Joyfully Praying in the House of the Lord Going deeper together into God through 40 prayers of the Bible Joyfully Praying in the House of the Lord Going deeper together into God through 40 prayers of the Bible INTRODUCTION

Scripture is a divine symphony, and Isaiah 52:12-56:8 is one of its grand movements. Gospel notes soar throughout. It opens with the Holy One of Israel, the Redeemer, on the cross, giving his life for the forgiveness of sins. It then proclaims that by the Redeemer’s death, the Father will make a covenant of everlasting peace with Israel, his own people. “Come,” we hear, “and call upon the Lord while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and let him return to the Lord.” Jesus has come for Israel.

But keep listening! The movement crescendos with the astonishing news that foreigners are invited, too. The Lord “will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” Jesus has come for both Jews and Gentiles.

Why? What is the purpose of God’s grand movement of divine salvation? It’s to unite all of God’s redeemed people, Jew and Gentile, into a joyful house of prayer. These I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer…for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Is 56:7).

Prayer. The Lord has done this that all who come to him will be joined on earth and in heaven in prayer before him—joyfully together in his holy house. Later Jesus affirms this prophetic word as the deep yearning of his heart (Matthew 21:13). Jesus longs for St. John Lutheran Church to be a “house of prayer.”

That this may be our longing, we’ve made prayer our main focus in 2021. Prayer is a chief spiritual means by which God brings us deeper into himself. At the same time, prayer draws us more closely together. Joyfully going deeper together into God by prayer is the aim of this Lenten devotional.

Each day we will meditate upon one of 40 prayers of the Bible. By listening to them and learning from them, God will reveal his heart to us and teach us more fully how we should pray and why we must pray. God would have us know that prayer is not only a duty but also a delight. The deeper we go into God the A Daily Devotional Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by prayer, the deeper is our joy in the Lord and our fellowship with one another. Lent, 2021 May our church, our homes, and our hearts be united joyfully together in prayer St. John Lutheran Church, Roanoke, Virginia this Lenten season—and forever. Let us become that “house of prayer” Pastor Mark Graham prophesied in Isaiah and longed for by the Lord.

Please remember that the Lord’s Day is not counted in the 40 days of Lent, so our devotions go from Monday to Saturday each week.

PRAYER #1, FEBRUARY 17 PRAYER #2, FEBRUARY 18 (ASH WEDNESDAY) Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. Genesis 18:23 Genesis 4:26 By the time we see Abraham in Genesis 18, he’s lived a full life, and then some. In the beginning, their communication was face-to-face, personal, conversa- By grace God saves Abraham from paganism. He goes down into Egypt. He tional, just like friends do. Friends talk. So it was between Adam, Eve, and God. settles with Sarah in Canaan. He rescues Lot and fights a battle. He tithes to How long had they enjoyed their close, loving friendship together in the Garden Melchizedek and receives communion from that mysterious priest and king. He before the crafty, lying serpent tempted the first couple at the tree of the enters into a covenant with God, with the sign of circumcision. He hears the knowledge of good and evil? promise of Isaac’s birth. All this over about 25 years, from Genesis 12-18.

The next thing we know, Adam and Eve are hiding from the presence of their The most remarkable thing over this quarter of a century, however, is LORD God (Gen 3:8). Their sin, and the shame of it, separates the couple from Abraham’s deepening, personal relationship with the LORD. After getting to God. By the end of Genesis 3, God has banished them from the Garden, and know God, Abraham learns to trust God, even when God seems absent over with that, they no longer can simply hang out and chat with the Lord. Their long stretches of days, even when God’s promises seem impossible to believe. banishment is more than a physical one. It’s also a deeply spiritual and emotional distancing from God. At the opening of Gen 18, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit visits Abraham at his tent beside the oaks of Mamre. Then Abraham goes with the Lord toward But their longing for what once was, a return to the Garden where their Sodom. Abraham already had encountered the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah closeness with God was constant, so delightful and meaningful, that always in the battle. He knew of their sin and treachery. He suspects rightly that God remained. They passed that longing down to all the generations that followed has set out toward those cities to impose upon them his holy judgment. them. By the time we get to the end of end of Genesis 4, we’re told that “people began to call upon the name of the LORD.” The history of prayer begins. But look what Abraham does. He stands before the LORD, draws up close, and prays, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” Then Abraham What is prayer, and why are we to pray? We will be taking up these questions intercedes for the people of Sodom, negotiating with God, whittling God down over the course of the next 40 days as we aim to become a House of Prayer, and to promising that “for the sake of ten [righteous ones] I will not destroy it.” Sadly, ten we are likely to find that the answers are complex and wondrous. Prayer is the righteous are not found in Sodom and Gomorrah, their wickedness is so great. only way to fill that longing every human being feels deep down to be back in Divine judgment falls hard on those cities, but not without Abraham first going close relationship with God. Many mistakenly, tragically, try to fill it in all sorts to bat for them. of other ways. But only through prayer can we return to God in the Garden. As Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it Abraham has such a close relationship with the LORD that he feels completely rests in you.” Prayer is not optional. free to go toe-to-toe with God. To stand his ground before the LORD, even on behalf of such wicked people. He intercedes for God’s mercy. We find here, in what seems like merely an historical footnote in Gen 4:26, the first definition and meaning of prayer. Prayer is “to call upon the name of the Early on in Scripture—which is the history of prayer, we learn this essential LORD.” To pray simply, Jesus, is a complete prayer. His name says it all: God teaching about it. Whatever else it is, prayer is to be intercessory. Prayer is saves; God is Savior. calling upon God’s mercy that the righteous will not be swept away with the wicked, and that even the wickedest of men and women will repent and turn In the early Church, the “Jesus Prayer” was practiced by many: “Lord Jesus from their sin to God. Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Or, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.” Or simply, “Jesus, have mercy.” Such intercessory prayer depends on us growing, like Abraham, in a deepening, ever more personal friendship with God. The more we know God, the more we In a House of Prayer, the first and formative prayer is to call upon the name of know his mercy for us, and the more we cry out for his mercy for others. the Lord. Let the name of Jesus be our prayer in every home today, and let his holy name fill our House of Prayer in our every gathering together. In a House of Prayer, intercessions rise to God for the whole world. PRAYER #3, FEBRUARY 19 PRAYER #4, FEBRUARY 20

O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Exodus 32:11 Numbers 6:24-26

Yesterday we recalled Abraham’s intercessory prayer on behalf of people far We’ve noted that prayer simply can be calling upon the name of the LORD. It from God. Today we remember Moses’s prayer for God’s own people, Israel. might also be an intercessory prayer or an imploration. It doesn’t take long in the biblical record to see the richness of prayer. The story of the golden calf during Israel’s time in the wilderness, when the people grow impatient over Moses’s absence and demand Aaron to make for It has been said that “prayer is, at root, simply paying attention to God.” them “gods who will go before them,” is breath-taking in its sin. The LORD Another has called it “beholding the presence of God.” Some define it as “a delivers Israel from bondage in Egypt only to have his people turn to idolatry. relationship of communion between God and believers.” The most common is “talking to God.” These definitions will all be seen in the Bible’s prayers. When Moses descends Mt. Sinai and returns to Israel’s camp, he knows God’s anger burns hot. God has told Moses that he intends to consume them with his One of the prayers we hear most often is God’s prayer of blessing that he wrath. Moses himself lashes out at the assembly. It’s Moses at his angriest. He commands Aaron to say over the people of Israel, and by extension, to all throws down and breaks the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, grinds Gentiles grafted into Israel. We call it “the Aaronic Benediction,” and it’s the prayer up the golden calf, pours the powder on water, and makes the people drink it. spoken by the pastors over our congregation almost every Lord’s Day.

Moses knows he can get away with pouring his anger over the people. But he Prayer as blessing and benediction proclaims the gospel. Such prayer illuminates knows God cannot. Moses wants to protect the LORD’s reputation among the the grace, power, and mercy of God. Foundational to all prayers of blessing is Egyptians. “Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill this one we first hear in Numbers 6:24-26. them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth?’” (Ex 32:12) Moses therefore intercedes for Israel—for the sake of the LORD. He “implores” God to Notice its Trinitarian shape. Three times the blessing of the LORD is prayed relent so that no one can disparage God’s saving work for his people. over the people. It would not be wrong to hear it as, “God the Father bless you and keep you; God the Son make his face shine upon you and be gracious to Here we learn a new dimension of prayer: prayer as imploration. It is prayer that you; God the Holy Spirit lift up his whole favor upon you and give you peace.” pleads with God for the sake of others, to be sure. But at its core, it’s pleading before God for God’s own glory and reputation to be maintained. We want all The prayer both invokes the actions of God toward us and the blessings that people to love the LORD as we do. We thus pray to him to relent from his come from those actions. The Father blesses us, and his blessing keeps us to wrath, that his saving grace might be glorified among all nations. him forever. The Son makes his face shine upon us, and we receive his grace. The Spirit lifts up his favor (countenance, the fullness of God’s presence) upon The Church in the 21st century is sadly not so different from Israel in the us, and we are given the peace that can come only from God, that is, his wilderness in the 15th century BC. Many in the Church have lost patience with shalom—eternal salvation and well-being. It is a powerful prayer to bestow God, or have turned to idols of various kinds, or have decided to follow their God’s blessing upon another. own thoughts and opinions, forsaking the truth of God’s Word. As God has blessed us by commanding his benediction to be prayed over us as The Church’s reputation has taken a big hit in recent years. Which is to say, the we gather as a House of Prayer each Sunday, let this encourage and teach us to Lord’s reputation has taken a big hit. The Church is the Body of Christ in the offer to God prayers of blessing over others: Parents praying over their children world. Jesus has hitched his wagon to it. As the Church goes, so goes the Lord. each night; husbands and wives praying to God to bless their marriage; a friend calling upon the Lord to bless a friend, especially in a hard time. Just as we long A House of Prayer is a place where Christ’s people implore God to relent from for God’s blessing, let us be a House of Prayer in which we pray daily for the the wrath he rightly has against the Church, that the Church might repent and blessing of the Lord upon one another. return faithfully to him, for the sake of his glory and reputation in the world.

PRAYER #5, FEBRUARY 22 PRAYER #6, FEBRUARY 23

Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead Numbers 11:11 them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd. Let’s be honest. If we know prayer of any type, it’s probably the prayer of Numbers 27:16 complaint we know best. Few are the saints who never complain to God. We wonder and whine over the stresses and difficulties we face, but something God answers some prayers more quickly than others. We’ve all noticed that in good does come from it. We are compelled at least to pray, even if it’s to give our prayer life. God responds to every prayer we say, even as the response may God an earful. not be what we expect or how we expect it. But sometimes, he answers swiftly and explicitly. Moses was pretty good at prayers of complaint. He had a lot of practice. In the wilderness, the people grow sick of eating manna day after day and break down Moses knows his death is around the corner. God makes that clear right before weeping. “Oh, that we had meat to eat!” Suddenly, Egypt was looking good to Moses prays the prayer cited above. This prompts Moses to go immediately into them. They missed the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. prayer asking God to make Moses’s successor known. Moses has devoted 40 years as Israel’s shepherd, and all those during Israel’s toughest time. While his Then they all show up at the door of Moses’s tent. They say, “You got us into burdens and frustrations have been many, nothing has compromised his love this situation. How are you going to get us out of it?” Their complaining drives for his congregation. Moses cries out “that the congregation of the LORD may not be Moses to anger in his prayer before the LORD. as sheep that have no shepherd.”

He raises his voice to God. “Why, me, Lord? Why are you laying all this on me? Where Praying to God to make known and appoint the right leaders for the am I to get meat for the people?” It’s not shocking that Moses prayed complaining. congregation of his people needs to be a constant, regular part of any House of We get that. What’s remarkable is God’s reaction. He listens patiently and then Prayer’s prayer life. The congregation’s church council needs the right leaders. responds with amazing grace. So do the committees. The Life Together small groups, too. Worship leaders. Education leaders. Youth leaders. The list is long. Once you give some thought The LORD first realizes Moses needs help. So he directs Moses to gather 70 to it, our prayers for leadership will take a sizable portion of any prayer time. men of the elders of Israel. They will help Moses shoulder the burdens of leadership. Then the Lord God resolves the complaint about the lack of meat That goes for our prayers for the right leaders to be called to the church staff, as by sending so many quail that they’re three feet deep on the ground. well. As we approach Lent, we continue to pray for the right person to serve as our next Minister of Traditional Worship. That’s been vacant since last summer. God hears with a Father’s kindness his children’s complaints. The Lord invites While the Lord has brought help to us, and has raised up many to step in, we us to lift to him both prayers of praise and thanksgiving as well as prayers filled need a shepherd for this ministry position moving forward. Please pray. with despair, complaint, and burden. Because God the Father has firmly established a relationship with us through God the Son, we can be transparent That goes especially for our prayer that the Lord would make known the right with him. We can be honest. We can complain. We can even whine. leader to serve as our next senior pastor. That leadership need is coming down the road as we anticipate a transition into new pastoral leadership about a year God seeks a close and personal relationship of love with us. He wants us to be a from now. Our congregation is a wonderful model of shared leadership and House of Prayer where we’re real in what we say to him. No sugarcoating cooperative ministry. But we need the right shepherd to provide overall spiritual allowed. That includes our prayers of complaint. He can take them, and he leadership for this flock. invites us to give them to him. As a House of Prayer we have the responsibility to pray for leaders and for new If we don’t have a prayer of complaint to say to Jesus today, praise be to God! leaders to come along beside us. Let us daily join Moses in prayer, “O Lord, our But if we do, don’t dare hold it back. God is always ready and open to listen and Lord, appoint a man over our congregation who shall go out before us and come in before us.” respond to our every complaint in his House of Prayer. What is your prayer We must never neglect prayers for the leadership of our House of Prayer. now? PRAYER #7, FEBRUARY 24 PRAYER #8, FEBRUARY 25

Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country Then Samson called to the LORD and said, ‘O Lord GOD, please remember me and Lebanon. and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Deuteronomy 3:25 Philistines for my two eyes.’ Judges 16:28 We continue to follow Moses in his prayer life. He leaves us a deep track of prayer. Whatever else we must say about him—and there is much to say—he is Samson is not the first person we would think to look to as an example of a life first and foremost a man of prayer. Isn’t that after all a mark of true faith? of prayer. His life is a complex story, a mixture of the good and the bad. Like most of our life stories, too, when we consider them fully. At the end, however, The greatest example of prayer Moses leaves to us is how he handles God he asks one last prayer of God. He prays faithfully with his final breath. saying “no” to the most important prayer Moses ever asks for himself. The prayer comes out as a plea from the bottom of Moses’s heart. This strong man He’s been blinded, maimed, and bound by the Philistines, the mortal enemies of of faith, this fearsome leader who went toe-to-toe with the powerful Pharaoh, is Israel. Samson as a judge over Israel has led the battle against these enemies moved to come begging before the Lord. time after time. Samson knows he cannot survive his imprisonment. He seeks God’s supernatural strength that he might destroy the enemies of God’s people Moses pleads that God will allow him to go over to the Promised Land, “the land in his death and be personally avenged for his mistreatment at their hands. beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.” He’s walked through dust and rock, straining to lead a quarrelsome nation, for 40 years. For just a taste of that Samson calls upon the Lord by prayer and faith, invoking the Lord by each of sweet land so longed for, is that too much for Moses to ask of God? his three revealed names in the Old Testament Scriptures. Samson’s last prayer is Trinitarian. He invokes Adonai (Lord), Yahweh (LORD), and Elohim (God). The LORD says “no.” And he says it emphatically: “Enough of you; do not speak to me of this matter again” (Dt 3:26). But Moses understands. He remembers that What does Samson’s prayer at his death tell us about him? His prayer reveals God had told him years before that because of Moses’s sin at the waters of that Samson truly knew and personally trusted in God. To know God’s name(s) Meribah (Num 20:1-13), God would not permit Moses to set foot in the is to know God. His name reveals and makes him known. Samson did not Promised Land. At Meribah in the wilderness the people thirsted and always walk in obedient footsteps before the Lord, but in death, Samson turned complained. God said to Moses, “tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water.” But to the Lord in prayer like he never had in life. when time came to do so, Moses struck the rock twice with this staff rather than trusting in the power of the Word of God alone. By this, Samson becomes a type of Christ on the cross. Like Samson, Christ’s arms are stretched out. Jesus too has been tortured, his eyes blinded by the Now Moses must deal with the consequences of his sin. How does a believer blood dripping down from his crown of thorns. Surrounded by his enemies, by handle it when the prayer he wants God to fulfill more than anything else is those who seek his death, Jesus cries out to his Father. With his last act and denied by God? Moses handles it by getting back to his ministry to serve God prayer of faith, Jesus defeats our great enemies for us—sin, death, and the devil. by preparing Israel to enter the Promised Land. He knows he won’t be joining them, but he wants them ready to obey and serve the LORD from the moment It’s easy to get sideways with the life of Samson. His hair. His impulsive they cross the Jordan. So Moses begins the first of five final sermons before the behavior. His cravings and appetites. We shake our heads: This is a judge appointed people, his five last messages of godly instruction. God says “no” to Moses. by God to lead Israel? But let’s look at Samson at the end of his life, and learn Moses continues to say “yes” to God. That’s how a man or woman of faith prayer from him. His last cry to God shows us a man who knows and trusts in deals with God’s “no” to their prayers. God personally and turns finally to him.. Samson prays to the Lord not in general, hazy terms. He prays boldly and personally in the revealed and Holy God is not a candy store owner giving out sweets to every child who wants one. Name of God. He is the Father who says “yes” and “no” from his heart of love for us and the truth of his Word. When he says “no,” let us stand with Moses in understanding A House of Prayer prays rightly. We don’t pray in general terms, but we boldly and obedience, ready to move on in our ministries, knowing God’s answers are say, “We pray to you, Father, through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of your always best for us. That’s how members of a House of Prayer faithfully receive Holy Spirit.” God’s answers to their prayers. PRAYER #9, FEBRUARY 26 PRAYER #10, FEBRUARY 27

As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. continue forever before you. 1 Samuel 1:12-13 2 Samuel 7:29

Prayer must come from our hearts if it is to be truly received by the Lord. The only person described in the Bible as a “man after God’s own heart” is Giving only “lip service” to the Lord by prayer will never do. God listens to our King David (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22). What made him so? Primarily, David hearts. What does he hear? sought God’s heart through prayer.

In the First Testament of Scripture, no one stands as a better model of prayer The Psalter, the Prayer Book of the Bible, incorporates over 75 prayers of than Hannah. Her faithful prayer life developed from her suffering and pain, David’s. In the telling of his life from childhood in the books of Samuel and which is almost always how those who really know the depth and power of Chronicles, we see David constantly in prayer. When David prays to the LORD prayer come by it. for guidance, protection, and forgiveness, his life always goes in right and righteous directions. The times he forgets and acts apart from prayer, that’s She was barren, even as she wept before the Lord in worship, sacrifice, and when David falters, and falters badly. But then he would remember and return prayer year after year, crying out for God to grant her the miracle of a child. Her to prayer again. husband, Elkanah, tried to be supportive, but Elkanah’s other wife, Peninah, the mother of many sons and daughters, mocked her. Because he is a man after God’s own heart, David really wants to build God a House of Prayer on earth. David is convicted in his heart because God dwells in Hannah persists. She perseveres. Though sad and disappointed after many years a tent, while David lives in a palace. But God tells David through the prophet of unanswered prayers, Hannah continues to come before the Lord by prayer. Nathan that God will build a house for David instead. We know what that “house” is. It is the lineage from which will come Jesus, the Messiah, the King. At the temple in Shiloh, Hannah once more weeps and petitions the Lord.. She prays, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and By having his prayer denied by the Lord, David gains a far greater insight into remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give the mercy of God. God will establish David’s house forever through Jesus. him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head” (1 Sam 1:11). What else can David do in the face of such a gracious response by God but fall to his knees in prayer? It’s what any person after God’s own heart would do. Hannah prays, her lips trembling, but without speaking aloud the words. She prays from her heart. The priest Eli thinks Hannah is drunk. Hannah replies, David’s prayer of gratitude in 2 Samuel 7:18-29 shows us that prayer needs “No, my Lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit…I have been pouring out my always to be situated in humility before God. David is overwhelmed that the soul before the LORD” (1 Sam 1:15). Lord would act so graciously toward him, and David responds with humble thanks. David is not just one, typical member of Israel. He’s the king. To see We pray from our hearts about what truly matters to us. We can easily run the king humble and full of gratitude before God leaves us a lasting legacy to through a list of prayers, and it is not a bad thing to pray through many follow David’s example. petitions. But the prayers that mean the most, that come only from pain and persistence over years, are those of our hearts. Hannah’s was for the hope of a At the same time, David’s prayer functions as a petition to God to bless David’s child. But more than simply wanting a child for herself, she promises to raise own house, his family and all that belongs to him. When David prays “bless the her child in fear and reverence before God. She wants a child to honor God. house of your servant,” he means both the house promised by God in the future and the house of David’s family right then and there. It’s a beautiful way how What is the prayer of your heart? Parents certainly should follow in Hannah’s prayer can encompass both the present and the future. example by praying from their hearts for their children to know and serve God. Or perhaps it’s a persistent cry for healing and help. Or for our nation to turn to In our House of Prayer, may David’s prayer lead us to pray in these same two the Lord. Or for our dearest loved one to believe and trust in the Lord. ways. We gather to pray in gratitude to the Lord for our personal houses. We pray too for the house God has established forever by King Jesus, that all might In our House of Prayer, may the prayers of our hearts ascend to the Lord. come and live in it. PRAYER #11, MARCH 1 PRAYER #12, MARCH 2

Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people? beneath…listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray 1 Kings 3:9 toward this place. 1 Kings 8:23 Solomon started out well. David’s son, who would build God’s house on earth and lead Israel in its season of greatest flourishing, “loved the LORD and There’s no way for us fully to appreciate the magnificence of that day when walked in the statues of David his father” (1 Kgs 3:3). King Solomon dedicates the first temple in Jerusalem. For over 400 years, God’s house on earth, his dwelling place on the mercy seat of the Ark of the God looked in favor on Solomon and said to him in a dream, “Ask what I shall Covenant, had been in a portable tent, carried from site to site. Now God has a give you” (1 Kgs 3:6). It was an audacious offer. God says he will give you permanent home among his people, and now Israel knows where always to find whatever you ask? Who could imagine having such an opportunity. the Lord for prayer.

We know how Solomon answers. It’s what he’s most famous for. Solomon asks Solomon’s prayer of dedication illustrates his understanding of God. “As you God for “an understanding mind,” that is, for wisdom. When you can have any pray, so you believe” is a truth cited by the Church Fathers from ancient days. Of wish fulfilled, and you request wisdom, that’s a sign of a person who wants to course, it also works in reverse. Prayer and belief can never be separated. serve, not to be served. God is very pleased and grants Solomon not only wisdom but also riches and honor beyond comparison to any other king. Solomon begins his solemn prayer with praise to God. He magnifies the LORD for his faithfulness to his promises. Then the king gives humble thanks that the But for our study of prayer, as we seek to become the Lord’s House of Prayer, Lord God would indeed dwell on earth with his people. The God above all it’s important to know literally what Solomon asks of God. In the Hebrew, things has come below to be all things for his people. “understanding mind” is actually “a hearing heart.” “Hearing” is always associated with obeying. Solomon asks that he might always listen to the Lord What exactly has the LORD come to do for Israel? What is the main the for the sake of obeying the Lord. purpose of the temple being dedicated that day? In a word, prayer. Solomon’s dedicatory prayer becomes foundational to what God declares later through “A hearing heart” is part of the heart of prayer. As we’ve said, prayer is most Isaiah and what finally Jesus then affirms in his ministry: God’s temple is to be a often defined as “talking to God.” Indeed, we can and must tell him everything House of Prayer for all people, Jews and Gentiles. on our minds and in our hearts. At the same time, prayer is also “listening to God.” We seek by prayer to hear the Lord directing us toward good and away Solomon asks God to listen to all the prayers that will be lifted in that holy from evil. We want to listen to what the Lord would have for us, even as he House of Prayer, saying in essence: “By prayer and worship, let sinners be invites us to tell him what we would have from him. convicted of their sin and the righteous rewarded. Let the sin of Israel be forgiven when they repent. Let the miracle of rain fall when drought takes the Such “listening prayer” is sometimes called “contemplative prayer.” It means to land. Let all the needs for food, healing, and help reach your heart, O Lord! Let be still and listen. While this way of prayer can stray in wrong directions, such as the foreigner come to your house, God, that you may hear him and be glorified the eastern religions teach, when practiced in accordance with God’s Word, it by his prayers and petitions. Let our prayers for help in battle be received, O provides a means for us to know God’s will more fully. After all, who wants God. Let all of our prayers be heard, for the forgiveness of our sins, for help in only a one-sided conversation? When Elijah was hiding in a cave, he heard God every time of trouble, for the honor and glory of your holy name. Amen.” in the “still, small voice” of intimate, personal prayer (1 Kgs 19:12). David says in Psalm 4:4, “ponder in your hearts on your beds, and be silent.” Psalm 46:10 It is one of the great prayers of the Bible. It teaches us who God is and why he declares, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Such listening, quiet prayer is best should be praised and trusted above all others. It also reveals why God has accompanied by the reading of God’s Word. We seek to hear God as we listen come to be with his people on earth. It is to hear the prayers of his children. It to him speak to us in the Scriptures. is so that his house in Jerusalem, Israel may be a House of Prayer for all nations.

A “hearing heart” is essential to a life of prayer. As we gather as a House of This coming Lord’s Day, let us assemble in God’s House of Prayer, joining in Prayer each Lord’ Day, we are to speak and to keep silent. Both are prayers. Solomon’s prayer. That’s what God has wanted from the first. PRAYER #13, MARCH 3 PRAYER #14, MARCH 4

‘O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him once again.’ And the LORD Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight. revived. 2 Kings 20:3 1 Kings 17:21 King Hezekiah of Judah is scared. The Assyrians are poised to strike Jerusalem, It’s the first time we meet the great prophet Elijah. God calls him from his and suddenly, he falls gravely ill. What does he do? He prays. Hezekiah has a home in Tishbe to go and tell evil King Ahab that only by God’s Word will any close relationship with God, by worship and prayer, and he did “what was good more dew or rain fall on the land. It’s a way of teaching Ahab a lesson, and sure and right and faithful before the LORD his God” (2 Chron 31:20). enough, drought comes. When the Assyrians threaten, he sends for Isaiah. He needs a prayer partner. God sees a widow in the village of Zerephath and commands her to feed Elijah Hezekiah prays a beautiful prayer for God’s help (2 Kgs 19:19), and Isaiah in the midst of this hardship. She’s perplexed when Elijah shows up on her reassures the king that God will protect Jerusalem. God keeps his promise. The doorstep. She’s down to her last bit of flour and oil, only enough for a last meal Lord sends his angel (angels being God’s warriors) into the Assyrian camp. The with her son before they die. By the miracle of God’s Word, however, she next morning the bodies of 185,000 Assyrian troops are found on the ground suddenly never had so much flour and oil, enough for the three of them and outside the city walls. plenty more leftover. All’s well. Soon, Hezekiah’s illness worsens. Isaiah tells the king to get his affairs in order Then grief strikes when the widow’s boy dies. She bitterly wonders if Elijah only to prepare to die. Once again, Hezekiah prays to God for his mercy and healing. came to make her feel guilty over her sin and cause the death of her son. Elijah Before Isaiah even leaves the palace, God tells Isaiah to go back to the king and takes the body of the boy up to his room, cries out to the LORD in prayer, say that his prayer has been heard. Isaiah reports what God has said: “Behold, I stretches himself upon the child three times, and prays fervently, “O LORD my will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, and I will add 15 God, let this child’s life come into him once again.” The LORD listens to Elijah, and years to your life” (2 Kgs 20:5-6). Isaiah orders a poultice of figs to be applied to the boy comes back to life. the boil that has caused the severe illness. The king recovers.

What do we learn about prayer from this miracle? Ultimately and always, we Hezekiah’s life teaches us several important points about God and prayer. By must direct our prayers to Christ alone, crucified and resurrected. All Christian learning from them, we too can go deeper into God as a House of Prayer. prayers are prayers to Christ, through the Holy Spirit, to the Father’s glory. First, God hears our prayers for the nation, for the world. God has the whole The widow’s son dies. Elijah stretches out his arms three times. God the Father world in his hands, and we are to put our prayers for the world into his hands. listens, and the boy lives. So it will come to pass, that the Father’s Son stretches Our nation and this world desperately need us to seek the Lord’s help for them. out his arms on his cross, the Son praying to the Father in the Spirit, the three Persons of the Triune God at work for our salvation. The Father listens to what Second, God hears our prayers for our personal concerns. God listened to his Son’s crucifixion says: “I take their sins into me, Father. I take their death Hezekiah crying out on his death bed, and God healed him. The divine healing into my death. I cover them by my blood for their forgiveness and to satisfy was quite specific, too. Fifteen years exactly were added to his life. your holy wrath, Father, against their terrible unholiness.” The Father listens all that Good Friday, and on the third day, he raises his Son to life, this time never Third, God healed Hezekiah on “the third day.” That should immediately get to die again. our attention. We assemble for prayer and worship on every Third Day, the Day of our Lord’s resurrection. Our prayers together as a House of Prayer are never Christ crucified. Christ resurrected. He’s the only one who covers us in life and more powerful and effective as they are on the Third Day. in death, by his life and death. He alone raises us to life eternal, by his raising. This makes Jesus Christ the only one worthy and powerful and gracious and Fourth, God brings healing by prayer and good medical care. Hezekiah prays, forgiving enough to receive our prayers. Today, in your home, pray to Jesus. and medicine is applied. God works in the beautiful combination of the two. In And on Sunday, in our House of Prayer, let us join all together before Jesus. He our House of Prayer, let us pray for the ill and for those who treat them. deserves our attention. He’s earned the right to hear us by prayer. PRAYER #15, MARCH 5 PRAYER #16, MARCH 6

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then Ezra 9:6 I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 Ezra prays at the newly rebuilt and refurnished temple in Jerusalem a prayer of confession almost unparalleled in the Bible for its anguish over the collective In our devotional earlier, we visited the dedication service of the temple when sins of the people. God by an astonishing miracle has made the way possible for Solomon prayed solemnly. God now responds to that prayer. God always a remnant of Israel to return to the holy city after 70 years of captivity in responds to our prayer, in ways known and unknown, expected and surprising. Babylon. They are to restore the city and the temple to God’s glory and for their great blessing. Solomon had prayed that the LORD would hear his people when they came to the temple to confess their sins, that they might receive divine forgiveness. To But Ezra is spiritually, physically, and emotionally broken over the many ways this specific prayer, God makes one of his most striking statements in the Bible. they have disobeyed God’s Torah, all of the Lord’s holy laws and command- ments. God has been faithful to them, but they have not been faithful to him. The Lord’s response as quoted above has been remembered today like never in our lifetimes. Given the pestilence of Covid-19 that struck our land last year— Yet, here’s the surprise. Ezra himself has not been party to any of the people’s and continues to strike—what God says to Solomon takes on new resonance. disobedience. He cries out, “O my God, I am ashamed…for our iniquities… and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.” Objectively speaking, however, it’s their As we pray in this time of crisis, what does God teach us in his declaration at iniquities and their guilt, not Ezra’s. What’s going on, then? the temple all those years ago? It’s important to pay attention to the verbs of his response. Prayer is always about verbs—actions—and we see that clearly here. Ezra provides for us a powerful example of a prayer of corporate confession. Israel is a people of God. When one is blessed, they’re all blessed. When one “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves…” says the Lord. We ask sins, they’re all guilty of it. They pray, worship, serve, and minister together as God to save us from this pestilence not as a demand but as a humble pleading. one body. We never deserve any help from the Lord. All help comes only by his grace. It’s what we aim to do every Lord’s Day as a House of Prayer, too. In the “And pray…” says the Lord. Prayer is not optional. The people of God will middle of the liturgy, between the Word and the Eucharist, we confess our sins pray. It’s both our duty and our delight. Our church is a House of Prayer. to Almighty God. We confess them. We don’t stand up one by one to list all the personal sins for which we feel ashamed even to lift up our head. There may be “And seek my face…” says the Lord. Prayer persists. Prayer seeks. Prayer from time to time a need for us personally to do so, and there are provisions in beseeches. Prayer longs for. Prayer is that which seeks and keeps on seeking. the Word of God directing repentant individual members of the congregation How’s many times have we prayed for God’s saving help from Covid-19? There to confess their sins publicly to the body. But typically, that’s not the case. must be yet another time more. We must not give up. Instead, we pray corporately for the forgiveness of our sins because we are one “And turn from their wicked ways…” says the Lord. Confession of sin, a plea for in Christ. We come before him in prayer together asking for his forgiveness for healing and help, are always premised upon repentance. We never are to pray, our sins personally and for the sins of our sisters and brothers gathered as one. “Jesus, forgive my sin, but I’m not sorry for it.” Or never, “Lord, heal this land We have each other’s backs, in other words. We’re not pointing our fingers at that we might continue to walk in our own ways.” No, we must turn from them. others, saying what a great sinner that one is over there, and this one over here. Turning causes us to face the Lord, to look at his cross and altar, and thus to Instead, we pray, “Forgive us, our Father, of our sins. We stand before your put our backs to sin and the world. cross together.” It’s a beautiful, loving, and holy way the people of God pray.

As a House of Prayer, let us together humble ourselves, pray, seek the face of Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day. When we gather in our House of Prayer for God, and turn to the Lord by repentance. Then God will hear our cry, forgive worship, let us ponder anew the power of our corporate confession of sin and our sin, and heal our land. consider anew the miracle of Christ’s forgiveness for us all. PRAYER #17, MARCH 8 PRAYER #18, MARCH 9

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of the heavens, continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and Nehemiah 1:4 you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. Nehemiah 9:6 Nehemiah is the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes in Susa, Persia, 2,400 miles from Jerusalem. Nehemiah is a Jew in a pagan nation, but he’s well treated, respected, Just when we think our worship services run too long, we come across Ezra, and comfortable. Only the most trustworthy servant serves as the cupbearer. Nehemiah, the priests, and all the people of Jerusalem standing, dressed in sackcloth, with dirt covering their heads, for a service that lasts from 6 a.m. to Everything changes when a delegation arrives from Judah to do business with 12 p.m. That’s a six-hour service, if you’re counting—standing the whole time. the Persians. Nehemiah is anxious to hear news of home. The group tells him That’s serious prayer and worship. that “the remnant there…is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire” (Neh 1:3). What took so long? They devoted three hours to reading from the Torah and another three for confession of sin, prayers, and praise. For our purposes this As soon as Nehemiah hears this, his legs buckle in grief. He weeps and mourns Lent, the long section of the service given to prayer should interest us the most. for days, fasting and praying before God. Though he is far from Jerusalem, he feels the pain of God’s people back home. He knows this crisis is the result of Ezra and the Levites lead the prayers, and most of Nehemiah 9 is taken up with the people’s sins, and he prays for God’s forgiveness for him and everyone the core prayer they lift to the LORD. What is the main point of their prayer? together. He then prays for a way to be released from his service to Artaxerxes. It’s to remember the character and attributes of God—God’s grace, God’s faithfulness, God’s forgiveness, God’s help in every time of trouble, God’s By God’s providential care, Nehemiah is allowed to go to Jerusalem. As the sustaining care, God’s love, and God’s unfailing commitment to the covenant. newly appointed governor, he oversees the reconstruction of the wall and In short, they pray in thanksgiving for God’s goodness—the total, amazing, undeserved, initiates a long list of reforms that renews Jerusalem to be once again, the holy and unwavering goodness of the LORD God Almighty. city of God. It all starts and ends in prayer. Nehemiah is a praying man. Where did we ever get the notion that the people of Israel believed that they For our instruction this Lent in prayer, that we might become a stronger House were saved by their works, by their acts of faithfulness, by the Law? They knew of Prayer, let us note the actions Nehemiah carries out as part of his praying. they were saved only by grace through faith. From the beginning of biblical history, and in particular with God’s call to Abraham in Genesis 12, God’s grace First, he prays not for an hour or a day but “for days.” When we learn of has been the saving factor of mankind. God always makes the first step. He particularly large crises or problems, we need to set aside enough time for initiates a relationship with us by his grace, and only then, can we respond to prayer. God commands us to “ask, seek, and knock—and to keep at it.” him by faith. That’s reason enough to stand in prayer for three hours!

Second, Nehemiah fasts while he prays. It’s surely one of the most neglected of Taking time each day by prayer to praise the glorious grace of the Lord Jesus prayer disciplines. Abstaining from food—or fasting from any number of other Christ for us would be a wonderful way of incorporating the teaching of Paul in things, such as smart phone, TV, or computer—heightens one’s ability to stay Philippians 4:8 into our daily prayer disciplines: “whatever is true, whatever is focused on the Lord and draw relief and sustenance only from him. honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Third, Nehemiah puts not just his words but himself wholly into action by his prayer. He risks asking the king’s permission to return home, and once in When’s the last time we prayerfully praised God the Father, Son, and Holy Jerusalem, he knows he will face even greater dangers and difficulties. He is Spirit for our salvation by his grace? When’s the last time we spent significant willing to put his prayer into physical, spiritual, and emotional practice. prayer time praising God for his goodness? Maybe that time will be today.

Prayer encompasses the whole person and the whole House of Prayer of the For us to become the House of Prayer the Lord would have us to be, lifting our people of God. Prayer involves speaking and acting, listening and risking, all for voices together praising God for who he is and for what he has done for us by God’s glory. As we pray, how then shall we live? his grace, must be the foundation of all of our prayers. PRAYER #19, MARCH 10 PRAYER #20, MARCH 11

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 23:1 Psalm 19:14 Our whole focus on prayer during this season of Lent could easily be taken up We’ve touched upon what’s called, contemplative prayer, in our devotional. by a study of the Psalter, the 150 prayers/songs of the Bible. The Psalter is While this approach to prayer can be beneficial to deepen our relationship with indeed Scripture’s Prayer Book. It’s placement in the heart of the Bible signals God, we also noted a particular warning about it. the importance of prayer in the heart of every person of faith.

Prayer is not primarily sitting in silence contemplating God and our life in him. It’s probably true that the most beloved prayer of the Psalter is Psalm 23. Its If that were the only type of prayer we practiced, we could drift from the Lord opening sentence, The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want, is certainly one of into thoughts and mediations far from his holy presence, from his revealed the most familiar in the Bible. Many of us learned it as children. Many of us truth and love. How then do we avoid that danger? How do we make sure that want it prayed at our funerals. From the beginning to the end of our life, Psalm our prayers, spoken and silent, stay pleasing and acceptable to the Lord? 23 brings us comfort, hope, and confidence in God.

Uniting Scripture and prayer is the best tried and true way. The Bible is the In terms of our aim this Lent to become truly a House of Prayer, the 23rd Psalm Word of God to us. Allowing God’s own Word then to shape and guide our could provide a crucial help toward our formation into that House. At least prayers to him is the surest practice of prayer to form us into a House of Prayer. three ways come to mind.

Psalm 19 is a perfect example of this practice. Like the much longer Psalm 119, First, Psalm 23 is ideal for memorizing. One way Jesus teaches us how to pray is both prayers praise the perfect, saving Word of God. “The law of the LORD is by providing templates for prayer to train us up into it. The Lord’s Prayer is perfect, reviving the soul,” David prays. “The testimony of the LORD is sure, making the obviously his chief teaching prayer to teach us how to pray, but Psalm 23 is wise simple.” “Law, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear, and rules” are another one not to be missed. What if all of us committed this Lent to synonyms David uses to describe the glory and power of the Word of God. memorizing the 23rd Psalm? What if we then further committed to praying it daily over the season? That would help bind us together as a House of Prayer. Having prayed in thanksgiving for it, David closes, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Second, this Psalm is a deeply personal prayer of profession of faith. It’s a Only after David has spent time with God’s Word does he then ask the Lord to prayer that binds a believer to the Lord, and the Lord to the believer. To pray accept his words. That is to say, David builds his prayer on the Rock of his Psalm 23 presses upon us, one by one, that the LORD is my Shepherd. He’s Redeemer. This means that his prayers are formed on Christ, the Rock, who is not a distant Shepherd, distracted and inattentive. The Lord is my Shepherd the Word of God. The divine Word from Christ directs the words of our who provides all of my needs in this life and the next. To pray this Psalm is to prayers back to Christ. confess one’s personal faith in Jesus Christ. That’s a saving way to pray.

What are steps to “pray the Word”? We can take a passage of Scripture (the Third, let there be no doubt, Jesus is the Shepherd of Psalm 23. He is the Psalms are ready-made for this, as are most NT letters), first note its context to fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 40. He is the Good Shepherd who lays understand it properly, and then simply pray our way through the passage, down his life for his flock. Our House of Prayer is Jesus’ Sheepfold of Prayer. stopping along the way to pray those things that the passage brings to mind. Seeing that Jesus is our loving Shepherd who knows all about us, who proves One person has recommended the “Three R’s Method”—“rejoice, repent, request.” his care for us by his life, death, and resurrection, and who promises that when As we pray using Scripture, we ask three questions: (1) What about the passage we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will have nothing to fear gives me reason to rejoice, give thanks, and praise? (2) Does this passage reveal because he is with us, how can we not be inspired to pray to Jesus personally any sin in my own life that leads me to repentance? (3) Does the passage lead and often and fully and together? me to make a request of God, for myself or others? Jesus is the Shepherd of our House of Prayer, and may the 23rd Psalm be one of Scripture and prayer, they’re the building blocks of a House of Prayer. our House’s most beloved prayers. After all, we will dwell in his house forever. PRAYER #21, MARCH 12 PRAYER #22, MARCH 13

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from Psalm 51:9 the hand of evildoers. Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore, let it not be blessed! The prayer that undergirds a House of Prayer is the prayer of the confession of Jeremiah 20:13-14 sins. To confess our sins, and to pray further that God would help us to repent from them, is that rock upon which Christ’s house must be built. Any other As Jeremiah 20 opens, a priest in Jerusalem named Pashhur has Jeremiah beaten foundation is merely sinking sand. and put in stocks for prophesying that God will bring disaster against the city because “they have stiffened their neck, refusing to hear my words” (Jer 19:15). Psalm 51 is the Bible’s classic prayer of confession. King David laments after Pashhur leaves Jeremiah overnight in the stocks giving plenty of time for folks committing his deepest and darkest sins: the adultery he forced upon to mock and ridicule him. But the next morning, after being released, Jeremiah Bathsheba, and his subsequent orchestration of the murder of Bathsheba’s doubles-down on his insistence that the LORD is about to bring the sword of husband, Uriah—David’s leading warrior. It’s impossible not to feel David’s Babylon against Pashhur and everyone in Jerusalem. pain as he prays “my sin is ever before me.” It wasn’t easy being Jeremiah. Before the Lord formed Jeremiah in his mother’s David, as we’ve noted, was a “man after God’s own heart,” and after praying womb, the Lord knew him and appointed him a prophet to the nations (Jer 1:5). through Psalm 51, we know why. He was after God’s heart because he was From boyhood, Jeremiah no doubt felt like an outsider, different and set apart filled with gratitude that God had given him a new heart. Though his sins were from the other children. He probably began preaching and prophesying in his mighty, by confessing those sins and repenting from them, God acted even late teens, and 48 years later, the last we see of him he’s being dragged down mightier in David’s life. The Lord created in David a clean heart and renewed into Egypt in captivity. He never married. Had no real friends. Kept getting in by the Holy Spirit a right spirit within him. David closes his prayer rejoicing as trouble with the political and religious leaders. A hard life. he recommits to living rightly and praising God always. All of which made him an amazing man of prayer. Jeremiah is constantly Every Lord’s Day we gather as a House of Prayer, and one of our liturgy’s chief speaking, either publicly as a prophet or personally to God. Prayer fills the pages parts is our prayer of confession, alongside our prayer for God’s forgiveness of his biblical book. It’s honest, tough prayer that Jeremiah prays. He’s very and renewal. A House of Prayer is thus a Hospital for Sinners, as the Church transparent in what he says to God, letting the Lord know exactly how he feels. Fathers said. In God’s House, all who confess and repent from their sins are healed by the forgiveness of the Father’s Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah’s prayer in 20:7-18, a portion of which is shown above, illustrates his prayer life ably. He prays it on the morning of his release from the stocks, right In 48 hours, it will be the Lord’s Day. Once again Jesus will invite us back to his after again blasting Jerusalem with God’s coming doom. He’s spent. Physically house that he might continue to form and shape us to be his House of Prayer. beat-up. Emotionally empty. Spiritually depressed. Before he can work with us, though, we must kneel beside David to pray the confession of our sins, to seek the Lord’s forgiveness, and to pledge our desire He prays, “O LORD, you have deceived me…I have become a laughing stock all the day to follow him by faith and obedience. …[but] if I say ‘I will not speak any more in his name’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire…the LORD is with me as a dread warrior…sing to the LORD; praise the Then the prayer of Psalm 51 will be fulfilled. This Sunday, as on every Lord’s LORD!....cursed be the day on which I was born…” Day, God will not despise our “broken and contrite” hearts (v 17) and will continue then to “build up the walls of Jerusalem” (v 18) that we might be the Do you hear that? Jeremiah is raw, real in his prayers. He tells God exactly how House of Prayer he has forgiven and saved us to be, for his glory. it is with his soul, what’s on his mind. The good, the bad, and the ugly, it all gets prayed from Jeremiah’s heart, out of the circumstances of his life, from the Let us pray to and worship God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in his House depth of his pain to the heights of his joy. Jeremiah enjoys such a deeply of Prayer every Sunday, the very House, by the Cross of Christ, that looks just personal relationship with the Lord that he’s secure enough to be honest in like a Hospital for Sinners. It’s where sin-sick people enter to receive new hearts what he prays, moving from despair to praise and back to despair even within and right spirits, and then depart as forgiven sinners, healed and restored to the this one prayer. So it is that the members of Jesus’ House of Prayer are to come joy of their salvation. home to him every Lord’s Day with their prayers—honest, raw, and real. PRAYER #23, MARCH 15 PRAYER #24, MARCH 16

Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great O LORD, I am in distress; my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me, power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. because I have been very rebellious...The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his Jeremiah 32:17 mercies never come to an end; they are great every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 1:20; 3:22-23 As usual, we find Jeremiah shut up in a prison cell. King Zedekiah has put him there for continuing to prophesy Jerusalem’s destruction by the wrath of God Jerusalem has fallen. Jeremiah’s prophesied word has come to pass. Jerusalem through the Babylonians. It’s in the tenth year of Zedekiah’s rule, meaning the “a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations!” (Lam 1:1). hammer will fall on Jerusalem and all of Judah in just a few months. Jeremiah kneels to pray in the dust of the city’s destruction. His prayer is the That’s what makes Jeremiah’s next move all the more shocking. Knowing longest “prayer of lament” in the Bible, five chapters of plaintive mourning. His destruction is just around the corner, from his prison cell in the king’s palace, prayer personifies Jerusalem as a widow humiliated, alone, and suffering. But Jeremiah signs a contract to purchase a field, a plot of land, in his hometown of Jeremiah makes no excuses in his prayer for Jerusalem’s plight. Not a word of Anathoth, about three miles from Jerusalem. What? Anyone could have told “but, Lord, this is so unfair!” is spoken. Jerusalem’s sin, and hers alone, is Jeremiah that it was not the right time to get into the real estate market. responsible for the desolation she has become. God has acted justly. The consequences of sin are obvious and mighty. Sin always results in suffering. But Jeremiah always looked at things from God’s point of view, not by what everyone else was saying. He had heard the Lord tell him in a time of prayer in Lamentations is not typically cited as a favorite book in the Bible. Its five prison, “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land” (Jer 32:15). chapters feel like fifty before it’s over. It’s heavy. Depressing. Gloomy. That’s Jeremiah’s purchase was to be a real, tangible sign of that promise, a down only because it’s honest and true. Remember how we said Jeremiah was always payment on the redeeming promise of God to restore Jerusalem after its long real and raw in his prayers? He was always honest and true, too. He never season of punishment and captivity in Babylon. sidestepped the reality of sin and God’s righteous wrath against it.

After the ink dries on the contract, Jeremiah prays to the LORD. He’s always But in the midst of this long lament, a small bit of hope seeps through, just for praying. Even though he faithfully followed through on buying the field, he was an instant. In 3:22-33, Jeremiah’s heart is stirred suddenly to praise “the understandably perplexed about why God wanted him to do that. Jeremiah steadfast love of the LORD” for it never ceases, and his mercies “are great knew the Lord as well as (or better than) anyone, but the ways of the Lord every morning.” Then, just like that, his prayer returns to lament. could still baffle him. How did Jeremiah deal with his uncertainty? How do any of us deal with our struggle, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief” (Mk 9:24)? What are we to make of Jeremiah’s prayer of lamentations? What might it mean for us as we aim to become more a House of Prayer our Lord wants us to be? Jeremiah begins his prayer, “Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” He First, a House of Prayer is the place for lament, as well as for praise. It’s the continues to pray by recalling the great acts of mercy and salvation the Lord has wrong impression that we can’t complain or mourn or lament as we gather in done for Israel time after time. Jeremiah prays salvation history. He remembers God’s house, that Christians must always “put on a happy face and smile.” biblical truth. He draws upon the Lord’s faithfulness to all generations. He acknowledges the Lord’s power, wisdom, justice, righteous judgment, and Second, a House of Prayer is the place where our sins, and the sins of the eternal goodness. church and nation, are confessed, admitted, and lamented. A sugarcoated prayer is no medicine for the soul. We must be honest in our prayers. By praying in this way, Jeremiah prays himself back into full confidence in God, even as the ways of God remain a mystery to him. His prayer is both a cry and Third, at the same time, a House of Prayer is the place where our hope in the praise to God and a reminder to him that God is trustworthy and true. Lord, where his love and mercies, where God’s faithfulness, are always proclaimed, professed, and praised. His light always shines in every darkness. It would strengthen us as a House of Prayer to follow Jeremiah’s lead. Prayer is not only petitioning God for our present needs or asking him for future help. It In a House of Prayer, truth and love, lament and praise, must be held together. is also for remembering salvation history, to his glory and our encouragement. PRAYER #25, MARCH 17 PRAYER #26, MARCH 18

O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew you were a gracious God and merciful, slow to “Violence!” and you will not save?...I will take my stand at my watch post and anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O station myself on the tower, and look to see what he will say to me, and what I will LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. answer concerning my complaint. Jonah 4:2-3 Habakkuk 1:2; 2:1

Doesn’t the story of Jonah cause us to shake our heads in wonder? If ever there The book opens with Habakkuk shaking his fists at God and complaining at the was a reluctant prophet, it was Jonah. The word of the LORD comes to him top of his voice. It’s not the usual way a prophet begins his ministry as God’s commanding him to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, and he hops a boat spokesman. But in many ways, Habakkuk is furious on our behalf. He’s to Tarshish, Spain instead, about 3,000 miles in the opposite direction. Not standing in for us. Who among us hasn’t at least thought about shaking her fists necessarily a great demonstration of obedience, we’d say. With friends like at God, so angry she is at the injustices and evils and problems all around her? Jonah, how did God ever get anything accomplished? Habakkuk sees evil people getting away with their violence and lawlessness at The Lord of course never gives up on us, so he chases after Jonah, causing a stir every turn. Outside Jerusalem are the Babylonians ready to pounce. Already on the sea, and prompting Jonah’s fellow sailors to cast him overboard at Israel’s enemies are manipulating life and faith in the city, exerting pressure on Jonah’s insistence. Jonah tells them, “I know it is because of me that this great tempest the king and court officials to do their bidding. Inside Jerusalem, Habakkuk and has come upon you” (1:12). Jonah can run, but he can’t hide from God. others are weighed down by the oppressive policies of King Jehoiakim. No one seems to be trying to be faithful to God and his holy commandments. For three days and nights, Jonah was in the belly of a great fish. It gave him time to think—and pray. There are no atheists in a foxhole, or in a belly of a The prophet has been praying to the LORD day after day, without seeing fish. It was as if Jonah died and descended into hell. But on the third day, he anything changing. He reaches his boiling point. “How long shall I cry for help, and was raised from the dead. The fish “vomited Jonah out upon the dry land,” and you will not hear?” Habakkuk’s audacity is breath-taking. Who is he to yell at the Jonah finally goes to Nineveh. He preaches the shortest ever hellfire and Lord? But God takes it on the chin. He responds to Habakkuk’s complaint damnation sermon, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (3:4) But it’s patiently, explaining that he’s “doing a work in your days that you would not believe if mightily effective. The whole city, including the king, repents from their sin and told” (1:5). Habakkuk’s still not satisfied. He raises a second complaint. “Why do believes in God. you …remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?” (1:13). Finally, his fury spent, Habakkuk stations himself on the watchtower, waiting to But Jonah stews. He wants those wicked Ninevehites to suffer, not to be saved hear what God will say about his complaints. and welcomed by the Lord. He prays for God to take his life. Jonah has no stomach for the grace, mercy, and love of God to be given to such sinners. The only difference between Habakkuk and us is that his rage against God is recorded in Scripture for all to read, while our equally audacious complaints are Jonah was a man of prayer. Not necessarily the most obedient of prophets, but mostly done in private. We’ve all demanded that God explain himself to us. a man of prayer, nevertheless. He doesn’t always like what God does, but he “Why, Lord? Why this cancer? Why this tension at home? Why this job I can’t stand? Why prays because deep down, he knows what God is all about. What might we this complete disobedience in the world to your ways, O God?” learn about prayer from Jonah’s life? God is patient and kind when we shake our fists at him. What then does he In a House of Prayer, we must pray for our enemies. We must see that no one, finally say to Habakkuk—and to us? “The righteous shall live by his faith” (2:4). All not even the worst of sinners, is beyond the reach of the grace of God. This the complaining leads God to proclaim one of the most important truths in gives us a boldness to cry out to Jesus that all might repent and believe in him. salvation history. Two thousand years after Habakkuk, Martin Luther will circle God’s answer as the foundation of the Reformation. In a House of Prayer, we’re honest with God in our prayers. We tell him when we’re both thankful and angry about his ways and actions. He took it from The foundation of our House of Prayer is faith in God the Father, Son, and Jonah; he can take it from us. But at the end of the day, in our House, we pray Holy Spirit. We bring our complaints, our longings and frustrations, putting in great thanks for the grace, mercy, and unfailing love of the Lord. them in prayer before him. We pray, as we live, by our faith in the Lord. PRAYER #27, MARCH 19 PRAYER #28, MARCH 20

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Matthew 6:9-13 Matthew 8:2

Jesus Christ is the Master Teacher, especially of prayer. He had but three years Jesus teaches prayer in his Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7), and when he comes of public ministry to fulfill his mandate to live, suffer, die, and be raised for the down from the mountain, the whole world shows up to pray to him. Rich salvation of all who would come to him by faith. Yet he spent a considerable insights into prayer and its power can be gained by watching the great variety of amount of those years, perhaps the greatest part, in prayer. Either alone or with men, women, and even demons who cry out in prayer to the Lord. others, Jesus prayed. Jesus was the Man of Prayer. In Matthew’s gospel, a leper is the first person to kneel in prayer to Jesus. A Naturally, his disciples wanted to learn prayer from him. Christianity, it’s said, is leper—an outsider—says the first Christian prayer in history. It’s humbling to hear his the “school of prayer,” for we are students of Jesus. If our congregation is to desperate prayer to Jesus. A leper shows us the way to all prayer. grow truly into a House of Prayer, we must sit with the disciples and go deeper with them into Jesus’ model for all prayer, the Lord’s Prayer. The crowds following Jesus at the bottom of the mountain would have parted like the Red Sea as the leper approaches, yelling, Unclean! Unclean!. He’s More has been written about the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6; Lk 11) than any other, determined, desperate to get to Jesus no matter what. He’s used to people and we pray it in our liturgy of worship every week. It’s a blessing to pray it avoiding him, to being alone physically, spiritually, and relationally. But there’s weekly, and a burden. It can feel so familiar that we don’t pray it but mumble it no stopping him that day. More importantly, there’s stopping Jesus. thoughtlessly. But when prayed from our hearts, we know “there’s no nobler prayer to be found on earth” (Luther). Leviticus 13-14 provides the Torah regulations for dealing with leprosy. For the sake of the community, it was wise to isolate lepers and forbid interactions with Martin Luther devoted up to an hour each day praying through the Lord’s them. They knew skin diseases could travel fast in the desert heat. It was also a Prayer, praying each petition and then pausing to allow the Holy Spirit to stir matter of keeping ritualistically clean. Leprosy made one unquestionably additional prayers to his mind. It’s easy to see how it could take an hour. unclean. Jesus had given the Law to Israel, and he came not to break but fulfill it. He did so that day. He perfected the Torah by love, and he sent the leper Our Father who art in heaven…Father! God is our Father, and he loves us from once healed to the priests to bear witness to God’s love. Look what Jesus does. heaven. He makes a home for us there. I rejoice today that I am his child—forever! Hallowed be thy name…Father, may all we do and say today honor your name and Jesus welcomes the man into his presence. He accepts him. Jesus loves him. keep it holy. Let none of my words or actions ever bring shame to your name. More shockingly, Jesus stretches out his hand and touches the man with Thy kingdom come…Father, expand your rule over the territory of my heart, and use leprosy, though the Torah expressively forbids it (Lev 5:3). But the man’s my witness to expand your kingdom of light into the kingdom darkness of the world. uncleanness doesn’t make Jesus unclean; Jesus’ purity instead flows into him. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…Father, you are the Sovereign Ruler Jesus makes the leper clean, well, and free to enter again into community. on earth and in heaven. May my will be submitted to yours today. Why did Jesus respond with such love and power to a leper’s prayer for healing? Give us this day our daily bread…Father, I ask that you supply everything necessary for my soul and body today, and I remember before you the needs of all people. First, the leper comes to Jesus. He could have sought other avenues of help, but And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against he comes to Jesus. Second, the leper humbles himself before Jesus. He kneels, a us…Father, by your Son’s cross, I am forgiven. May I live by the cross toward others. sign of worship, to pray to the Lord. Third, the leper trusts Jesus to do whatever And lead us not into temptation…Protect us, Father, from Satan’s lies! is best for him to do. He prays, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” The leper But deliver us from the evil one…And save us from all attacks of the evil one. is not demanding. He knows that Jesus has the authority, the power to heal him, For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. but he simply seeks the Lord’s will. The man accepts Jesus’ decision, yes or no. Amen…All are yours, Father, and may all things bring you glory. May it be so. In our House of Prayer, we come to Jesus in prayer and worship. We lay our Sunday is around the corner. This Lord’s Day, may the Lord’s Prayer fill our burdens, our illnesses at his feet, infirmities great and small. Even in a House of House of Prayer, not just by our lips, but with our hearts. Prayer with others, we can feel alone and isolated in our sin and sickness. Let us then remember the leper, kneeling beside him, praying, “Lord, if you will.” PRAYER #29, MARCH 22 PRAYER #30, MARCH 23

Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my Lord, help me. servant will be healed. Matthew 15:25 Matthew 8:8 From a leper to a centurion and now to a Canaanite woman, the whole world Previously, a leper comes to Jesus by prayer. Now a centurion. Not the religious comes to Jesus by prayer. May the prayer of our House of Prayer be that all folks but outsiders are the first to pray. In a House of Prayer, all must be would pray to the Lord Jesus Christ. welcome to pray. It’s not our House but God’s, for all. We have much to learn. Jesus ventures north of Galilee, into the Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon Jesus returns to Capernaum. This beautiful city beside the Sea of Galilee is his along the Mediterranean coast. It’s Canaanite country, and the woman who adult residence, the hub of his ministry. The centurion knows to find him there. pleads to Jesus is thus a descendant of the very people God ordered Israel to eliminate for their idolatry. This former pagan now becomes a model of prayer. The centurion respects authority, being a man of authority himself. He commands 80-100 Roman soldiers. Centurions are the backbone of the Roman She’s a mother desperate for help for her daughter. The Lord welcomes the army. But he’s drawn to a higher authority yet. He’s drawn to the God of Israel, prayers of mothers and fathers for their children, and pray they must. Her the Sovereign above all others. daughter is “severely oppressed by a demon” (Mt 15:22), as many of our children are. The attacks of Satan, that evil father of all lies, are especially concentrated on The centurion’s a Godfearer—a Gentile who supports Judaism. He loves to pray children, teens, and young adults. Look to this mother to learn to pray for them. in the synagogue in Capernaum. He’s even paid for its construction (Lk 7:4). When he sees Jesus in town, he immediately appeals to the Lord for the healing She finds Jesus and cries out to him by prayer, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of of his paralyzed servant back at his house. It’s worth paying attention to this. David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” While many of Jesus’ own people of Israel are blind to his true identity, this Gentile sees clearly. Jesus is First, the centurion cares for his servant. Most Romans considered servants “Lord, Son of David.” She knows he’s the promised Messiah from Israel to all mere property, not persons for consideration. Second, the centurion respects nations. In Jesus, she sees the mercy of God for Jew and Gentile. Jesus. He knows a Jew, especially a rabbi, cannot enter the home of a Gentile. He doesn’t expect Jesus to break any rules. He trusts in the power of Jesus’ But Jesus is silent. He doesn’t answer her a word. His disciples jump on board. word alone. “Only say the word, and my servant will be healed,” he prays. Third, he They probably didn’t want to go to Tyre and Sidon in the first place, and now acknowledges Jesus is “Lord.” The centurion yields his authority to Jesus’ they can press their point by begging Jesus to “send her away, for she is crying out Lordship, his supreme authority over him. Fourth, he’s humble. “I am not after us” (Mt 15:23). The disciples whine. The woman persists in prayer. worthy,” he says. Jesus reminds them that he was “only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt It’s enough to cause Jesus to exclaim, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I 15:24), but the mother does not give up. In the face of God’s silence and what found such faith” (Mt 8:10). Jesus then answers the centurion’s prayer for the might be construed his rejection, what does she do? She comes and kneels— healing of his servant. “Go, let it be done for you as you have believed” (Mt 8:13). that is, worships—Jesus by praying, “Lord, help me.”

How can we be strengthened as a House of Prayer by the centurion’s prayer? It is at once the simplest and the boldest of all the prayers in the Bible. It is the Prayer is not wishful thinking. We pray to the Lord who has authority over all prayer born out of desperate love for a child, the prayer of a mother’s heart. people and situations. Prayer trusts in the Word of God, that is, it trusts in Jesus. “Lord, help me.” By helping her, by answering her prayer for her beloved We pray for those near and far, for we trust in the Word who loves the whole daughter, this would be the greatest help Jesus could ever give her. world. Prayer leads us to greater humility. To pray is to acknowledge that we’re not in control but depend eternally on Jesus and Jesus alone. In our House of Prayer, week by week, we pray to the Lord for his help for our children, our family, our friends, indeed, the whole world. Sometimes it seems Every Lord’s Day in our House of Prayer we pray the centurion’s prayer right he’s silent, ignoring our desperate pleas, like he’s turned his back on us. What before approaching the altar to receive Holy Communion. May we pray it then do we do? We kneel. We worship. We persist. We keep on praying, never afresh—by trust and humility—this coming Sunday. ceasing, “Lord, help me.” It’s because we too see in Jesus the mercy of God. PRAYER #31, MARCH 24 PRAYER #32, MARCH 25

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like loud voice; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. other men….’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to Luke 17:15 heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ Luke 18:11-13 Jesus is “on the way to Jerusalem,” and we know what that means. He’s walking the Via Dolorosa to the cross. He’s going to Jerusalem to give his life for the sake Jesus tells a parable “to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and of sinners like us. It’s important to keep watching what happens along that way. treated others with contempt” (Lk 18:9). It’s a parable teaching us that prayer is the window to the soul. Remember what we’ve said? We pray as we believe, and He enters a village, no doubt for food and rest, in an area “between Samaria and believe as we pray. The prayers of these two men, the Pharisee and the Tax Galilee” (Lk 17:11). It’s a small part of the region of the Decapolis, the Ten Collector, reveal their hearts, what they really believe about themselves, and Cities, where mostly Gentiles lived, but with some hearty Jews. The village then more importantly, about God. has a real mixture of people, including ten lepers, keeping their distance from everyone else, as the law (religious and civil) requires. The Pharisee is the model citizen of Jerusalem. The best kind of church member. Knows his Bible. Obeys the laws. Tithes his income. Stays true to his The ten, seeing Jesus, join in corporate prayer with one voice, praying, “Jesus, wife. Great reputation. You want him as your next door neighbor. Master, have mercy upon us” (Lk 17:13). They get Jesus’ attention right away. The Lord always pays attention to the prayers of his people said together. In our The Tax Collector is the one you tell your children, “Don’t be like him when you House of Prayer, we join in corporate prayer throughout the liturgy every grow up.” Can’t find Obadiah in the Bible. Thinks laws are for others. Pockets Lord’s Day. God hears and listens closely to what we pray collectively. In fact, every penny for himself. Keeps his wife guessing. You hate him for a neighbor. we get an important part of the liturgy from the cry of these lepers. It’s the Kyrie Eleison—“Lord, have mercy.” Lepers teach us what and how to pray. Listen to The two men stand in the temple, the House of Prayer, and pray. God is the lepers to hear prayers that reach God’s heart. listening. Something important happens as each prays. We see the true conditions of their hearts through their prayers. Jesus commands them to “go and show yourselves to the priests” to verify the healing. On the way, they’re healed. How do we respond to the healing mercy The Pharisee prays only in praises of himself. His prayer, like his heart, is turned of Jesus Christ? When our prayers are answered, what do we do? inward, away from the LORD. “God, I thank you that I am not like other men…I fast twice a week. I tithe from my gross, not my net, income.” He uses the first person One of the ten turns around, falls at Jesus’ feet (always a posture of worship), personal pronoun five times in his two short sentences of prayer. His and gives thanks. He’s not a Jew or even a Gentile Godfearer. He’s a Samaritan, righteousness is self-righteousness. the one least expected to worship and give thanks to Jesus. “Where are the nine?” Jesus asks. “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” The Tax Collector stands alone in the House of Prayer. It’s hard for him to be there with the church crowd. But because he’s who he is, he stands out. People G. K. Chesterton said, “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the whisper, “Who invited him?” He keeps his face down. He won’t, he can’t, look concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime; grace before I open a book, anyone, especially not the Lord, in the eye. He beats himself up, “God, be merciful and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing to me, a sinner!” He knows righteousness comes only from God. It’s all a gift, or and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” It’s Chesterton’s pointed way to direct us it’s no righteousness at all. to give thanks to Jesus for all things, taking nothing for granted. We’re blessed, not entitled. When God answers our prayers, do we give him thanks? Is our House of Prayer only for us good church folks? Or is there room for sinners far apart? Those who know their only hope is their hope in Jesus? Those Every Lord’s Day we gather as a House of Prayer for the Eucharist. The word whose sins are ever before them? There must be always. Otherwise, we will comes from the Greek, meaning "thanksgiving.” We thus stand with the forget how to pray. We will fall to the delusion that God must be impressed to Samaritan leper as we turn to the altar, to the real presence of Jesus Christ, our have us in his house. We will fail to see that we are all Tax Collectors in the Master and Lord. May we fill our House of Prayer with truly thankful hearts, for House of Prayer. “with his wounds we are healed” (Is 53:5). PRAYER #33, MARCH 26 PRAYER #34, MARCH 27

What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you… know who you are—the Holy One of God. Colossians 1:9-14 Mark 1:24 The Apostle Paul was a man of prayer. How could he have traveled the Roman Demons pray. That says something powerful about prayer. Even the demons Empire, endured great suffering, preached life-changing sermons, taught the call out in prayer to Jesus. They can’t help themselves. Prayer is not optional, in Scriptures with zeal and power, and called upon the Lord to heal many if he had either the physical or the metaphysical realms. All creatures know deep down not spent significant time each day in communion with God by prayer? How that prayer is the two-way street to the Lord God Almighty. Listening to the could the Holy Spirit work through our lives for the Father’s glory and the demons pray teaches us a lot about prayer. Son’s honor and the blessing of others apart from prayer?

On the Sabbath, Jesus goes to teach and pray in synagogue in his adopted Paul speaks about prayer often in his letters in the New Testament, but in hometown of Capernaum beside the Sea of Galilee. His fellow worshipers are Colossians we get to read one of his actual prayers. It’s been called “the seven- astounded by his teaching, “for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the fold blessing” prayer, and we hear Paul praying for the entire Christian life of scribes” (Mk 1:22). those in the congregation in Colossae, and by extension, for our lives, too.

It’s the authority of his Word that agitates the demon—the unclean spirit—who Paul says “we have not ceased to pray for you.” That’s an important reminder about has taken up residence in a man in the pew. Being in the presence of the prayer. We are to pray for others—and keep on praying. Do we write down authority of God sets the demon’s teeth on edge. The evil spirit within the man prayer needs so that we can continue to pray over the list? In our House of loudly prays, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy Prayer we publish a prayer list every week. At the very least, let us hold this list us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” before the Lord daily in prayer. What then does Paul pray for them unceasingly?

The unclean spirit’s prayer reveals the Lord’s full and true identity. Jesus is not His seven-fold prayer recorded in Colossians 1:9-12 calls upon Jesus to: just a gifted rabbi who happens to preach a powerful sermon that Sabbath Day.  fill them with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and He’s God-in-the-flesh among them. Demons know the truth, even when humans understanding, are blind to it.  so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him:  bearing fruit in every good work, The demon prays to “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus is fully Man. His Incarnation was  and increasing in the knowledge of God; not pretend. He really took on body and blood. He was a real human being.  being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, Born in Bethlehem. Grew up in Nazareth. Lived in Capernaum as an adult.  for all endurance and patience with joy; Suffered and died a real human death. Raised bodily, physically, actually in the resurrection from the dead. The demon knows all this.  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. The demon prays to “the Holy One of God.” Jesus is fully God. The title means he is infinitely and absolutely holy, perfectly divine. It is Isaiah’s favorite title for What a mighty prayer of blessing! How could Paul expect such a prayer to be the Promised Messiah who is Immanuel, God-with-us. It is the title of Deity. The answered and fulfilled in the lives of those in the House of Prayer in Colossae? demon knows all this. How could it be fulfilled in our House? The concluding thanksgiving to the seven-fold prayer tells us how. Paul praises God that “he has delivered us from the In our House of Prayer, we too pray to Jesus. Why? Because he alone is fully domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have Man and fully God. He alone has the authority to hear and respond to our redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:13-14). Through Christ, we now live in his prayers. He alone is worthy of our prayers. He alone has come to save us by his kingdom, where all things are possible, where no prayer is too great to ask. life, death, and resurrection as the one God/Man. Sunday is coming soon. Let us pray right now—and pray unceasingly—this If the demon knows to pray to Jesus, how much more must we pray, confident seven-fold prayer for our entire House of Prayer, that each member would be in the saving authority of Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy One of God. blessed by it to show the world that God answers prayers in his people’s lives. PRAYER #35, MARCH 29 PRAYER #36, MARCH 30

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. them.’ Acts 4:29-30 Acts 7:59-60

Sometimes we pray quietly, in the “secret place” of a prayer closet (Mt 6:6). But Holy Week in a House of Prayer is set aside to remember one thing: the suffering at other times, we must lift our voices to God together praying boldly that we unto death of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Easter can only come through might boldly speak the Word of God to a world breathing threats against it. Good Friday, resurrection only through death. It is the Week that teaches us how to pray, not only as we live, but also as we die. As Acts 4 opens, the apostles Peter and John are at the temple (the House of Prayer!) “teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (4:2). The first martyr for Jesus Christ is the deacon, Stephen, “a man full of faith and of The temple authorities are greatly annoyed by their boldness, especially since the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5). He is one of the seven men chosen by the church in “many of those who had heard the word believed” (4:4). Plus, earlier that same day, an Jerusalem to help in the daily distribution of supplies to the widows in their old man, lame from birth, and reduced to begging, was miraculously healed “in congregation. The apostles are busy with prayer and preaching and need the the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth” (3:6). It was all too much for the authorities. help of these deacons. But Stephen will be unable to stop himself. He too will pray and preach to his final breath. The next day the apostles are set before these religious leaders. “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (4:7). Boldly, Peter testifies to Christ, crucified and They seize Stephen and haul him before the religious leaders. He’s been falsely resurrected. The boldness of Peter, alongside seeing the healed man, astonishes charged with blasphemy against God and treason against the Torah. These are the authorities. They demand Peter and John to shut-up. They “charged them not capital offenses, but Stephen doubles-down on the truth of the Gospel. The to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (4:18). We can guess what happens next. prayers of the House of Prayer we remembered yesterday, that they “would continue to speak your word with all boldness,” are fulfilled by Christ in Stephen here. The apostles go “to their friends,” literally, “to their own people” (4:23). A House of Prayer is a House of the People of God. By prayer and faith in Jesus, we are one. Stephen’s sermon enrages them and they “grind their teeth at him” (Acts 7:54). On that day in Jerusalem, the congregation hears John and Peter’s testimony At that moment, gazing into heaven, Stephen sees “the glory of God, and Jesus and immediately lifts its voices together to God in prayer. They praise God for standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:54). Jesus has come for him. Stephen will creation, and then they pray the Scriptures, specifically, Psalm 2. It’s the great die for Jesus, but he will live forever with Jesus. They then “cast him out of the city “coronation prayer” for the king, and it describes Satan’s ongoing war against and stoned him” (Acts 7:58). Saul, later famously known as the Apostle Paul, holds Messiah Jesus, the King of kings. The people of God know they’re in a spiritual their outer garments so that they can get a better pitch on throwing the stones. battle, the very battle prayed and prophesied in Ps 2 in the time of King David. All of us must suffer unto death. That is not an option. But what is left up to us It’s what they pray next that must catch and keep our attention. “Lord, look upon by the Lord is how we will do that suffering. Stephen had learned to die from their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while Jesus, and he knew therefore that prayer was the heart of a holy death. you stretch out your hand to heal…” Who are these people of God praying like this? They are the Lord’s Prayer Warriors. They’re battle-ready and battle-tested. As Stephen suffers blows from the rocks—and stoning was a horrible way to They’re bold to speak the Word of God, and bold to expect to see many healed die, just short of the pain of crucifixion—he says two prayers with his dying by Jesus, and boldly they pray that God would give them yet more courage. breaths. He prays, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59), and then he prays, falling to his knees, with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts Nothing has changed since that day in Jerusalem. The great spiritual battle 7:60). Stephen dies, praying to the last, just like his Lord from the cross. between God and Satan, truth and lies, good and evil, light and darkness, love and hate continues to rage. As a people of God we are to be a House of Prayer, In a House of Prayer, one of the most important responsibilities we have is to filled with the Holy Spirit, where the Word of God is proclaimed (and prayed) help one another prepare for death. We learn to die as we learn to pray. We boldly, ever more so in the face of opposition, and where we pray for Jesus to must listen closely and by faith to Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and to Stephen, stretch out his hand to heal. May it be so as this Holy Week begins. our brother. By their prayers suffering unto death, they show us the way. PRAYER #37, MARCH 31 PRAYER #38, APRIL 1

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, yours, be done. even as we are one. Luke 22:42 John 17:11 It’s Maundy Thursday. The term comes from Latin, “commandment.” Today our Jesus’ Holy Week is heating up. Tomorrow, he will be arrested. The next day, Lord shares in his last Passover with his disciples, after which he washes their it’s the cross. Does Jesus flee, hide, melt in fright? He prays. Jesus is the feet and commands them to “love one another, just as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34). God/Man of prayer. Why does he desire so deeply that we be a House of They leave the Upper Room singing to the Garden of Gethsemane. The song Prayer? It’s because he couldn’t live, or die, without prayer. Neither can we. turns into a prayer of lament, into the greatest prayer of obedience ever prayed.

John 17 is the longest prayer of Jesus Christ recorded in the Bible. We call it the What hangs in the balance in the Garden is the salvation of the world. Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer,” and it is his farewell prayer with his disciples. Ancient mission in the world depends on this prayer, and his Father’s answer to it. Later, rabbis saved their most important point for last when they taught. Jesus saves the author of Hebrews will say, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and his for his last prayer. We will spend eternity in the “New Jerusalem” going supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he deeper with the Lord in this prayer. But even now, Jesus is on his knees in was heard because of his reverence” (5:7). Those “loud cries and tears” are before us. heaven, continuing to pray it over his House of Prayer. Jesus’ last prayer is his lasting one. John Piper divides it into five key petitions. They come to Gethsemane. He says, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Lk 22:40). He means a trial of faith. He knows suffering can bring out the First, Jesus prays his Father will keep his followers safe. “I am no longer in the best—or the worse—in his followers. Jesus understands our weaknesses. He is world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your “faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he name, which you have given me…I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor 10:13). you keep them from the evil one” (vv 11, 15). Tonight, Jesus himself faces the hardest trial any person has ever experienced. His prayer, and the answer to it, brings the world to the threshold between Second, Jesus prays his Father will make his disciples one. This oneness is eternal judgment and eternal salvation. the purpose of the first petition, that his Father will protect his disciples. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they Jesus kneels and prays, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so not my will, but yours, be done.” that the world may believe that you have sent me…they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (vv 20-23). There it is. Jesus, like us, is terribly challenged by the reality of suffering unto death. Jesus knows that fear. We too may now follow his lead, praying for the Third, Jesus prays his Father will sanctify his followers. “Sanctify them in the truth; cup of our suffering to be removed from us. Jesus gives us that permission. The your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for Father will strengthen us at such a hard time, sending his angel from heaven, their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth” (vv 17-19). even as we pray in agony, even to the point of our sweat becoming “like great drops of blood falling to the ground” (Lk 22:44). Fourth, Jesus prays his followers will experience the full measure of his own joy. “I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled But it is the second sentence of his prayer in the Garden that is absolutely in themselves” (v 13). essential for us to pray, and it must be added to every prayer said in a House of Prayer—“Not my will, but yours, be done.” The Son submits to his Father’s will. Fifth, Jesus prays his followers will be with him forever. “Father, I desire that they The Son wants only what his Father wants. The Son suffers unto obedience. If also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given he had not, Jesus would not have died for us, and thus there would have been me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (v 24). no resurrection, no salvation, no future world filled with the glory of God’s grace and God’s children. This is our High Priest’s last and lasting prayer for his House of Prayer. Jesus prays it over us in the middle of his Holy Week. He’s always praying for us. In our House of Prayer, let us follow Jesus by praying obedience to God’s will. PRAYER #39, APRIL 2 PRAYER #40, APRIL 3

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come’… Matthew 27:46 Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Revelation 22:17, 20 Today Jesus Christ dies. “Good Friday” is a terribly self-serving name for it. But that’s what Jesus does: he serves us by dying for us on the cross. He serves us in Today on Holy Saturday, Jesus lies in his tomb. Joseph of Arimathea buried his this way that we could never do for ourselves. He dies our death. His life for body in a garden cemetery right before the Sabbath began at sundown the our life. His purity for our sins. His death a covering over us to protect us from previous evening. All’s quiet, still, after yesterday’s scourging and nailing and his Father’s wrath against sin. For us, he had to suffer unto death on this Friday, ridiculing and dying. What now? Is his death all? What are we to pray? for “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22). Jesus really suffered. No facades or pretending on Good Friday. No hiding from the pain. Peter will later look back on this Saturday and say that today Jesus “went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison” (1 Pet 3:19). That’s why we confess in the What does Jesus do here at the point of his death by crucifixion? What is the Apostles’ Creed that Jesus “descended into hell.” He goes to declare his victory last action he takes? He prays. When all is almost said and done, Jesus prays. He over death, sin, and Satan. The spiritual realm knows what’s happening today, is the Man of Prayer. Whatever else we can say about him, we must say that. but his followers must live in the mystery between his death and resurrection.

He doesn’t attempt to find the words himself. Jesus prays Scripture. His final It’s this mystery that leads us to the last prayer in the Bible. Living as we do prayer in life, the prayer into his death, was the prayer of Psalm 22. That between Jesus’ First and Second Advents, between our birth and our death, it’s moment was the worst moment in the history of the world, and it was Scripture really the only prayer that could be last. -filled and Scripture-fulfilled. He prays Psalm 22—from beginning to end. At the end of the last book in the Bible, Revelation, the Apostle John stands in “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus prays to his Father. The first his vision of heaven and hears, “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one sentence of Psalm 22 is the cry of the Messiah at 3 p.m. on Good Friday, six who hears say, ‘Come.” The Holy Spirit and the Bride—the true Israel and the hours into his crucifixion. He gave it to David in the Psalter. Now it returns. Church grafted into her—pray together the final corporate prayer in heaven. They pray Jesus to “Come.” They plead for his Second Coming to make every- At seven times, Psalm 22 is the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament. The thing right and to restore creation with the new heaven, earth, and Jerusalem. apostles know what it means for them, and for us: In our times of forsakenness, John can’t help but join them in this prayer. He prays it as Scripture’s Jesus is with us. Jesus knows exactly what feeling abandoned by God is like. concluding prayer: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” Luther said we can only know God as we see him on the cross. Jesus’ suffering reveals the heart of God. It’s why we can count on him in our suffering. The saints of God, in heaven and on earth, have kept this prayer alive all these centuries since. In the Aramaic, “Come, Lord Jesus” is simply, “Maranatha.” It But much more from Psalm 22 points us to Jesus today: I am…scorned by must be the longing prayer of our hearts, too. Every day we should expect Jesus mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me… a company of evildoers to come, and praying Maranatha keeps our “minds [set] on things that are above” (Col encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—they divide my garments among them, and 3:2). To dwell only on things of the earth is to be in constant spiritual turmoil. for my clothing they cast lots. Psalm 22 is the prayer of Jesus and about Jesus. But looking up by praying for the hope of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit fills us with joy. Maranatha is the beautiful assurance of the We must hear it to the end. Jesus prays it for us from the cross: For he has not future reality for believers. Jesus will come, and he will come for us. despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him…they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a In The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis speaks to the cynicism that suffering with no people yet unborn, that he has done it. heavenly perspective creates, saying that many think, “No future bliss can make up for it.” They don’t know, he says, “that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and “He has done it” is the exact Hebrew equivalent of the Greek words of John turn even that agony into a glory.” 19:30, Jesus’ final declaration on the cross, “It is finished.” His death wins the battle. Sin, death, and the devil go down in eternal defeat. Jesus completes, We proclaim every Lord’s Day, Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. finishes, fulfills his prayer of Psalm 22 for us and our salvation today. May this last prayer of the Bible fill our House of Prayer always, Maranatha!