“…Without prayer we probably will not risk great things for God.” -Don FieldsWhen we look throughout the Bible we can see a consistent theme when there are things to do: man needs motivation. Various men have taken the opportunity to motivate their brothers and in each case we see great love emerge. Love can do many things. This article will address three things that love has done and can do. Love can build a temple, love can build a wall, and love can spread the Gospel. To understand the first two points well we must look at the events that occurred which made the reconstruction of the temple and the wall necessary. In the year 586 BC the Babylonians conquered Judah. Jerusalem was reduced to ruins. The Jews were taken into captivity. A promised few were allowed to remain and live in these ruins. This remnant, over the next several decades, began intermarrying with non-Jews (including some Assyrians who had fled the destruction of their own nation). This racial integration gave rise to the group known as the Samaritans. During the time of captivity there was still spiritual hope and divine guidance from prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 BC. A series of poor “quality” leaders followed. In 549 BC Cyrus (who had become king of the Persians a decade earlier) conquered the king of the Medes and unified the Medes and Persians. In 539 BC Cyrus defeated the city of Babylon. History recounts Cyrus as a benevolent ruler who allowed captured peoples (such as the Jews) to return to their native lands, restore their places of worship, and re-establish their rituals. In 538 BC, Cyrus published a declaration allowing the Jews to return to their homeland (2 ...... middle of paper ...... we can build a temple Love can build a wall Love can spread the GospelWorks CitedFields, Dan Nehemiah: The Courage to Face Oppression, IL:InterVarsity Press, 2002Maxey, Al The Minor Prophets: Haggai Available at http://www.zianet.com/maxey/Proph9.htm.Internet 2010.Potts, JH. Our thrones and crowns or the golden path to the highest attainments.Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2003.Stapleton, Robert 66 Sermons from God's Word: Bedford, TexasThe Columbia Encyclopedia, sixth edition, 2008 Haggai. Available from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Haggai.html Internet;, 1948.