Prayer, not Business ...

 Today's Readings: OT - 1 Samuel 4 / NT - Matthew 21:1-22

"He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers." -- Matthew 21:13

The coffee shop was once a place of social interaction. People gathered to talk with one another and share the joys and sorrows of life. Today when you stop by most coffee shops you will find tables with just one person bent over their laptop computer. The friendly communion of the past has been replaced with the self focused preoccupation of progress.

In the same way progress led to a preoccupation in the Temple courts. What was originally intended to be a place of communion with the Lord had become a place of self focused gaining of profit. The money changers of those days have become the church business pursuits of today. While there are those who are satisfied that nothing is sold in the foyer of the church, the fact that more church business is transacted than prayer is sad.

Where are the prayer warriors in church today? Do you attend your church with the intention to join your brothers and sisters in communion with the Lord? Does this quality time to seek the face of God hold a priority in your church life? Do you reserve the discussion of church business for other times and places? Remember, His house was and always is to be a place of prayer, not business.

Tomorrow's Readings: OT - 1 Samuel 5-6  /  NT - Matthew 21:23-46