As Jesus cleansed the temple, He said, "My house will be called a house of prayer" (MT 21:13). A building of corporate worship is a place of prayer, where we individually realize, and collectively acknowledge, our utter dependence on God.
The Psalms, a vital part of temple worship, were often prayers.
Many of the songs we sing are prayers. In our singing, our public praying, and preaching, we must have a prayerful spirit, an attitude of totally leaning on God. In church we come to rivet our focus on Him.
This does not mean our church building is sacrosanct. I hesitate to call our main meeting room a sanctuary or a worship center. I don't make a big deal of this personal conviction, but I prefer to call it an auditorium. It is filled with God when it is filled with God's people who are filled with God.
The auditorium has importance in that it represents what is important to us. When we neglect God's public house through non-attendance, a lack of prayerfulness, or disrespect, we show the neglect we harbor for God.
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