Oratory Chapel

# 47 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 1Ti 2:1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, (1 Tim 2:1) Prayer. It is of primary importance in the church. Jesus said that His house shall be called a house of prayer. The word “prayer” means worship. Strong's Concordance calls prayer, “oratory chapel.” So when two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus, he promises to be in their midst, and let the “oratory chapel” the conversation with God begin! BUT, let those conversations be carried out in an orderly fashion! Paul speaking to the Corinthians and addressing their rather disorderly fashion of worship said, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” (1 Cor 14:40) I have been privileged to participate in many different worship services in denominational, non-denominational, and even “house church” settings, and my experience has been that each brand of Christianity has it's own liturgy. By that I mean their own styles of worshiping. Most have a set style that follows along with a worship bulletin that has been printed, or an order of worship prescribed in the hymnal. These worship styles have developed over the years and churches get quite comfortable with them. Even the churches of Paul's and Timothy's days were probably very comfortable with their routines of worship. (But I suspect that they would be a little shocked at the lack of spontaneity in our services today.) All worship formats run the risk of becoming flesh driven rather than Spirit driven. Pride (which is the calling card of our flesh) is always waiting to jump into the fray, and pretty soon, we are donning judges robes and declaring our style superior to others. Worship wars break out and the Body of Christ becomes divided. This is not a good thing! Remember the church is to be a house of prayer, a house of worship, an oratory chapel where the worthiness of God is extolled rather than the worthiness of men. Worship is a lot more about heart than it is about style.