God desires for our bodies, homes, businesses, and cities to be “houses of prayer.”

Jesus said “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.'” (Matthew 21:13, Mark 11:17, Luke 19:46)

What does it mean to be a “house of prayer?”
Where is God’s “house of prayer?”

Based on all four gospel accounts, Jesus displayed the most anger when he overturned the tables of the money changers. He was upset that God’s holy place was being used for ungodly purposes instead of for prayer.

Since learning about 24/7 “boiler” rooms of prayer and worship in other countries more than a year ago, I have prayed for God to open a 24/7 prayer center somewhere in the heart of our city. When we pray fervently and long enough for someone or something, God often lets us be the answer to our own prayers. That’s exactly what happened.

A few months ago, Dewey McDonnell and I agreed to work together and rent office space next to the Culpeper post office. Dewey needed to find a new work location because he would soon be moving out of his home where he had conducted his business for years. I was looking for a place to work away from home.

Immediately when I saw the rental space with four rooms, a light bulb went on to have a 24/7 prayer center in one of the rooms and daily “Pass the Salt” lunches for business people in another room. Dewey and I quickly agreed to do this. This office space is in a prime location because our local post office probably has more traffic than any other place in Culpeper besides Walmart.

Since  Christmas and New Year’s Day both fell on Monday this year, my plans were to cancel our Pray Culpeper meetings for December 25 and January 1 because the Culpeper Library is closed on those holidays. Fortunately God’s plans always trump our plans.

It turned out that Dewey McDonnell facilitated our weekly Pray Culpeper meeting on Monday December 18 because I skipped the meeting (which is rare) to leave early to drive to Giles using my son’s beat-up truck. I needed the truck to move out of my apartment in Giles later in the week.

Before leaving home on December 18, I wrote myself a note to email Dewey to ask him to clear out unnecessary stuff from the prayer and community rooms to prepare them for use. However, I never had time to send that email because my last week of work in Giles was busy ensuring that I left a legacy to honor God.

Well, God takes care of our business when we take care of His. At 8:09 PM on Saturday Dec 23, Dewey sent me an email stating: “I’ve just finished re-arranging our “community” and “prayer” rooms here at 203 S. Main. Several people at the Dec. 18 Pray Culpeper expressed an interest in meeting on January 1st to pray in the new year (400th) right.  I said there was a possibility we could be ready to meet here on that day since the library will be closed.”

Yesterday afternoon, I met with Dewey for about an hour. We agreed to officially dedicate the new “prayer” and “community” rooms at noon on January 1. We are going to welcome in the 400th anniversary of our nation with a spiritual BANG!

Prayer Power
Father, You are an amazing God. Your ways are so much higher than our ways. Your thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts. Thank you for opening the wide gate to have both a 24/7 prayer room and “community” room to honor Jesus in the heart of downtown Culpeper. Bless Your new house of prayer and all those who come to it! Bless our dedication at noon on January 1! Thank You Jesus. Amen and Hallelujah!

Link of the Day
24-7prayer.com: What Is A Boiler Room? [http://www.24-7prayer.com/cm/articles/705]

Blessings to see your body, home, business, and city become “houses of prayer!”