Isaiah 56:6-8 - The House of Prayer

Isaiah 56:6-8

⁶ “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord,
To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath
And holds fast My covenant;
⁷ Even those I will bring to My holy mountain
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar;
For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
⁸ The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares,
“Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”

Message: The House of Prayer

Time: Isaiah was an 8th century BC Jewish prophet. He was married with 2 sons. The book has two written periods.

What the Lord is Saying:

The passage yesterday was from the story of Cain and Abel and the offerings they brought to the Lord. The message was to worship to the Lord.

As students of the Bible and followers of God, it is important to read the entire of scripture and determine its application with the reminder that prior to Christ, people looked forward to the Messiah and after Christ, people look back. In the days of the Old Testament, without the Messiah revealed, the practice of worship included making offerings, sacrificing animals on the altar as a substitute for man's sin. Jesus the Messiah was our once and for all substitution. Jesus is the final sacrifice for sin.

In the Old Testament, the temple was to be the house of prayer for all nations. In those times, there was not a house of worship or church on every corner like there is today. Churches are easy access. In those days, fellowship occurred in people's homes, in smaller gatherings. and the temple was a special, set apart place to come and present offerings, but also to gather in prayer.

Verse 7 speaks of a house of prayer or the fact that when foreigners came together with the people of God, His servants came together to pray. This is the point of this passage. It it is the simple proclamation that the people of God come together to pray. Prayer is present in our fellowship time. In some ways, I think this church where we are at prays more corporately. For some, it is odd that we agree together the words that we say. There was an excellent time of prayer Sunday that was long and in detail.

Promise: From Tabletalk -- Christians must not only be “people of the book” who love and do what the Lord reveals in the Bible; we must also be “people of prayer” who depend on God for every good thing.