House of Prayer - Part 5

How to call on God so that God intervenes in a situation. They continued steadfastly in the Apostles' Doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and in prayers. And that's the church.

And I talk to well-known ministers. I talk to men. If I mention their names, a lot of you would know a lot of their names.

And they tell me privately, off the record, hey, listen, I know I'm dazzling them with my books and my sermons. But Brother Jim, something's wrong. Because except for Sunday morning, one hour, I can't get a soul into the church.

If I called a prayer meeting, not one tenth of the congregation would come. They'll pay $20 for a concert, but Jesus can't draw. They'll pay all kinds of money to hear somebody do something, and that's wonderful.

I'm all for that. But doesn't it awaken us that if the prayer meeting was called, that nobody would come when God said, my house shall be called a house of prayer. My house shall be called a house of prayer.

And you represent all kinds of cities. And just ask yourself that question in the city you live in. What church do you know takes a night, a prominent night, with all the leadership there, and says, if prayer is so great, and his house shall be called a house of prayer, and we have all these promises, ask, you shall receive.

Seek, you shall find. Knock, it shall be opened. And all of those promises call us to prayer.

Call unto me, and I will answer you. You would think the Christian church would say, time out. We're going to pray, because God said, when we pray, he'll intervene.

The truth of the matter is, in the city I live in, New York, and the same is for Chicago, and Philly, and all of that, who are we kidding? More people are turning to crack than to Christ. There are more people trying to crack than are getting baptized in water. That's the real deal.

And preaching is not going to do it alone, and teaching is not going to do it alone. My house shall be called a house of prayer. That's what brings God's power and grace into a situation.

The proof of that is, in the last 40 years, there's been more books written about marriages than in all the preceding 2,000 years of church history. More books in the last 40 years on marriages go to any pastor in America, asking if there aren't more problems per 100 marriages today. Than at any time, and we have the most books.

We've got all the how-tos, but what we're missing is the grace of God. My house shall be called a house of prayer. A couple that prays together, stays together.

A church that prays together, stays together. There'll be difficult moments. I'm not being simplistic, but God's word is true.

Call upon me, and I will answer you. I'll show you things you can't even imagine. Just give me a chance.

There's more books on child rearing, quality time with your children, ad nauseam. Talk to any pastor. There's more problem with children, young people in the church, per 100 young people, than at any time previous.

It's not because we're lacking knowledge. It's not because we're lacking how-to, and all of that has its place. But brother, sister, when the rubber meets the road, we need the power of God.

We need the grace of God. And listen to the promise as I come to a close. Therefore, let us come boldly to the throne of grace, so that we might receive grace and mercy to help us in our time of need.

It doesn't say, therefore, let us come to the sermon. We in America have made the sermon the centerpiece. God never intended the sermon to be the centerpiece.

The preacher, if he does his job, is supposed to get people to come to the throne of grace. Why? Because it's at the throne of grace that God gives grace and mercy. If a singer, a gospel singer, really does his job, and every gospel singer listening to me, you're going to answer up one day, because God's going to say to you, did you bring people to where the action was at the throne of grace? If you just entertained them, if you just tickled them and gave them a little warm, fuzzy moment, woe unto you, because at the throne of grace, I could have changed their life.

Pastor Cimbala, did you bring the people and dazzle them with your footwork and try to be clever, or did you make Jesus wonderful? So that they could come to the throne of grace. Therefore, let us come boldly to the throne of grace. That's why Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, so that he could make a way, so that me, with my problems, could go and receive grace and mercy to help me.

Coming apart here. That's an awesome thing. Just an awesome thought, that we've created a religion kind of of our own.

And sometimes, his house shall be called the house of prayer. In a lot of churches and a lot of services, you have everything but prayer. You have talks, readings, talent, choir, and my wife conducts a choir.

I'm all for those things, but you get what I'm driving at? If it doesn't end up with somebody touching God and praying, who are we kidding?