Cleaning House: A Recommitment to Prayer - Illinois Family Institute

By now, most of us have put away our Christmas lights and decorations. However, the hope and truth of the Christmas story still remains. Luke 2:7 says “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” This one verse tells us that Jesus was born in a manger, because there was no room at the local motel.

The coming of the promised Messiah had been anticipated for thousands of years, yet when the Son of God came into the world, there was no room for Him. Every day, the Lord Jesus knocks at the door of our heart. The question I have for you today is: Do you have room for Jesus? Do you make room in the “inn” of your life for the Lord?

We already know there is resistance to the Lord in the world today. We see this in the following:

The ACLU threatens to sue cities over nativities scenes and crosses
Schools are banning prayers at sports games
There’s been talk of changing the “In God we trust” motto for several decades
There are even Churches that are edging Jesus out

I want to know, do YOU have room for the Lord in your daily activities? Do you make Him a priority? Do you give Him the time He deserves?

I hear what you’re saying, “Brother, I’m busy. I work two jobs to make ends meet. I’m also trying to go back to school and the never-ending task list is growing every hour.” I get that. But, if we’re not careful, we can make an idol of our busyness. An idol is anything that knocks God off the throne of our hearts.

The late-great Adrian Rogers said, “If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” Even the busyness of ministry work can take us away from our alone time with the Lord. It can sometimes “replace” our relationship with Him, since it’s “working unto the Lord”. In all honesty, “working unto the Lord” should never replace “spending time with the Lord”.

In our home, we have a cordless phone. Yes, we’re one of the few remaining houses that have a landline. When the cordless phone is off the hook for too long, it no longer works. The signal has lost its power. The phone must be rested back onto the base in order for it to work again. One of the reasons why we’re losing strength is, we’ve been disconnected too long. We need to get back to the base for power.

Back into our prayer closets
Back into His presence
Back into His Word
Back into Church
Back into fellowship with other believers

We need to get back to the base for power so that we can be connected again. If there is no room for Jesus in the “Inn” of your life, then you need to clean house. Do whatever it takes to make Him the center of your everything.

Dr. Joey Krol is the Senior Pastor of Galilee Baptist Church in Decatur, IL. He is also the author of “Common Misunderstandings about God, Jesus and the Bible.” (Available on Amazon) He lives with his wife, Aubrey, and their two kids, Timothy and Hannah.