Page 49 - Living Light 89

Wednesday July 23 - Coming judgement
“Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of robbers’.” Mark 11:17
I once ministered in an inner city church that had 37 different nationalities worshipping on a Sunday morning. Diversity can come with all sorts of complexities, but I felt that even in all the differences there was a foretaste of the kingdom of God as we gathered.
God’s vision for Israel and Israel’s temple was for all the nations of the world to be blessed through them. God never intended only one small nation to know his love. Israel was the chosen people so that they could be the means by which all the world would eventually know the goodness of their God. Things hadn’t worked out that way. Worship in the temple had become exclusive. Non-Jews were excluded and the poor were discriminated against by having to change their ordinary coins into special temple money – with a nice cut for the money changers. Israel fell far short of God’s great intentions and its worship was way off course.
As with the fig tree, so with the temple. Jesus turns over the tables of the traders not just out of righteous anger but also as a means of demonstrating what will happen in 70 AD when the Romans, under Titus, would destroy the temple. How sad that a house of prayer could be so corrupted. Are there times when our worship falls short of God’s expectations?
Almighty God, where my worship falls short of your glory, please lift my eyes so that I may catch your vision again. Amen.
Thursday July 24 - Moving mountains Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22
The disciples are astonished when the next day they see that the fig tree cursed by Jesus has withered. They have never seen anything like this before. Jesus’ response is hard for us to understand. I have never heard of any Christian moving a mountain by prayer (v 23). Does that mean that none of us have enough faith?
Jesus often speaks in deliberate exaggeration in order to bring us up short and reflect on our own lives of faith. How much faith do we have? We might not be looking to move mountains, but are we praying for friends or family to come to faith? Are we praying for the kingdom of God to impact our communities? And how easily do we give up?
I am sure that my own expectations of how God can act and answer prayer are pitiful in comparison with what he will do when the church prays in faith. I have seen remarkable instances of addicts coming off drugs and people suddenly encountering Jesus, and yet I still only ask for the smallest things – molehills rather than mountains.
In the book of Acts, we read of some of the amazing things that Jesus’ disciples did through the power of the Holy Spirit. It seems they had taken the lesson of the fig tree to heart! Let’s do likewise.
Lord Jesus Christ, when my vision is too small and my prayers are too weak, please give me a glimpse of your loving power in my life. Amen.
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PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY