Mark 11:15-18 [15] Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; [16] and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. [17] And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS’? But you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” [18] The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
Those responsible for the activities of the temple had to make a decisive choice to interrupt the rhythm of prayer in the temple so that the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves for sacrifice could be set up. That decision had to be made first before the thieves could set up their practice in the temple. In other words, the temple had to stop being a house of prayer for it to become a den of thieves. John 10:10 says that the enemy is a thief who has come to kill, steal, and destroy. We, as believers, are now the temple of God, called to be a house of prayer. We were created for fellowship with God, and nowhere is that fellowship more cultivated and manifested than in our time of intimate prayer. In that personal time of encounter which happens before the throne, we are filled again and again with His presence. As we behold His beauty, we are filled with His glory, and it is His glory filling us that is our great vanguard against the invasion of darkness in our lives. Whenever we choose not to be a house of prayer personally, we make ourselves vulnerable to becoming a den of thieves, where the enemy sets up shop to kill, steal, and destroy.
Luke 11:24-26 [24] “When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ [25] And when it comes, it finds it empty. [26] Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” …
Those verses above from Luke 11 tell us an empty spiritual house is a vulnerable one. No wonder the chief priests and scribes were frightened and wanted to destroy Jesus when they heard He wanted the temple to be restored to a house of prayer. The enemy will always attack you when you try to establish a consistent life of prayer because he is terrified at the thought of any believer in prayer before the throne. Don’t give in to Satan’s attack, and be distracted from your time in the secret place before God’s presence. Remember that the reason it seems so difficult to establish a rhythm of prayer is that the enemy is terrified of the threat you will become as you carry God’s presence out of the secret place into the public square, manifesting the Kingdom of Heaven. The disciples never asked Jesus to teach them to preach. They asked Him to teach them to pray.