Every home a house of worship and prayer

Christians who love Jesus and are serious about God’s plans can turn every home into a house of worship, praise, and prayer.  The Church has never been a building.  The Church is those who are ‘called out’ by God – ekklesia.  The Church has never been an organization or a building.  So the church is now in session, whether church buildings are empty or full.

We have to remember the mystery often expressed as “first the supernatural, then the natural.”  We win the battle in the heavenlies first and then the answer will manifest.  We want our church buildings re-opened.  But when we worship like nothing can stop our relationship with God, then every wall will fall and every mountain move.

This is unavoidably necessary:  Imagine in a million Christian homes times of worship, repentance, praise, and prayer rising up to heaven from all over this nation.  Imagine songs of praise and worship rising up from millions of Christian homes across the country.  Even if the main church buildings are closed, the nation can still be covered with praise to God. 

But who has the time?  We were busy.  You were running around.  You had to get the children ready for school.  We had to rush to and fro for work.  Now – suddenly – you have time.  You are not going to work, most of us.  And your children are not going to school.  There are things to do, but not all the day as before.

What will you do with the time?   Maybe for years you have told God on the fly with a coffee mug and pop tart for breakfast in hand on the way to the car that you don’t have time to worship, to pray, read your Bible.  God will have to understand.

If you had the time, would you sit and sing worship songs to God?  (Worshipping is far more important than most people realize.)   If you had the time, would you pray?  If you had the time would you give thanks to God?   

If the time presented itself, would you just talk with God like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden?  Would you tell God which is your favorite type of tree?  Tell Him which part of the night sky do you like the most?  Your favorite kind of bird?  Ask God His favorite color?  Would you talk to God about why in the world did He create bugs?  Would you just sit in God’s presence and let His Holy Spirit wash over you and dwell miraculously with you?

So now God has you at home, in most cases, with relatively little do.  Sure, you may have to keep your children from killing each other, and maybe home school them.  But you have the time now.  So God has disrupted your routine.  How will you respond?  

God commanded that farmers (most of Israel were) rotate their fields and work each parcel of land only six years, and let it lay fallow the seventh year.  The Israelites disobeyed.  (Don’t hate, we all are disobedient, too.)  Then for Israel’s many sins, God allowed conquering armies to over-run Israel, tear down its cities, and carry away most of its inhabitants as slaves.

The scripture explicitly tells us that God forced the land to remain fallow – unused – to enjoy its sabbath rest to make up for all the years that out of disobedience the Israelites did not leave land unused in rest.

So now it seems we have no choice but to stop, slow down, and have “quiet times” with God or very loud worship times with God.  Will we take the opportunity or miss it entirely?

If all other doors are closed, we should view the one door still open a little differently.  In this bizarre, oppressive, checkmate-like situation that abruptly confronted us we cannot gather in church buildings to worship and pray together.  So what can we do?  We can certainly worship and pray right where we are.  Therefore, we should do what we still can, and with gusto.

When we sing praises as a family, God’s presence enters into that place.  Psalm 22:3 tells us that God is “enthroned in the praises of Israel.”  It is often explained as “God inhabits the praises of His people.”  Our experiences certainly confirm that God tangibly shows up and is powerfully, physically, sensibly present among us when we consciously sing to God with love and admiration not merely about God with disinterest.  Soak in praise and worship songs, by choosing those that really stir your heart and speak to your soul.

Somehow we under-value the perceptible presence of God.  I went through a period struggling with whether God actually does miracles that transcend the laws of physics.  Then I recognized that every time we experience God’s physical presence it is a supernatural miracle.  Never again can you doubt God’s existence or His ability to over-rule the laws of Nature. 

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  James 4:8”  It’s not just a nice idea.  It’s the law.