My house will be called a house of prayer

Firstly, what is a temple ? The Oxford dictionary defines it as "a building devoted to the worship of a god or gods." But you see, I have a BIG problem with the last part of that definition (A god or gods) so we'll keep Oxford aside and turn to the book we can blindly trust, the Bible. If you look at the small dictionary provided at the end of the bible, it says that there are two meaning of the word:

1. The Old Testament meaning: A building where people worship God. In Exodus 25-27, God instructs Moses to build for Him a temple with the help of the Israelite people. King Solomon builds one too (1 Kings 6). It is a place where God communes with the people and shows that He is with them by having His presence in the temple.
2. The New Testament meaning: In the NT the temple is no longer a structure of bricks and mortar but something much more valuable. God's own people become a temple where His spirit comes and lives.If we read Matthew 21:12-13, we see Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves and saying to them “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” Noticed the (ctrl+B) there ? I put it there because that is a very important line which if kept in mind, could avoid so many disasters.

So, God wants His house to be a house of prayer and we are supposed to be the temple of the Holy Spirit (God's house in short). That brings us to an interesting question; how do we equate ourselves to 'a house of prayer' ? Firstly, a church or prayer room has to have the right atmosphere. We like clean places to pray don't we ? Won't it be the same for the Holy Ghost ? It is essential that we keep ourselves clean(externally and internally). Externally does not only mean have a nice shower and wear a good perfume. It also deals with things like piercings, tattoos, body modifications, etc. God personally designed us in a particularly unique way and nobody(including us) has a right to alter the way we look. Our health is also a major issue with regards to this matter. Internally, refers to your spiritual cleanliness. Secondly, if our bodies are a house of prayer, there is no room for any forms of evil in it.

Modernization, with it's manifold benefits has also brought in twice the amount of evil into our lives. One of them which directly affects our body is sexual immorality. We are warned and instructed against this filth in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. St. Paul writes in a strict tone how the body is meant for God and not our sexual desires. God through Paul also warns us about our associations with the wrong people in this world (verse 16). We cannot take this issue lightly and the reason is given to us in verse 19-20.

I'm sure I do not have to tell anyone that sinning is bad. But nevertheless, let's have a look. The first sin ? Adam and Eve disobey God. What happened to them ? Oh boy ! there is a whole list of things (Genesis 3:14-24) but to sum it all up, they were cursed. The people of Israel (God's own people) sinned and found themselves in the snares of the enemy. We will probably find this trend in our own lives too.

All this seems pretty nasty doesn't it ? Death, curses, darkness, etc. How do we avoid this ? How do we keep ourselves like the temple of the Holy Spirit ? How do we make it a bit more comfy for God ? Simple ! Turn away from sin and towards God. Repent, ask for forgiveness and seek God's grace to stay away from evil (trust me you'll need it). Next, pray. Read the Bible, talk to God, pour out your heart to Him. He will listen. Once you start doing this, you will see the change in you. Your joy and blessings will know no bounds. Also, try and follow the ten commandments and you will be on a very righteous path automatically.

To sum it all up, if we as humans want a nice clean, tidy, peaceful and cozy place to live in, does the creator and our loving father deserve anything less ?