HAVE WE MADE IT A DEN OF THIEVES?

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MEMORY VERSE

MATTHEW 21:13

 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.

LESSON BACKGROUND:

Taken from: https://bethelhouseofprayer.com/about/what-is-a-house-of-prayer/

What exactly is a House of Prayer?

The first reference given to a house of prayer is found in the Old Testament in Isaiah 56:7 “For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”(all Nations) parenthesis mine. The next time this passage is mentioned is in the New Testament and Jesus quote the same verse in Matthew 21:12-13 after He entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling and the money changers and Jesus quotes the passage from Isaiah. In Matthew 21:13, Jesus says “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a DEN OF THIEVES.” There are two other times in the New Testament this same verse is quoted and those are found in Mark 11:17 and Luke 19:46.

Why would Jesus refer to His the house as a House of Prayer?

First of all, Christ himself was a house of prayer and he was teaching his disciples to become one by modeling this for them when He continually withdrew and was talking with His Father and drawing strength from that intimate relationship He had in heaven. This same intimate relationship is one we can have because of Jesus Christ came and hung on a cross to pay the price for us with his life, a perfect sacrifice shedding His blood for the forgiveness of all of our sins (John 3:16-17) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

Remember, the Father in heaven sent His Son, Jesus Christ to be born of the virgin Mary, through the Holy Spirit, as a child to live with a real earthly mother, father and family and experience life as we know it. Think about it this way. As a the child you have an intimate relationship with your earthly father or mother and you want to be around them and you depend upon them for certain things like food, clothing, a home to live in, and all the good things you like and need. Well, even though Jesus had those earthly parents, He came from heaven and longed for the intimate relationship with His Father in heaven. Prayer was the connection of intimacy that He left behind when He came to earth. He was modeling this for His disciples, and for us to follow, He restored the relationship for us with the Father by His death, burial, and resurrection.

There was such a longing in Jesus’ heart for heaven even though he lived as a man on this earth. Philippians 3:20 puts it this way, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence we also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is the thing Jesus longed for while He was here upon the earth because He came from heaven and knew He would be returning there upon His resurrection. So, you see, even though we live on this earth and live out our lives here, as we give our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ to become Savior and Lord we then also become citizens of heaven as we are restored to our Heavenly Father.

What is prayer?

Prayer is that longing and intimacy restored and brought back to life which was dead in our sinful state, apart from Jesus Christ. Prayer is that intimate communication with the Father in heaven and the house of prayer is the earthly expression of what is in heaven. And that is why Jesus was so adamant about it in Matthew 21:12-13 when He came into His house and saw what it had become–this house includes two types of houses explained below.

In Luke 11:1 Jesus’ disciples came and asked Him, “Teach us how to pray”. This desire must have grown out of them as they watched and heard Jesus have intimate conversations (read: prayers) with His heavenly Father, which Christ modeled for them day by day. Eventually, that led them to ask Him the above question. We see in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4 Jesus gives them insight and instruction into what He has been praying all along and this has become known to most of us as “The Lord’s Prayer.” Many of us learned this prayer growing up and could recite it at will or could at least enter into it when the congregation was reciting it. This is not the only thing that Jesus prayed but he gave it as instruction or as a “how to.” To Jesus, prayer was a joy and that’s why the scriptures say there will be, “Joy in My house of prayer.”

Defining the House of Prayer

I will attempt to give some definition and expression to the House of Prayer. As I understand, there are two expressions of it, so here they are.

-       YOU ARE PERSONALLY A HOUSE OF PRAYER. After you receive Jesus Christ as Savior, you become the temple of the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 6:19 says, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

-       THE CHURCH IS A HOUSE OF PRAYER. As we assemble together we are the corporate expression of prayer. Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Hebrews 10:24-25 puts it this way, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” 1 Peter 2:5 says it this way, “Ye also, as lively, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

INTRODUCTION:

When we visited our sister and her family in Kentucky, USA my nephew invited me to go to a Christian church to worship. The church was so wide and big. As we went to our destinations, we used the escalators; I don’t know how many escalators we used because I felt dizzy going up. I think we went to the 4^th floor.  Along the way, I saw many things: bookstore, coffee shop, restaurant and many more. I asked my nephew where the church gets, its financial needs and he responded in their tithes. Then I said to myself, “what these stores for?” Maybe the stores are for church members’ business. This kind of environment is hard to be monitored by the pastors who attend the worship service or not. Do they have a schedule so others can attend? Whatever strict the church board members (if they have) are, these situations are prone to the sin of not attending. The people are given distractions.

Jesus began his ministry at the Passover just as he now ended at a Passover. He is just about to cleanse the Temple just as had done on one other occasion three years earlier recorded in John 2:14-16, “And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money-changers doing business. (15) When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. (16) And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!" Now we read in Matthew 21:12-17 how he cleansed the Temple once again and his reasons for doing so. “Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. (13) And He said to them, "It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’" (14) Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. (15) But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant (16) and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?" (17) Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.” As we continue our study of Christ’s Commands the next command we want to examine is found in the 21:13 where Jesus says, "It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’" The command is found in the phrase “you have made” (polite) the command seems to center on what these people have made God’s house into. In verse thirteen Jesus says that they have made the temple into a “den of thieves.”

LESSON PROPER:

This the scenario makes me think the question: how we make the church and ourselves a den of thieves?

    1)   IF WE HAVE MORE TIME IN OUR JOB AND NO TIME LEFT IN PRAYER.

-       We have read that Jesus got angry and clean the temple. Some commentaries explained that Jesus was angry because commerce, that there is buying and selling of anything being done in God’s house. Some use this verse as a defense of denial of allowing anything, at any time to be sold in the church. Yet the provision of animals for sacrifice was in its self-vital for worship as it existed at that time.

-       Personally, I see this scene as also in our present times: we are busy working in our job, sometimes we go to church, but our hearts are not there and possibly we still do something; we’re there but we’re not worshipping and praying.

   2)  IF WE CHEAT AT SOME POINT

-       Other commentaries said that it is not that commerce was being done in the Temple that is the problem but that the people are being “ripped off” in the process. According to Old Testament law, any animal approved by the priests could be offered for sacrifice in the Temple. But the chief priests made certain that animals not bought in one of their franchises would be judged unacceptable.  Annas, the High Priest had sold franchises for the concession stands to the various merchants and money-changers… to the highest bidder. The business enterprises in the outer court came to be known as the “Bazaar of Annas” whose chief priest and associates oversaw the Temple franchises. Merchants would buy the right to sell sacrificial animals, wine, oil or salt, or exchanging money into the proper currency used in the Temple. According to historian Alfred Edersheim, a person would have to pay as much as ten times what an animal normally costs. And when their foreign currency was exchanged they were charged a twenty-five percent fee.

-       Personally, I have seen lessons from these situations. The priests have the wrong judgment regarding the offerings of the people. The people at some point have created God in their tithes and offerings. If we come to worship we make ourselves ready even our tithes and offerings.

   3)  USING OUR POSITION NOT AS AN OPPORTUNITY FROM GOD BUT RATHER TO ACCUMULATE MORE MONEY

-       One other possibility of why Jesus was angry is that if we stop to think that the term “A den of thieves” is not where a robbery takes place but where the thieves live. The godlessness that in the Temple is not so much that money was exchanged or that doves were sold; but rather that He was distressed that the priests were using their position to make themselves rich.

-       Personally, we have all the reasons why we go to church but above all things, we must have that purpose of talking to God and worship Him. We must see that our service in the church is an opportunity for God’s given. It’s worth to worship our God.

   4)  THE SUPPOSEDLY HOUSE OF PRAYER IS FULL OF DISTRACTIONS AND YOU CAN’T REALLY PRAY PROPERLY.

-       They used the OUTER COURT for this Mall. There were four courts in the Temple. The COURT OF THE PRIESTS, which was the inner court, where only the Priests could go. The COURT OF THE JEWS, where only natural-born Jews were allowed. It was this court where they handed over their sacrifices to the Priests. The COURT OF WOMEN, where the women were allowed and could go in no further. The COURT OF THE GENTILES was outside, and it was the large open area that had turned into a shopping mall … or a Super-WalMart!

-       The COURT OF THE GENTILES was a place set aside for those who were not born Jewish … but had converted to Judaism. They had seen that Jehovah God was the one and only true God … and they renounced their pagan ways and turned to the God of the Jews.

-       All this buying and selling was being done in what was called the outer court but it had another name, the “court of the Gentiles.” It was the only area in the Temple into which a Gentile believer could go to worship. Can you imagine trying to worship in such a place?

A pastor from sermon.com shared on how Kent Hughes describes the scene as he imagines it, “The noise of this court of the Gentiles was terrific. Merchants shouted from their stalls to the customers, noisy, haggling, pushy pilgrims jostled one another for the position. The incredible din was heightened by the constant bawling of livestock, the aroma of the livestock, accentuated by the enclosure, made it like a county fair and the Stock Exchange all rolled into one.” [ R. Kent Hughes. Mark: Jesus, Servant, and Savior. Vol II ( Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1989) p. 87] In the end it would have to be said that this was a desecration of the Court of the Gentiles and as such was a massive national sin against God and the lost people of the world. So which of these possibilities is what Jesus was saying about making his house into a “den of thieves.”

Jesus never said, “My house shall be a called a place of preaching.” Nor did he say, “My house shall be called a house of music or singing.” Obviously, those things are good and a part of our worship experience but the Lord said, “My house shall be called a place of prayer.” And I don’t think that he meant by this that prayer was to be a perfunctory thing that we do at the beginning and end of a service. If you examine the birth of the church in the book of acts you quickly see the vital connection between the church and prayer. In Acts chapter four when the apostles were unjustly arrested, imprisoned, and threatened, they did not lodge a protest; they did not look for some political leverage instead they prayed. The early church had this instinct; when in trouble, pray. When intimidated, pray. When challenged, pray. When persecuted, pray. Acts 4:31 records, “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

CONCLUSION:

God’s house is to be called a house of prayer. To be a house of prayer, we must be people of prayer and to be people of prayer we must

1. PRAY IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOD’S WILL. We must be desire God’s will in our lives more than our own will. Jesus provides the supreme example in his prayer in Gethsemane where he boldly states, “Not my will, but you will be done.”

2. PRAY CONFIDENTLY. When Christians pray in Jesus’ name we can be confident that our prayers will be answered if they are compatible with his will. There are some things Christians should not ask for and some things that God will not give us. Consequently, we may receive answers we do not want and find things we are not looking for.

3. PRAY WITH A FORGIVING SPIRIT. We have animosity with others it will hinder our prayers.

Have we made the church a den of thieves? Have we made our body, the temple of God, a den of thieves?

BLOCKAGES IN PRAYER

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1 Peter 3:7; Psalm 66:18; Matthew 5:23-24

MEMORY VERSE

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

1 Peter 4:12

Lesson Prepared by: krisha of Solomon Wisdom FB page

Introduction & some lessons are taken from: https://www.truthfulwords.org/articles/prayer.html

SEPTEMBER 30, 2018

INTRODUCTION:

Blockages mean an act or instance of obstructing: the state of being blocked. When your arteries and veins are being blocked and the flow of blood couldn’t pass through, it may cause hospitalization and even death. This needs remedies to avoid the worst situation.

The normal Christian life is a life of regular, daily answer to prayer. In the model prayer, Jesus taught His disciples to pray daily for bread, and expect to get it, and to ask daily for forgiveness, for deliverance from the evil one, and for other needs, and daily to get the answers they sought.

That is the way Jesus Himself lived—in daily unhindered communion with the Father, so that He could say to His Father and our Father, "I knew that thou hearest me always" (John 11:42). And all the teaching of the Lord Jesus about prayer shows that we too have a normal, day-by-day unhindered intercourse with God, asking and receiving, seeking and finding, knocking and having God open to us. He plainly said, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24). When we are told in James 4:2 that "ye have not, because ye ask not," it is proper to infer that God intended asking to be followed by having and that the Christian in the will of God can live day by day in the fullness of the joy of having his prayers answered.

It is perfectly normal for an obedient child to ask for food every mealtime and get it, get all he wants, and eat until he is perfectly satisfied. And using that figure the Saviour said, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matt. 7:11).

A depositor whose account is in good condition normally has every check he draws honored by the bank. Then why cannot a child of God day by day draw on the bank of Heaven, have his prayers answered as a matter of course, as a daily business? He can! When a Christian fails to have his prayer-check cashed, he should regard it as proof that something is wrong that needs attention at once.

When I turn faucets in the bathroom or kitchen, I expect water to pour forth every time. If I turned the tap and water did not come, I would be surprised. Also, I would know that something radically was wrong and I would immediately set out to find out why the water did not run. If I press a light switch and the light does not shine, or if I plug in an electric motor and there is no power, I know that something is wrong, dead wrong, that the connection with the powerhouse is broken; and I set out to find what is wrong and to remedy it. Just so, every Christian ought to be in daily communion with God and ought to live the joyful life of answered prayer. And when anything hinders his prayers the Christian ought immediately to be able to find out what is wrong and get it remedied.

Now the Scriptures above, at the head of this chapter, indicate that there are sins which hinder the prayers of Christians, the sin that turns God's face away so that He will not hear, yea, sins which make it so that God cannot, in righteousness, heed the cry of His own child, whom He loves! We are not left in the dark about these sins. God, in His wonderful love has shown us in the Bible the things that grieve Him, the things that make it so He cannot answer fully our prayers.

Often we pray for daily bread or for other daily necessities, such as money for rent, or for a job, or furniture or clothes, things for which God tells us to pray; and yet no answer comes. Christians often pray for the conversion of loved ones, pray for revivals, pray for help in temptation; all matters about which every Christian certainly has a right to pray, matters about which God has declared in His Word that He is concerned, and which He is anxious to give us; and yet Christians often do not get the answer to their prayers. Why? The answer is that many good prayers cannot be answered by a holy God because of sins in the life and heart of the one who prays.

It may be that you have some of your prayers answered, or think you do. The dear Lord, who "sendeth rain on the just and the unjust" (Matt. 5:45), and is "kind unto the unthankful" (Luke 6:35), may give you many things that do not come because He respects your prayers and answers them, but because of His infinite mercy which is poured out even upon the vilest sinners. The God who still gives breath to the murderer still gives food to the man who never prays, the God who gives all the bounties of nature to a sinning, Christ-rejecting race—that God still loves and cares for His children even when they live in sin and grieve His heart.

So perhaps what God has been doing for you when you prayed was not at all the answer to your prayers but just such mercies as His infinite Love and goodness provide for the most wicked of His creatures.

Often we are painfully conscious that our prayers are not heard. Last night a man said to me as we parted at the close of the service in a great rescue mission, "Preacher before you sleep I wish you would pray for me. My prayers never get higher than my head. God won't hear me." Is that your case? Do you feel, even as you call on God, that He is not pleased, that He will not hear, that there is no likelihood of your receiving the thing for which you ask? Then, oh, how important it is to clear the line between you and God so He will hear you. How important it is to confess and forsake everything that grieves the dear Holy Spirit and shuts up Heaven to your prayers and stops God's ears!

Let us now prayerfully examine the Word of God and search our hearts to see why our prayers are hindered, and why God does not answer to give us what we ask.

LESSON POINTS:

1.      FAMILY DISCORD AND STRIFE (1 Peter 3:7)

“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”

Here God speaks to the wife about her duty to the husband. And in the matter of getting your prayers answered, it does not matter, says the Lord, what kind of husband you have; you must obey him, you must be subject to him. A woman must be subject to her husband, or her prayers are hindered. He may even be an unsaved man, one who will not obey the Word of God, who will not listen to the Bible, will not attend church; and yet a Christian woman is to be subject to such a husband, says the above Scripture, that her prayers be not hindered.

It is even inferred that the wife's prayer for the salvation of her husband may be blocked by her own disobedience. A woman may seek to use her influence with her husband by adorning her body, by the plaiting of her hair, by the wearing of gold, or by her neat and attractive dress; but the Lord here says that these things are not to be the beauty, the adornment, the attraction of a Christian woman. And they will not win her husband; they will not get her prayers answered. Rather, every Christian woman is to have that "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price" (verse 4). It is not wrong to plait the hair, or wear clothes; but the only ornament to win a husband for God is the ornament that will cause God to answer prayers, the ornament of a meek, obedient spirit.

In this matter, Sarah, the wife of Abraham, is held up as an example. She called Abraham lord, as she obeyed him. And God gave Sarah a baby when she was ninety years old, wonderfully answering her prayers. And so, argues the Word of God, Christian women, if their prayers are not to be hindered, must be subject to their husbands.

Many a Christian woman has wept as she told me how earnestly she prayed, how diligently she attended the house of God, how eagerly she did church work, and God seemed not to hear her prayers about an unsaved husband or son or daughter! It is a remarkable fact that in nearly every congregation of Christians are godly women, women who pray, who read them Bibles, who live lives more or less separated from worldliness in general, and yet who cannot get their prayers answered for the conversion of their loved ones. "Why? Why?" the cry comes.

The answer is not found in the public church services. The answer is not found if you watch such good women singing in the choir, teaching in the Sunday School, attending Bible conferences, giving money to the poor. No, no! Our sins and hindered prayer are primarily home-sins. The sins of Christians who hinder their prayers and stop Heaven, and shut the ears of God and grieve Him till He turns His dear face away from His own born-again children are not most often the sins of the tavern, nor of the dance floor, nor of the theater. They are not public sins so much as private sins. They are not the sins in the church so much as in the homes!

You remember Achan and the wedge of gold and the two hundred shekels of silver and the Babylonish garment which he stole—treasures dedicated to God. When the curse of God was pronounced upon all Israel, Achan finally admitted, "They are hidden in the earth amid my tent, and the silver under it" (Josh. 7:21). Achan's sin was not public. Others never dreamed of it. It was home-sin.

And, a dear wife who reads this, if you are guilty of this horrible sin of rebellion against the one whom you took with solemn vows as your husband, to honor, love and obey, then that sin today hinders your prayers! That rebellion is the secret of why God has turned away His face and many of your prayers go unanswered.

Rebellion is the sin of fallen angels. Rebellion is the sin that damns every Christ-rejecting sinner. Rebellion against authority is the heart of all crime, and every criminal in a penitentiary has been guilty first not of murder, nor of theft, but has been guilty first of rebellion against authority. This was the sin of the prodigal boy. Rebellion is the very heart of all sin. Dear Christian wife, God says to you that if you will not be subject to your husband that your prayers are hindered.

I dared not use this Scripture without an honest interpretation of it. The meaning surely is clear. Rebellious wives have their prayers hindered.

And again, He says, "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." Husbands, too, have their prayers hindered if they do not deal with Scripturally with their wives.

Husbands are (1) to dwell with their wives "according to knowledge," that is, based on an understanding of the Scriptures relating to husband and wife. (2) "Giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel," and (3) "as being heirs together of the grace of life." Husbands, then, should take the place accorded them in the Scriptures as heads of the home, high priests unto God, responsible for the home and for the children, like Joshua, who said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," for "the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church" (Eph. 5:23). Husbands are to "rule over" their wives (Gen. 3:16). A husband who does not dwell with his wife according to the knowledge of the plain command of Scripture is likely to have his prayers go unanswered, hindered.

A husband is to remember that he is stronger than his wife. His life should be an example to his wife. The husband should be able to explain the Scriptures to his wife (1 Cor. 14:35). The heavy

responsibilities of earning a living, of disciplining children, winning the family to Christ, of religious instruction in the home and the family—these heaviest burdens ought to fall heaviest on the husband's shoulders. The man who shirks and avoids such responsibilities, leaving them for the weaker partner, sins before God and will have his prayers hindered.

And the husband should feel as one with his wife, one flesh. "No man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherished it" (Eph. 5:29). The husband is to love the wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.

And this general surrender to God's pattern for the place of the husband in the home is essential to the full, happy life of daily answered prayer. The slacker husband will find that his prayers are hindered.

Discord in the home grieves God. And if there be children that rebel against parents, let them know that such rebellion turns away from the face of God and stops His ears and hinders their prayers.

If an old-time revival of Bible Christianity can be had in the homes, how blessed, how far-reaching will be the results! Heartfelt surrender to the will of God and obedience to His plan in the home is more important than any kind of public worship or any duties of citizenship. The hindrances to prayer are often in the relations of wives and husbands and of children and parents in the home.

2.     DEBTS UNPAID, OFFENDED BROTHERS UNRECONCILED (MATTHEW 5: 23-24; MATTHEW 18: 15-17)

If a wife's prayers are hindered by the sin of rebellion against her husband and the husband's prayers are hindered by not taking his Scriptural position in the home and concerning his wife; it is also true that every wrong against others which is not made right stands between the Christian and God to hinder his prayers.

This must be the meaning of our Saviour in Matthew 5:23,24 when He said:

"If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hat ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first, be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

Are there things you need to pay and brothers you need to be reconciled?

(Give examples)

3.     UNFORGIVENESS GRIEVES GOD AND BLOCKS PRAYERS (MARK 11:24-26)

The cornerstone of the Christian faith is Jesus Christ died for sins. Jesus Christ paid for sins. Jesus Christ forgives sins. If you do not understand forgiveness enough to forgive others, then your faith is so small that it is equivalent to unbelief. In that case, don’t expect any prayers to be answered except prayers of confession.

“This is how you should pray: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. For if forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:12-15)

And when you stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven may forgive your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses (Mark 11:25-26)

In Matthew 18:21-35 is the following remarkable the teaching of our Saviour about the need for Christians to forgive others and of how God hates the wicked sin of unforgiveness.

Have we honestly search our hearts? Is there any the root of bitterness, any of the sin of unforgiveness in your heart blocking your prayers?

(share example if time permits)

4.     COVETOUSNESS PUTS ONE UNDER CURSE, BLOCKS PRAYER (COL3:5, 1 TIM.6:10, MALACHI 3:7-9)

Covetousness, too, is a most respectable sin and is found in the "best families." But it is a sin that God hates terribly. It is literally idolatry (Col. 3:5), and the covetous man is an idolater (Eph. 5:5). And God's Word says that "the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10), that is, literally, that the love of money can lead to every kind of sin in the world.

Now the Scripture expressly says that covetousness is a sin that shuts the Heavens against the Christian. In Malachi we read:

"Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation" (Mal. 3:7-9).

Here is a startling statement that men actually rob God. They do it in tithes and in offerings. The tithe is the Lord's; not to give it is to rob God. The offerings also are the Lord's; not to give them also robs God. And the Lord says, "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation."

Because of this sin of covetousness, the land of Israel was under a curse, the whole land. God had withheld the rain. He had not heard their prayers. They were under a curse, and could not get the things they desired from God. And God gave them a challenge in the following verses:

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts."

The simple matter of forsaking covetousness and bringing the tithes and offerings which He had expressly commanded as a token of His ownership of everything would enable God to hear their prayers, to bless their crops, and to pour out such blessings as they would not even be able to receive! The insect pests would be rebuked, the rain would come when needed, and it would be a happy land, God promised, if the people would prove God on this matter of tithes and offerings.

Many, many Christians have their hearts so set on material possessions, on money, on business that God cannot answer their prayers. Are our prayers blocked by this sin? Would God have to say to you, “Ye are cursed with a curse because ye have robbed me”?

5.     SELF-WILL, REBELLION AND DISOBEDIENCE (1 SAMUEL 15:3, 22-23)

Self-will is another horrible sin which means that God cannot have His way in your life and cannot give you His best. I recall the case of Saul, the first king of Israel, who was commanded to go out and utterly destroy the Amalekites. God said to him, "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass"! (1 Sam. 15:3). If that seems to you a hard command, then I remind you that you do not hate sin as God does. This wicked, idolatrous nation had long deserved extermination. God's long-poured-out mercies had been rejected. If any of the nations were left alive, they would be a temptation and snare to Israel. Even their property should be destroyed as an awful reminder to Israel of how God hated sin and was certain to punish it.

But Saul came back leading King Agag, alive, behind his chariot and with a great number of sheep and oxen as a spoil, which he said he intended to offer as sacrifices to God. But, oh, how the wrath of God mounted up against Saul for his disobedience! Hear what God said to him through Samuel.

"And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king" (1 Sam. 15:22,23).

Immediately thereafter Saul pled with Samuel to go worship with him. Saul admitted his sin. He even laid hold upon the skirt of Samuel's mantle, as Samuel turned indignantly away, and rent the mantle. Despite all Saul's professed repentance, God rejected him as king. David was anointed to take his place, and Saul went steadily downhill until his suicidal death in disgrace, with his sons, who but for Saul's self-will might have reigned after him.

How moving is the story of how Saul tried to pray, but because of his self-will, his disobedience, God would not hear! God said to him, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." God does not want our money nor our work nor our promise one half as much as He wants our hearts surrendered to the will of God, and an obedient surrendered spirit. The Lord said through Samuel, "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." Rebellion, stubbornness, self-will in dealing with God is certain to block the answer to our prayers and shut up Heaven against us!

Once we know the will of God on any subject, it is disobedience and rebellion to continue to pray for God’s will on that subject. This will hinder our prayers. We need to obey God and please him for our prayers to be answered.

What the wicked fears will come upon him, But the desire of the righteous will be granted. (Proverbs 10:24)

6.     A DISINCLINATION OR INDIFFERENCE TOWARDS THE BIBLE (PRO.28:9, JOSHUA 1:8)

Proverbs 28:9 is a most searching Scripture. There God says, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination."

If your prayer is an abomination to God, then any happy fellowship, and oneness of purpose, any communion between you and God is hindered.

Note that the Scripture does not refer primarily to infidels. One does not need to say that the Bible is false, that Christ was not born of a virgin, that He did not rise from the dead, that there is no real Heaven or a literal Hell to come within the scope of this great hindrance to prayer. No, if only your heart is turned away from the Bible if you have a disinclination to read it, if it is not interesting to you if you do not meditate on it prayerfully, joyfully, then your prayer is an abomination, says God's Word.

Throughout the Bible, God stresses the fact that there is a close connection between the Word of God and spiritual prosperity. For example, Psalm 1:1-3 tells us of the blessed man who shuns evil companions,

"His delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law doth he meditates day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Day-by-day blessing from God, spiritual prosperity, Christian fruit-bearing all depend upon delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating on it day and night. Knowing the Bible is not enough; reading the Bible is not enough; blessing depends on delighting in it and meditating on it.

7.     UNCONFESSED SINS (PSALM 66:18)

The Apostle John spent most of his life encouraging saints to have a relationship with God. In 1 John 1, he reminds us that our relationship with each other depends on our relationship with God. These relationships depend on the kind of lives we’re living in. If we’re living in unconfessed sin, we cannot be living in close intimate relationship with God.

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: (Psalm 66:18 KJV)

Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore. (Isaiah 59:2)

Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hidden his face from you, that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2)

8.     UNBELIEF AND DOUBT (HEB. 11:6; MARK 11:24)

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

If any of you needs the wisdom to know what you should do, you should ask God, and he will give it to you. God is generous to everyone and doesn’t find fault with them. When you ask for something, don’t have any doubts. A person who has doubts is like a wave that is blown by the wind and tossed by the sea. A person who has doubts shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord. A person who has doubts is thinking about two different things at the same time and can’t make up his mind about anything. (James 1:5-8)

CONCLUSION:

Are your prayers hindered? Well, thank God, there is a remedy. The hindrances can be torn down. Even this very day you may feel again the smile of God's face and hear the whisper of His Spirit and know that there is nothing between you and God.

In John 1:9 we are given this blessed promise, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Confession—that is the remedy for your sin.

I think that an honest confession of sin would involve the following matters:

First, an honest realization in the heart of one's failure and sin. Confession cannot be simply a matter of the lips. For the mouth to say, "I have sinned," when the heart still says, "But it was not very bad, and it was not altogether my fault," it is not a true confession of sin. Another way to say this is that the Christian must honestly judge his sin in the light of God's Word and the revelation of the Holy Spirit of how God feels toward the sin.

Second, honest confession would involve a penitent heart and sincere repentance (2 Cor. 7:10).

Third, a confession, in the sense that is meant in I John 1:9, would involve a simple faith that God is willing to forgive and cleanse us as He has promised.

WHERE WERE YOU?

This picture was taken from Google

August 12, 2018

BIBLE PASSAGE: JOB 38: 1-41

MEMORY VERSE: 1 Peter 4:12 (KJV) 12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: Explanations and some words were taken from: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/job-the-revelation-of-god-in-suffering

INTRODUCTION:

When we are asked if we’ll continue serving the Lord despite struggles, it’s easy for us to respond “YES, AMEN” but it’s easy saying it rather than doing-especially if we weren’t in that situation. How can you go on or press on if you think your sufferings are greater than you could imagine?

Have we experienced losing our love ones not just one but many? Have we experienced losing our jobs and nothing to sustain? Have we experienced losing our other sources of income like businesses? Have we experienced losing a good relationship with our spouse or any family members? Have we experienced losing our strength and now in pain because of sickness?

If we have this kind of situation is it considered okay that we utter questions to God like “Why Lord?”?  Is it normal for us to be disheartened and lose hope in a situation like this? Let’s see in our lesson for today titled, “WHERE WERE YOU?”

Our lesson is taken from Job chapters 38 -42. We know what happened to Job. Job had been lying in unrelieved misery for months with open sores all over his body. During this time, he bore the grief of seven dead sons and three dead daughters. All his wealth had vanished in one afternoon. He had become repulsive to his wife, loathsome to his brothers, and even little children despised him as he lay on the ash heap outside of town.

At first, Job bore these calamities with amazing submission: "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord . . . Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil?"

But as the misery drug out over the months, Job wavered in his confidence that God was for him. In defending himself against the bad theology of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, he said things about God that was not true. He began to insist on his own righteousness at the expense of God's justice.

During our sufferings, sometimes we say, “What have I done wrong? I have served God all of my life” and you started questioning God’s ways. This is what happened to Job; pride grew in his heart.

How can we press on if we are bearing great burdens and trials? In our lessons, let’s consider what were the questions asked to Job by the Lord when he was in pain.

LESSON OUTLINE

       1.     WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH? (JOB 38:4)

In verse 3 of chapter 38 God said, “Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me”

In 38:4–7 God focuses on the earth: "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding." You weren't there, Job, and you don't know how I did it.

In 38:8–11 God focuses on the sea: "Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb?" It was I, Job, I set its limits, not you. You weren't there, and you don't know how I did it.

In 38:12–15 the Lord focuses on the dawn: "Has thou commanded the morning since thy days and caused the dayspring to know his place?" You never did it. You can't do it. You don't know how to do it. I have always done it. I always will.

In 38:16–18 God focuses on the depth and breadth of the sea and land. Job, you have never even been to the bottom of the ocean or around the world. And you think you know enough to argue with God.

I remember my first time flying in an airplane, I was so amazed by the beauty above the clouds and our recent flight, our third time flying internationally, I was still amazed and thankful to God. I always have reflections every time I see the creation above. You see yourself very little compare to the hands of the Lord upon His creation. What I have seen was just a glimpse of God’s knowledge and how about if you’ll see the whole world. How all things go into place. All you could say there’s SOMEONE who controls everything. KNOWING GOD IS IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING GIVES YOU THE COURAGE TO PRESS ON!

We can see in this lesson that if your situations make you doubt God’s ways and control and these hinder you from the press on just look at God's knowledge of everything.

2.    WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I CREATED THE DWELLING PLACES OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS? (JOB 38:19)

Then in the last half of chapter 38 God takes his focus off the world below and turns it to the world above.

First, in verses 19–21 he queries Job about the origin of light and dark: "Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof," You don't know where it is or how to get there. But I do, Job. I made the light.

Then, in verses 22–30 (paraphrased) God asks him about snow and hail and rain and frost: Do you know anything about how to store up hail for the day of battle? Would you know how to cut a channel in the sky to make it rain on a land where no man is?

Or lift your eyes even higher, Job, (verses 31–33) and look at the constellations: Pleiades, Orion, Mazzaroth, the Bear! "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?"

If not, come back down then and we will just talk about the rain again (verses 34–38). (paraphrased) Can you make it rain? Do you know how to whistle for the lightning so it comes and says, "Here we are!"? Can you count the clouds with your wisdom? Or do my earthly pastimes stretch your mind a bit too far?

So, whether we focus on the earth or the sea or the dawn or the snow or hail or constellations or rain, the upshot is that Job is ignorant and impotent. He doesn't know where they came from. He doesn't know how to make them work. He is surrounded, above and below, by mysteries. And so are we, because the scientific advancements of the last two hundred years are like sand-pails of saltwater hauled from the ocean of God's wisdom and dumped in a hole on the beach while the tide is rising. God is not impressed. And we should be overwhelmed with our ignorance, not impressed with science.

Last 2016, our 2^nd trip internationally, I was sitting on a porch in my sister’s house then I heard something falling, it sounded like small stones or pebbles. I was puzzled and called my sister and she shouted “hail,” she hurriedly opened her car and parked in the garage.  Then I said to myself “oh I see, that’s hail.” Our recent trip, I was checking my mother’s garden and I noticed something on the grass; I asked my sister and she said those were frost. After a few days, my mother called us to see the snow. Those were just simple experiences, but those are learning. Another thing is their time changes every season. I think one of the reasons why they’re workaholic is there sunset and sunrise. I live in the Philippines where the sun sets early (5:00 -6:00pm) but there, it sets 9:00 – 9:30 pm in spring and summer. That’s why they can have more jobs and they can do the mowing after work because their eyes see that’s still daytime and have plenty of time to work.

Those simple experiences make me think of God’s knowledge.  I couldn’t imagine and contain in my mind the knowledge of God on how he controls the different seasons and weather in different countries. I remember the verse in Psalm 139:6 “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” YOUR REALIZATION ABOUT GOD’S KNOWLEDGE GIVES YOU THE HEART TO TRUST HIM AND PRESS ON!!!

       3.     WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I PROVIDE SHELTER AND FOOD FOR ANIMALS? (JOB 38:39)

Then come the queries about the world of animals.

In 38:39–41 God asks who Job thinks provides lions and birds with their food? "Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God and wander about for lack of food?" I do, Job—all over the world. Can you do that?

Or consider the birth of the young (39:1–4). "Do you know when the mountain goats bring forth? Do you observe the calving of the hinds?" Think of it, Job! I am on top of all these things. Every wild deer in northern Minnesota that gives birth—I am there. Every mountain goat in Switzerland and Nepal—when they bring forth, I am there; I know their months. I care for the young.

Think of it, Job! When a man sees a work of God, like your suffering, can he see its connection to ten thousand other realities in the world like I can? If not, how will he dare to judge its wisdom!

Consider the wild ass (39:5–8). "Who has let the wild ass go free?" Do you think there are wild and unpredictable creatures in the world, Job? Guess what? I set them loose. I give them a wilderness for running and the mountain for pasture. They are the work of my hands. Things are quite in order! And you have nothing to do with it.

And so, it goes. The wild ox (39:9–12): you don't know how to bind him or use him. He is mine.

The unwise ostrich (39:13–18): she walks away from her eggs; she treats her young cruelly. Who made her forget wisdom? I did, Job. Even the foolish things are by design. Ostriches and Minnesota mosquitoes and black flies. I govern them all by perfect design.

Of course, not all animals are foolish and useless. Take the war horse (39:19–25), for example. "Do you give him his might? Do you clothe his neck with strength?" You don't know how to do it, Job. I am the only one who does.

Finally, Job, (39:26–30) "Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?"

No! Whether we consider the prey of lions, the birth of mountain goats, the freedom of the wild ass, the insubordination of the wild ox, the stupidity of the ostrich, the might of the warhorse, or the flight of the hawk and eagle, the upshot is the same: Job is ignorant and impotent. He did not make them. He does not know how to control them. He cannot see what they are doing. And yet this ignorant Job presumed to question the ways of God!

In my sister’s place there are animals which I can only see in pictures; there are deer, different turtles, birds, raccoons, moles, geese, squirrel, skunk, buzzard and many more. One time, we saw a dead deer along the side of the road and my sister informed us that most of the time the deer is hit by the car that’s why there are warning signs posted. I don’t usually care about deer or any animals but there’s one time our brother-in-law informed us that there was a deed fawn (young deer) in our front yard. Of course, we need to get the fawn out of there. When I saw the fawn, I felt pity for that animal; I saw many buzzards eating the fawn. We tried to sweep away the buzzards and got the fawn out of the way.  One thing that makes me realize is the buzzards, they eat dead animals. There are animals need to die for them to be fed.

I know some of us here experienced trials and problems and at first, we didn’t know the reasons why we suffered those but along the way of our journey, God allows you to see the good out of bad things. Like the animals, God can see the details in their lives. He can see everything happens in each of us therefore if something happens to you, don’t think God allows it to just hurt you; this is to make you better. Also, don’t be surprised if you face trials like what mentioned in our memory verse.

 1 Peter 4:12-13 (KJV)

¹² Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

¹³ But rejoice, since ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

KNOWING THAT YOU ARE PARTAKERS OF CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS MAKES YOU TO PRESS ON!

CONCLUSION:

Job 42:1-6 King James Version (KJV)

42 Then Job answered the Lord, and said,

² I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.

³ Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

⁴ Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

⁵ I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

6       Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.

,We can see in verses 1-2 on how Job submits to God's absolute sovereignty. In verses 3-4 He submits to God's infinitely greater wisdom and knowledge: he has spoken about things of which he is very ignorant. In verse 4-6, he again quotes God and made his own response. In verse 5, the words “but now mine eye sees” caught my attention; he now saw what God wanted him to see during trials. Therefore, it’s important to have spiritual discernment. And the most important, in verse 6, Job repented.