God said through His prophet Isaiah that His people would be a “house of prayer for the nations” (Isa. 56:7b). Jesus reiterated this when he cleansed the temple (Luke 19:46). – God’s people worship but we are not a house of worship; we are a house of prayer. God’s people care for the poor but we are not a house of public assistance; we are a house of prayer. God’s people establish, build and provide for schools, colleges and universities; we are all the time teaching. But we are not a house of education; we are a house of prayer. God’s people have established more hospitals than all governments and other organizations combined but we are not a house of healing; we are a house of prayer. We send relief and go offer relief in the face of every kind of natural and man-made disaster all over the globe. We provide housing for the homeless. We visit and minister to those in prison. We provide orphanages. We care for widows. And on and on; but we are first of all a house of prayer.
Without prayer every one of the many good things we do would ultimately be in vain. Those who labor without the Lord labor in vain (Ps. 127:1). We labor with the Lord by looking to Him in prayer. We receive direction from God in prayer. We know the heart of God in any matter by seeking Him in prayer. We find strength and power for all tasks in prayer. – Joshua knew God had pronounced judgment on the people of Canaan and it was his job to carry that judgment out. He started out ok with Jericho. He listened to God and followed God’s instructions. In the case of the Gibeonites however, Joshua and the Israelites failed to inquire of the Lord, and that came back to “haunt” them years later.
Joshua’s battles were a shadow of the spiritual warfare we fight today. Our commission is to breakdown the gates of hell (Mt. 16:18). That is, to carry on the mission of Jesus and destroy the Devil’s work (I Jn. 3:8). Healing, providing housing for the homeless, educating the ignorant, job training, disaster relief and etc. are all ways we destroy the Devil’s work. However, if we do any of these things without the Lord we ultimately gain no ground. – There should be no poor among us (Dt. 15:4) and there would not be if we were always careful to inquire of the Lord. But when we do not inquire of the Lord it does not matter how much time, energy and money we poor into alleviating poverty; we will always have poverty. And so it goes.
Prayer is the most important thing the Church does. Yet it is the one thing the Church is the least practiced at. Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith, was a man of prayer. When one of Jesus disciples came to him and asked for instruction in prayer, Jesus was very willing to provide that instruction (Lk. 11). Prayer is our primary weapon and it is the most powerful weapon on earth to turn wrong to right. – And yet, in a listing of almost 200 private foundations that have been established in the U. S. of America to support Christian ministries, not one indicates having given any thought to prayer ministry.
This is written with the hope and prayer that you, the reader, will understand how vitally important it is to equip God’s people to be an effective house of prayer for the nations. The price tag on the ministry The Better Place is called to offer is around 40 to 50 million and it could be more as we provide for more endowed staff. – In the last gubernatorial election in New York State, just one losing candidate spent over 70 million dollars of his personal money in his losing effort. What a waste! But all money invested to equip people to pray more effectively will be multiplied back as transformed lives, transformed cities, regions, states and nations.
The links on this page to the various MONEY MATTERS items should give you a good idea of where our financial ship is at the present and where we have yet to go. Please pray regarding The Better Place finances and please give to this ministry as God directs you. Thank you!