Day 32
Read Mark 11:11-18.
Bible scholar, pastor, and author Warren Wiersbe says of this text: “This ‘religious market’ was set up in the court of the Gentiles, the one place where the Jews should have been busy doing serious missionary work. If a Gentile visited the temple and saw what the Jews were doing in the name of the true God, he would never want to believe what they taught. The Jews might not have permitted idols of wood and stone in their temple, but there were idols there just the same. The court of the Gentiles should have been a place for praying, but it was instead a place for preying and paying” (The Bible Exposition Commentary, Vol. 1, pp. 150-151).
PRAYING, PREYING OR PAYING?
If Jesus visited our church next week would He find us to be a praying people? When a spirit of prayer marks a church family it welcomes people from the nations of the world, from the poorest to the wealthiest; from the youngest to the oldest; red, black, yellow, brown, white – all races and nationalities. When prayer is absent, there is too much sin and self on display and the welcome banners are missing. Do the people of our community feel welcome when they visit our church? Let’s be a praying people!
PRAY…
Jesus, would You please bring a new spirit and aroma of prayer to the gatherings of our church. We want You to be the center of attention every time our church family is together in any way. Please develop us into a “house of prayer for all the nations.” Send forth Your Welcoming Spirit to all the people in our community so that they feel welcome in our fellowship as we pray, worship, and praise Your almighty and wonderful Name. We don’t want a single person, visiting among us, to be turned away from You because of our attitudes or behavior. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Sourced From State Convention of Baptists in Ohio | scbo.org