, if any of the covenant people
pray towards the temple, God would hear. This was how the temple came to stay
as a place of prayer for the people.
Meanwhile,
in the wilderness, God gave specific instructions on offerings and sacrifices
to be given and how they are to be given. He emphasized on giving their
offerings, sacrifices and tithes in the place that He appoints. Eventually,
Jerusalem became the appointed place of worship where all the tribes would
travel to go and worship. Ordinarily, they were to travel with their “stuffs” for
sacrifices some of which may be very large like oxen. These may constitute burdens
for them. Therefore, God in His wisdom and mercy gave a proviso so that they
could turn their sacrifices to money until they got to the appointed place of
worship where they could now convert the money to the material stuff for the
sacrifices.
And
if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee,
which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy
God hath blessed thee:
Then
shalt thou turn it into money,
and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD
thy God shall choose:
Deut.
24:14-15
It
was based on this that some began the business of exchanging money for goods in
the temple.
Essentially,
we see that originally, the temple was created as a place of worship and
prayer. Whenever they were coming to worship, the people would bring their
offerings, vows and sacrifices. In those days, people travelled from far to
worship. Some of them will come with money so that when they got to the temple,
they would buy the things for sacrifice. Some who intend to give money will
come and do some barter. This eventually gave room for abuse as business men
and women took over the temple. They set up shops in the temple and began to
trade there. Before long, what was meant to be a business to aid prayers eventually
became the main thing. Now instead of prayers, what they had were activities. Among
these traders were “unbelievers”. They did not know God at all, they just came
to do business. That was why the house of prayer became a den of thieves.
In
many homes today, Satan has set up shops. In many lives today, activities have
replaced prayers. And it is certain that a life, home or Church that have allowed
prayer to be replaced with activities will eventually become a den of thieves.
What
is a Den?
1. Room for relaxing: a room in a house where
family members and guests relax
2. Place of crime: a place where illegal or
secret activities take place
3. Wild animal's lair: the hidden home of a wild
animal
Who is a thief?
Somebody who takes
what does not belong to him with an intention to escape notice. A thief is
someone devoted to a mission to steal, to kill and to destroy.
The thief cometh not,
but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…..
John 10:10
Certainly, if you are
not praying, the enemy will turn your life to a relaxation joint. There, he
will play host to all his family members and guests.
Matthew 12:43-45
43 When
the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking
rest, and findeth none.
44 Then
he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is
come, he findeth it empty, swept,
and garnished.
45 Then
goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself,
and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be
also unto this wicked generation.
From the above scripture,
it is crystal clear that when demons find a resting place in any person’s life,
home or business, they worsen the situation. A life devoid of prayer is an
empty life- empty of divine fire. Although, it may be garnished, that is for
the devil to come and occupy. That is why a prayer-less life will get worse and
worse. May your life not get worse and worse in Jesus Name.
Like a den of
thieves, a life without prayer is devil’s playground. There he commits all
illegal activities and crimes. The same goes for a marriage where the couple cannot
pray. It may be rosy today but in no distant time, the once beautiful home will
become a jungle where demonic agents hide.
But you can refuse
that today.
What do you do?
1.
You must invite Jesus into your
temple. He is the only one that has and gives the authority to cast out all
that buy and sell in the temple.
Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and
spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Behold, I give unto
you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19
2.
Repent of every sin of prayerlessness
in your life.
1 Samuel 12
23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in
ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
Prayerlessness
is a sin. It is neglect of God’s command and an act of pride. When we cease
from praying, it means we are claiming to be sufficient of ourselves.
3. Cast out everything
that is buying and selling in your life. The responsibility is yours to cast
out the enemy out of your life using the authority in the irresistible name of
Jesus. Once it is done in faith and in submission to the authority of God, the
devils cannot resist you.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my
name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; Mark 16:17
Submit yourselves
therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7
And in casting out whatever
is illegal in your life, you must be brutal on the enemy. Your enemy is not
gentle. Jesus who was known to be gentle took on a new identity on that day. He
took whip and sent the illegal occupants out of the temple. It was a forceful
ejection. No quit notice was served. He did it with zeal for His father’s
house. This is the same attitude you must put on otherwise, the enemy remains.
Prayer
Point
1.
Ask the Lord to forgive you if you have
been prayerless
2.
Invite Jesus anew into your situation
3.
Cast out everything that has settled
in your life illegally
4.
Receive a complete restoration of
everything that the thief has stolen from you- opportunities, blessings,
materials things, joy, spouse, children etc.
5.
Ask for a fresh fire from God to fill
your life.
