Audio Recording:

My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer — Pastor

My house shall be called a house of prayer, these are not my words, but the words of the Lord Jesus. Last Sunday, the topic of our sermon was: Those who Create History. Why do we say those who create history? Because every advancement in history is due to the prayers of Christians reaching God's presence, and then God casts the fire of His altar onto the earth from heaven, and great things happen on earth.

You will notice that history books do not record what great figures ate or drank; those small matters are ignored. They record the immense, significant events that bring about changes in the course of history. We Christians are the ones who propel history forward. Why? Because through prayer, we can change the outcome of events, be it in an era, a nation, or in the lives of individuals.

God Delights in Working with People

Those who build an altar of prayer can connect to heavenly power. Connecting heaven and earth, bringing down the Spirit of God, this was originally God's intention; we have become co-workers with God. History is written by man and God together, a result of working with God.

I want to give you a concept: the God we believe in is very wondrous. He does not particularly like to do things alone. Although He can do them by Himself -- since the creation of the world, He could do things Himself when there were no people -- God delights in working with people.

Among us are parents. If a child does not pay attention to you and does everything on their own—doing projects or handling everything at school without telling you—it is very painful for the parents. I am very happy when my son comes to me and says, Dad, I am doing a project at school. Can we do it together? I am delighted to do it with him; even if I am busy, I will make time. Why? Because I like doing things with my son, building a close parent-child relationship. If my son went to someone else, I would be saddened. Our Heavenly Father is the same way; He likes to work with us, and we like to work with Him.

The Bible is a book written by man and God together. When we pray in tongues, it is God praying with us, which is very wondrous. If man and God pray together, and the Spirit of God is within us, then that prayer will surely bring about a reversal of events. This is why Paul's ministry was so powerful and filled with anointing—because he often prayed with God, and the Spirit of God dwelt within him.

Paul prayed with God. Although he did not understand what he was saying when he prayed in tongues, he prayed like that every day. That is why he said, I speak in tongues more than all of you, because it was God praying with him.

Why are some prayers not heard by God? Because they are praying on their own, without praying with God, without co-working with God. When we co-work with God, we share in His glory and become one with Him. What is God's is mine, and what is mine is God's.

Today, how blessed we are that we have become co-workers with the eternal God, that He actually allows us to propel history forward with Him.

Joyfully Welcoming the Lord's Return

What are the days ahead? They are the days of the end of the world. In the Bible, the book of Revelation records many prophecies. If you have the opportunity to explore with me, you will know that many of these prophecies have been fulfilled. The current stage is the end times. Today, you see the world, the tense situation between the United States and China, which are preparing for military armament again.

A cold war situation is emerging, with localized wars in various places. We already know that this is fulfilling what is described in Revelation: when the seven trumpets are blown, one after another, that is World War III, which is a painful event. If you prepare well today, history will advance because of our prayers, which is a good thing. But for many, it is not a good thing.

For Christians, the Lord Jesus is coming! We can lay down our earthly toil, return to God's presence, and reign with Jesus Christ on earth for a thousand years. How wonderful that is!

A brother told me a few days ago, Pastor, I have dreamed twice in a row about disasters coming, and then a small group of people were caught up into the air. I said, That is such a wonderful dream! I hope I can have such a dream too. If Jesus really comes one day, and we are caught up into the sky to meet the Lord Jesus without any tools, what a wonderful experience that would be! It would be a terrible thing if you missed this opportunity.

Today, as we build the church and you do ministry, do not think that I do not care about you. Then complain to me, Pastor, do you know how much pressure I am under at work? Doing writing ministry, IT papers, doing this and that, it is so hard! Then I tell you—ministry is something worth doing. When we begin to offer ourselves for God, you will bless many people. You will please God, and on the day the Lord Jesus returns, we will be caught up into the sky to meet God.

Building a House of Prayer

Our church is a miraculously wonderful church. The average amount of prayer per person is the most among the churches I know. Thank God that in these end times, He has raised us up to build a glorious church. The purpose of building the church is to welcome the return of Jesus; these are wonderful days.

For people in the world, it is the end of the world, but for Christians, it is a very wonderful day. Thank God for letting us know that such a day is near, that we will be caught up into the sky to meet the Lord. In the days we are on earth, we constantly rely on the leadership of Jesus Christ to declare war against the dark forces of the devil, and we are victorious in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Those who are oppressed by the devil who come among us, none are not released. For example, lumbar and cervical issues are typically demonic oppressions. Those who have not been released in other churches are released among us.

Later, I discovered that the demons behind cancer are very small demons. If you believe you receive, you will receive. Relying on prayer, cancer is quickly healed. Thank God, God is beginning to do these great things among us. This is God working with us. Will God not bring us into the glory He has prepared for us from eternity?

We are to build a house that shall be called a house of prayer. I have found that there are many churches where people cook and eat together. Yesterday, a sister from Shanghai said, Pastor, I was originally scheduled to be on duty to cook at my previous church today. I said, When you come to our church, I only schedule you to pray.

It is a pity that much time is not used for prayer. We have many spiritual battles to fight. Every time I see people coming among us with problems, I pray with them, weep with them, and release them together, so that they can be freed from the oppression of the devil.

Thank the Lord that God is building such a church. Those whom we bless will be blessed, and those whom we curse will be cursed. What we bind will be bound, and what we release in Jesus Christ will be released (see Genesis 13:3). We are to be a blessing to this generation, and the key lies in this statement: My house shall be called a house of prayer; the church shall be a house of prayer.

If you cannot find answers to the problems we face today, you will surely find answers in a house of prayer. A house of prayer is God's will. This is what the Lord Jesus said: My house shall be called a house of prayer. Prayer can bring the power of God's throne into our lives. There is no situation that cannot be reversed.

I once met a sister who said, Pastor, our church also spends a lot of time in prayer, but how come we do not see the situation of your church? She was very envious after seeing our church on social media. In fact, I have met many people who have said this to me.

If you say that you often pray in your church, but you do not experience God's presence when you pray, I would also like to know why. Effective prayer produces results; ineffective prayer does not. So, what is effective prayer, and what is ineffective prayer? If someone makes a car that cannot run, the car is useless.

Prayer is the same way. Look at the results. The key is whether you are doing what the Bible has revealed to you. If you do what is written in the Bible, God is faithful, and there will be the results prophesied in the Bible. If you hold a phone and the salesperson tells you how to operate it, but you do not follow the instructions, the functions of the phone will not work in your hands.

If the church is a house of prayer, many brothers and sisters can avoid unnecessary suffering. My heart often weeps when I see some brothers and sisters who, although they are Christians, experience a lot of unnecessary pain and torment, such as bad lumbar and cervical issues, car accidents, and many other things. They are Christians but live in great distress. I am very moved because they do not know that all these things are the work of the powers of darkness. Nor do they go to prayer and fight these battles.

I strongly oppose the prayer: Lord Jesus, I beg you, please heal me... Such prayers are also not healed. Before the meeting just now, I prayed with a sister from Shanghai who had pain in her neck, shoulders, and many other places. When I led her to pray in the name of Jesus, commanding the pain to leave, the devil retreated. That sister was really healed and is now attending services remotely.

Today, I want to share with everyone that if we build a house of prayer, the church is God's house. This house of prayer must be built, and there will be no problem that cannot be solved. If a cancer patient prays with us, it may seem very difficult to him, but in my eyes, it is very simple. Perhaps you do not believe what I say, but this will surely be fulfilled among us in the future.

Scripture

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant (Matthew 21:12-15).

Prayer

Lord, we know that building Your house of prayer is the answer to all the problems in our lives. We will see the blind and the lame so simply healed before You; the suffering in their lives, which cannot be solved by money, is completely solved by You.

Lord Jesus, we come before You today, calling on You to work with us. May Your house be called a house of prayer! Lord Jesus, may our church be called a house of prayer! May Your glory be greatly manifested among us, and may Your power be constantly manifested among us! May everyone who comes before You be healed and released. Lord, we see Your glory manifested in the lives of each of our brothers and sisters!

Lord, we long to experience You; today we experience Your miraculous works. We know that in You, there are even more wonderful things to happen to us. We ask You to strengthen us and let us put time into building Your house of prayer. May Your glory and Your grace be constantly manifested through us, making us a blessing to this generation.

Lord, may our service be pleasing in Your sight, and may our service be powerful and effective! Like the church in the Book of Acts, Lord, today we ask You to restore Your original glory among us and to do wonderful things among us. We also want to be Your co-workers. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen!

The Focus of This Scripture

This passage records Jesus' impending crucifixion, a pivotal event of immense significance. Two millennia later, we gather here, the event already accomplished. Yet, the scripture we read precedes this accomplishment. The Lord Jesus enters Jerusalem, enters the temple of God, the temple representing God's presence.

Upon entering the temple, He performs a rather violent act — overturning tables and chairs, driving out those exchanging money and engaging in commerce. He declares, My house shall be called a house of prayer. Jesus, speaking as God in the first person, reveals His intention: His house should be a house of prayer, but people have turned it into a place of transaction.

Praise God, Jesus performed this act, and today we in the church must do the same. In days past, we also overturned the old church, where we engaged in feasting and selling doves. Now, we begin to establish a church of prayer, and for over three years, we have seen ourselves entering into God's will. For we have witnessed God's presence among us, and seen Him accomplish marvelous things.

You know, the authority of a temple administrator is considerable, for the temple is a place of opportunity for profit. The administrator knows who comes to the temple, and what kinds of problems bring them to seek God. Those coming to the temple are like those now flooding hospitals, desperate, unable to endure further, yet willing to sell their possessions for healing.

These individuals bring offerings, or travel great distances with money to buy offerings to present to God. The temple administrators treat this as a profit-making opportunity. Those in dire need of sacrifice will buy, no matter how expensive. It is like hospitals today, where people sell houses and cars to pay for treatment, is it not?

Using their last money to buy offerings, they present them to God in prayer, yet see no promise fulfilled. How desolate! In their despair, they see no promise of God, but only extortionate merchants. These temple administrators forget their identity — as priests of the eternal God, meant to bring the Israelites before God, interceding for them day and night. Desperate people come to the temple, lift their hands in prayer, and God hears, their problems resolved. But in Jesus’ time, the temple administrators turned it into a marketplace. Hence, Jesus angrily cast them all out.

As a priest of the living God come into the world, He knows that He is the answer to all our problems. Yet people turn not to God, but to money. Those with problems, the blind, the lame, living in suffering, come to the temple but find no solution. Praise God, before Jesus was crucified, the blind and the lame came to the temple and God healed them.

Jesus is the answer to all our problems in life, yet people reject Him, pursuing money. We must carefully consider, can money truly solve all your problems? In times of disaster, money cannot stop it. Those whom Jesus threw out could not be helped by money in times of calamity.

Today, we see the Chinese government intensify its efforts against corruption. Brothers and sisters, they know in their hearts that money cannot solve problems, but they have been blinded by the gods of this world, and fix their gaze on money. God Himself came to the temple, declaring, My house shall be called a house of prayer. This is God's resolve to establish a church of prayer.

When we have this determination, God will accomplish it for us! Our church faced hardship three years ago, facing mortgage payments, but prayer can change any situation. Today, we can lack everything, but we cannot lack God. We must repent and turn to God, for He is the answer to all our life's problems.

If you know the miracles God has performed through my hands, how God works with me, you would know how precious it is. If a father sees his son, rejecting good things to grasp at grass, would not the father be grieved? It is God’s intention to bless us.

Some forsake the way of God for personal gain. When I see brothers and sisters from other churches come among us, though believing in the Lord, living in corruption, unable to resolve their problems, I am saddened. What a gracious God, yet they cannot see or experience Him.

God's intention is to heal us, to let us live out His abundant glory, honor, and power. But they cannot live it out.

When I speak with them via video call, their minds are still filled with those erroneous teachings. I am saddened. A Christian doctor, in despair, contacted me online, suffering from concussion after being beaten in the hospital. I called and prayed with him. I wish he could pray with us, but he only asked, Does being filled with the Holy Spirit require speaking in tongues? Can one pray without speaking in tongues? What kind of teaching is this? I only know that when the Holy Spirit first descended, over a hundred people spoke in tongues.

Brothers and sisters, all who are willing to join me in establishing a church of prayer, all who are willing to make God's house a house of prayer, shall experience God's healing and transformation! Your life shall experience abundance, glory, honor, and power. This is God's original intention. We all desire to receive grace in a church where God is present. Praise the Lord, the brothers and sisters in our church have all been raised up. No one in this world does not need God.

An Example

Even if you are a king, you need a house of prayer, for the house of prayer connects to God's power. After the death of King William IV of England, his eighteen-year-old daughter became queen, Queen Victoria, and reigned for sixty-four years, bringing about the most prosperous era in British history. Britain became a world power.

Later, many asked the Queen, Where does your secret of governing the country lies? The Queen replied: I am a weak woman, but I know that my ability comes from God. This Queen sought God through prayer in everything she did. All national policies were revelations received through prayer. This is a very wonderful thing.

Share a concept: Even the king of a country still needs prayer, and still needs God. You and I, how much more should we say arrogant words, not needing God. The Queen who established the powerful Victorian kingdom formulated policies through prayer. She also needed a house of prayer, how much more do we?

U.S. President Roosevelt was the president leading World War II. He was a king sitting in a wheelchair. Doctors said he would not live more than ten years when he was a child, but his father often relied on God. He knelt down and prayed for the children, constantly praying to God: Although there are physical defects, the God gave you what exceeds your expectations. As long as you completely trust God, you will definitely become an outstanding figure. Although breathing is difficult, praying to God will help you.

In such constant prayer and supplication, each time overcoming asthma, he recovered his health in his thirties. After graduating from Kraft University, he became an orthodox candidate. As a result, this politician achieved things through long prayers. He is also the only president in American history who has served for twelve years. He can also do great things in a wheelchair. Presidents still need prayer to draw on the glory that comes from God. What about us? What God gives us is called a house of prayer, which is the answer to all the problems in our lives.

God Has a Great Design to Completely Solve All Problems

It is not to solve a certain problem, but to solve the problems of this life and the problems of eternal life. Many people have time to die, but no time to pray. A sister from afar was looking for a church everywhere. When she found me, she told me: Pastor, I don't think I can stay in your church. Your church has too many gatherings. I can't stand it. In fact, she didn’t come to participate in many gatherings. Later, she left. I'm very sorry.

There is time to make friends, arrange their own affairs, but no time to pray and get close to God. It's like a person is sick, has time to die, but no time to take medicine. The problems God gives us to solve far exceed what we can imagine. But how many people are willing to accept this solution? It requires faith, to truly believe and truly accept.

If you really know that this is the answer to all problems, you must establish the house of prayer. I begin to confirm today that the house of prayer can solve all the problems in our lives. Amen! Encourage everyone to start like me—building a house of prayer!

Obstacles to Building a Praying Church

Merchant Mentality

What God wants is priests, not merchants. When Jesus came to his own temple, he saw that these people wanted to be merchants instead of priests, which was a sad thing. If you want to be a merchant instead of a priest, Jesus gets very angry, so he throws out the tables and chairs and drives the people away.

Merchants only see profits, and when they observe an opportunity for profit, they begin to raise prices. They only do something if it is profitable. They will not help the blind and lame since there is no profit in it. Everyone must begin to change; there cannot be a merchant mentality in the Christian environment.

Singapore has the densest atmosphere of mercantilism. I know a pastor who quit being a pastor and went into business. He said: “I will earn money and buy a church.” He does not understand that church is what God builds, and God does not need people to provide for Him. The merchant mentality uses money to solve problems. How many of us have a merchant mentality that wants to use money to solve problems?

The harm of the merchant mentality is very deep. Merchants like to worship the God of Wealth, so Jesus said: You cannot serve both God and Mammon. Serving Mammon is a merchant mentality, which is a very dangerous thing. Some people say that our church is good at doing marketing. The testimonies of our church on Weibo—cures for mental illness, lumbar spine, spine, etc.—are all real and happening among us. This is not marketing; it is a testament to the Word of God.

A brother once told me: Let me rent out the temple to earn money. I thought I was a priest, not a merchant. This place is for prayer, not for making money. Merchants cannot solve all our problems, but priests can bring down the power of heaven, which can solve all our problems.

The origin of the merchant mentality is a natural reaction, and our mentality is a supernatural reaction because our mentality comes from the word of God. If you are a natural reaction, you are probably from the flesh and from the world. Is it natural for merchants to be angry? We accidentally fall into natural reactions.

Unnatural reactions come from God and build up people. Natural reactions corrupt people. The logic of merchants makes sense, but it corrupts people. Thank God, in the past God let me suffer a lot of losses, we also began to clean up the church, walk the path of priests, and began to establish a system of priestly thought. — This is the priest God wants.

God wants you to build a system of priestly thought. But in the temple, although these people guarded God's temple, they did not have a system of priestly thought.

Individual Mentality

What God wants is the church, not the individual. In the Christians I have come into contact with, I have found that the most tragic thing is—they cannot communicate with their pastor in their church. What God wants is the church, not the individual; my house shall be called a house of prayer, the church shall be called a house of prayer, not the individual. Individuals who pray will not experience the grace of God. God's will is the church, not the individual.

God is the God of the church, and the church is the body of Jesus Christ, so a church must be united in prayer, and unity can transform people's lives. Individual faith is not the faith of Jesus Christ. Especially the New Testament, it’s inseparable from the word church.

Passive Reception

God's intention is for us to take the initiative to fight. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.(Romans 8:26) We must change our concept.

In my Weibo message, someone said: Mental illness, depression, how should I pray! I said: In short, just cast out the ghosts of mental illness. Brothers and sisters, a Christian who does not actively fight with faith will not receive any promises. Without fighting, he will not win.

There are three obvious obstacles to building a praying church—the merchant mentality, the individual mentality, and passive reception. Start actively receiving by faith. The prayer of a righteous person is very effective. The most wonderful gift God has given me is faith. With faith, I believe that prayer can make the paralyzed walk and that prayer can really cure cancer. I encourage everyone to put it into practice. When you encounter a situation that looks hopeless, do not despair. When Jesus entered the temple, he drove out the merchants, and the blind and lame were healed and stood up and walked. If the church is a praying church, the blind and lame will surely be healed. God wants to use your hands to heal the blind and lame.

Summary:

To build a praying church, the important office is the priest. We are priests, and this temple is a temple of prayer. We must serve as priests. Amen!