¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:17-22

I know I’m not the only one finding comfort and laughter in memes right now. One of my favorites features the fabulous Jim Halpert, with a look of disbelief. See below:

Pretty crazy, huh?

In this time of isolation, I am finding myself meditating more and more on this reality: The early church was isolated, too. Persecution and prison often prevented Pastor Paul from gathering in person with his people. What did they do?

They prayed.

Over and over again, we read Paul begin his letters with “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy…” 

In this time of isolation, are you praying for your people? Do you truly believe that prayer works?

If you aren’t, it’s okay. But I would encourage you to begin praying regularly for the body of Christ.

I had an awesome dream this past week involving me and my good friend and fellow prayer warrior Megan. In the dream, she and I stood outside of a hospital. We were looking at a massive football field to the left of the building. This football field was filled with thousands and thousands of people lined up in single file lines.  Each line had a leader holding a poster board that listed that line’s assignment.

As I woke up and prayed, I believe the lines were representative of individual churches praying for the world and for one another. Megan and I were both simultaneously participating in the massive prayer network, being covered by it, and being able to see it from the outside. The Lord encouraged me – our prayers are working!

In these days, God is building the spiritual structure of His bride. This back on the scripture in Ephesians: “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” 

How can we be “built together” when we are all apart?

The dwelling place is a spiritual one. 

One of my key scriptures during this time has been Psalm 90:1 “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.”

We dwell in Him. And when we all choose to dwell in Him through prayer, the church is built

Today, I ask: where do you dwell?