Paul wrote to the church of Corinth and told them, "Do you not discern and understand that you (the whole church at Corinth) are God's temple (His sanctuary) and that God's Spirit has his permanent dwelling in you  - to be at home in you (collectively as a church and also individually)?" (1 Cor. 3:16 - Amplified Bible).  This is one of the greatest mysteries to redemption, that God would move out of an earthly temple and make the church his dwelling place.  What an honor to become the house of God!

     One definition for the word "house" is that it is a receptacle or repository that becomes the residence for someone to live in or for something to be stored in.  We often use the word house when referring to a warehouse or storehouse.  The fact that we are called to be "the house of God" means our lives are to house his presence.  Since Jesus called the house of God a house of prayer that pretty well sums up our primary cause and purpose.  In other words, the church is to be identified first and foremost with prayer.  Everything we do should stem from prayer.  Our most important meeting is to pray.  Our most effective and productive cause is prayer, and it is undoubtedly the most sacred directive given to us as the people of God.

      What purpose does it serve to have a vision for any ministry if what lies behind that vision isn't prayer? What mission could we possibly think we are called to accomplish, if our first mission isn't to pray?  Everything we do must first be bathed with prayer if it is going to serve any purpose at all! Let me put it plainly: How can we expect to have God's hand on anything we do if we don't first hand over everything to him in prayer?

     As the house of God, we become the container of all that God is and what he desires to do in the earth.  God's life may exist in everything, everywhere because of his omnipresence, but his divine person only dwells within us! We are his divine receptacle. And it is for this cause that the most significant part of our duty in serving his purpose is that we become a house of prayer.  Through this profound acknowledgment, prayer becomes the vital link that enables God to voice his will into our hearts so that we can then steward his cause in the earth.

     One of the most amazing truths concerning stewardship is that it comes from the Greek word OIKONOMOS, which means a house with an established rule. While it is certain that our lives must be lived out under the rule of God, it is equally true that the call to stewardship means that we must begin with the dispensary of that rule through prayer, so that the will of God can be accomplished on earth. This is exactly what Jesus stated in his model prayer, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10).  It is only as we pray that we can make a significant change in implementing God's purposes.

     When God prepared us to become his habitation he also equipped us with all that was necessary for his business to be carried out in us and through us.  You might say that the church is God's resident office where the business of heaven is transacted.  The entire concept of our mission must be viewed as God himself sitting behind his kingdom desk, with each and every one of us called to work alongside him as kingdom secretaries receiving the commands of the king so that we can help shape, as part of our foremost duty, kingdom business for kingdom purposes! *