July 12^th,1961 “My House of Prayer” LATE MR. N. DANIEL

John 2:13-16

“Take these things hence. Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.” Jesus came all the way from Cana where He performed His first miracle to Jerusalem. When He came He had to enter into the temple and was very sad to see the condition there. This temple represents our heart. We often ask Jesus to come into our heart and He likes to come there. Of all places in Jerusalem, Jesus had need to pray in the temple. In prayer we know the mind of God. When we pray, the Holy Spirit comes into our heart and gradually puts in God's thoughts. If you do not know God's thoughts, you do not know where you are going. There was merchandise in the temple. The religious leaders there did not know the results of such merchandise in the temple. Jesus knew that a time would come when this temple would be completely destroyed. Only Jesus knew that. The disciples did not know that and so they were admiring the temple. Jesus saw cattle and changers of money. It looked more like a place for making money. People think our Fellowship exists for money. No. Unfortunately even today people think churches are for making money. We are here to obey God and carry out His purposes. We begin to obey whether we have money or not and then God sends the money needed. The temple was being used for making money. The value of the temple was gone. There was no revelation there. Jesus drove the cattle away and threw down the tables of money.

Our heart also is filled with so many things that are a hindrance to our spiritual life. Jesus saw there was no prayer in the temple. Jesus saw there was no prophetic power there. The people there could not see their own spiritual condition. The Lord of the temple was there but they did not recognize Him. They willingly crucified Jesus. The temple was then completely destroyed and to this day it has not been built again all these 2000 years. Ezra 10:1 “Now when Ezra had prayed and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.” When we build a temple, it should be built by prayer. When you build your house you must build it by prayer. When husband and wife pray together great revelations will come to them.

When Jesus said one stone would not stand on another in the temple, they did not understand. We do not understand these things. Other considerations have come into our heart - money, cattle and gold. We think of children in terms of money. We think of giving them such things as will give them plenty of money. We do not put them in a place where God can bless them. There is no time for prayer. There is no time for revelation. The temple had no time for these. Hence God allowed it to be destroyed. God is looking at individuals, families, fellowships and churches. How much revelation is there? Where there is no revelation there will come destruction. “Where there is no vision the people perish.” Prov. 29:18