Wednesday, February 6, 2019: Matthew 21:13

He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

If you had to narrow it down to one thing, what do you think Island Community Church is best known for among the people who visit—friendliness? Solid preaching? A great children’s ministry? Good worship? Committed to missions? All of those are good things we strive to be!

The leaders in the Jerusalem temple began a practice to be helpful but became distracted from their true purpose. People came there to worship from all over the world, bringing sacrifices to fulfill the requirements of the Law. Since it was easier to carry money than large animals as they traveled, it was a practical help to provide sacrificial animals for people to buy once they arrived at the temple. But what started as a good and helpful thing became bad. The buying and selling took place inside the temple itself, and it became more about making money than prayerful dependence on God.

ICC, above all else, is to be a community of prayer. We cannot let any good thing take precedence over our necessary dependence on God. Without prayer, our friendliness has no eternal purpose. Without prayer, our preaching, children’s ministry, worship, and mission endeavors are without effect, pointing people only to our own limited abilities and robbing them of Spirit-empowered encounters with the Living God. 

• In regard to what you typically depend on church to be or provide, how would you fill in the blank? My house shall be called a House of Prayer, but you make it a ___________________.

• Pray: Thank God for His church and the ministries it provides. Invite Him to reveal to you any wrong motives, priorities, or expectations you have in regard to the church. Ask Him to use this 15-week study to help ICC become a community of prayer, fully dependent on Him always and in everything.