When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey, He came as the King of kings for the first time, representing Father God’s Kingdom. He had a particular focus, and that was to cleanse the temple and restore it as a House of Prayer for all Nations. We read about this critical time in history in Matthew 21:5-22.

 5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion [inhabitants of Jerusalem], Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly and riding on a donkey, and a colt, the foal of a donkey [a beast of burden].”

12 “And Jesus went into the temple (whole temple enclosure) and drove out all who bought and sold in the sacred place, and He turned over the four-footed tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who sold doves. 13 He said to them, The Scripture says, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers.”

A remarkable thing happened after He dealt with the contamination of the Temple written in verse 14:  “And the blind and the lame came to Him in the porches and courts of the temple, and He cured them.”

The blind and the lame came to Him for healing at the very same Temple that was declared a house of prayer again.  We see an interesting link between the Temple as a house of prayer and miracles in this scripture. We understand how important it was for Jesus that His House would be a House of Prayer for all Nations that He drove out those who made the Temple a den of robbers. Nothing changed it is still His heart for us His Church to be a House of Prayer for all Nations and therefore it should be our highest priority too.

I believe that we should be actively involved in activating prayer, restoring the House of God as a House of prayer for all nations doing what Jesus commissioned and commanded us to do in faith in John 20:19-23;  Mark 16:15-20 and Matthew 28:19-20. For this very reason, Ariella Ministries is actively involved in teaching, training and activating prayer on different levels in churches, communities, South Africa and other nations where God is sending us.

Jesus repeatedly said, “have faith” or “will the Son of man fin faith on earth when He returns”, it is therefore also essential to cultivate and stir up your holy faith in God. Matthew 21:21-22 and Luke 18:1-8.  

We need to understand that Jesus, or the last Adam, had to clean out and restore the purpose of the physical Tempel before His crucifixion to fulfil the prophetic word in Isaiah 56:7 ^“All these I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” As well as Jeremiah 7:11 ^“Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]? Behold, I Myself have seen it, says the Lord.”

We see in 1 Corinthians 3:16  that after salvation, we become His temple and dwelling place: “ The word says in “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” We should cultivate a lifestyle of prayer and faith in God to glorify Him and be carriers of His presence doing what Jesus did on earth, healing the sick, casting out evil spirits and raising the ‘living dead’ by preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and many more!

Prayer is an obligation and instruction from heaven.  Without prayer, the church is a secular institution that works for money, and therefore lost her eternal purpose to impact and bring the Kingdom of the earth!

Lastly, James 5:15 and 16 says: “ And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.   Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”