Have you attempted to organize a Christian group recently? If you have, you will agree that it is very difficult. There are spiritual forces which would stop or hinder us, or at least to change our plans.
The gospels record an event in the life of Jesus which can help us.
Jesus had some followers who decided one day to praise Him as He went up to Jerusalem. He rode on a donkey, and the people spread their clothes on the ground to make a pleasant path for the donkey. They waved palm branches (John 12:13), and shouted "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Luke 19:38).
When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, He went into the temple and drove out those who were buying and selling birds for the sacrifice. He angrily overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the seats of the men who sold doves. He said, "My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves." Following this, "the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and He healed them (Matt.21:13-14).
We can learn a great deal from these events. When we make a decision to do a work for Jesus, people praise us, but then we run into opposition--even from well-meaning friends. Regardless of whether we receive praise or opposition, we must do what Jesus did. He chose to please God and not man. He cleansed the temple from worldly influences saying that his house shall be a house of prayer.
If we want our work or church to be one where Jesus' work can go on, we must drive out man-made ideas and values. The church of Jesus Christ cannot compromise with the world. Then, just as Jesus recognized that it must be a place of prayer, we also must make certain the group or church we are organizing is founded on prayer. If it is, we too will be able to do the same works as Jesus did, even healing the blind and the lame.
There is a progression we are to follow if we wish to do a Christian work. First we must praise Him as the people did on his way to Jerusalem. We praise Him because He is King, not because we want something from Him. After the praise, we get busy and drive off the enemy as Jesus did in the temple, and as Jeremiah did when he rebuilt the walls of the temple carrying a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other (Neh.4:17-18). But the sword we use is "the sword of the Spirit" (Eph.6:17). Although our enemy usually comes at us from other people, we must remember the real enemy is not the people but the powers of darkness which do not want God's work to prosper.
If we are faithful in our prayers, then our church becomes one of healing as was the temple Jesus cleansed. Miracles, signs, and wonders will abound if we have truly driven out the enemy and repented of our sins when we held the prayer meeting.
The end-time church must become a house of prayer if we hope to see her perform mighty works.
© 1999, Doreen Palmer