One of the things that has changed most drastically during my journey is my understanding of worship. I now understand worship as the act of entering with reverence into God's presence; more specifically, it is going within to be in the presence of God. Jesus taught us that worship MUST be in spirit and truth - this says to me that he is referring to the reality and truth of the spiritual realm.
We see the era of the physical temple (the house of prayer) end as foretold by the metaphorical fig tree that Jesus encountered enroute to the temple. These encounters served as preludes to Christ's interaction with the institutional temple. The fig tree symbolized the harvest of the temple institution and its priestly administration, just as the almond branch represented the beginning (Spring) of the institution and priesthood. The symbol has come full circle, beginning with the lifeless branch becoming as a fruitful tree, and ending with the tree becoming as a lifeless branch.
Then, the physical temple itself is but a symbol, a physical model, representing a true spiritual reality. The Holy of the Holies (where the High Priest entered into the presence of God) represents the Inner Room in which Christ asks us to enter; this is the room within us...within the true temple and house of prayer.
In prayer, we enter the Holy of the Holies that is within us to encounter God's presence. Now, the day has come that we no longer need the symbol since what is real is at hand...we do not need to go to an exterior location to know God's presence, nor do we need a human mediator (the priest) to go before God on our behalf. Through prayer and contemplation, we go within in true worship. Toward this end, Jesus gave us the Lord's Prayer - the Prayer of true worship which prepares our hearts for the ascent of the hill on the journey to the place of communion with God in the true spiritual temple within us.