Prayer

O. T. #1691  "Prayer"
May 15, 2020
Isaiah 56
... for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. (verse 7c)

LET IT GLOW

Do we pray when we go to the church building to worship? What do we pray for or about? God made it clear that His house was to be a house of prayer. Yet, do we often see others bringing products or fund raisers into the area of worship in the church?

Jesus quoted our key verse in Mark 11:7 when He cast out those who sold sacrificial animals for a profit in the Temple and the overturned the tables of the moneychangers. Foreign worshipers needed to pay the Temple tax and often required change, too. It was all done for a profit. This made Jesus angry because they had made God's house of worship into a place of extortion. They had made it a den of thieves.

According to Life Application Study Bible, God has requirements before He answers our prayers:

1. You must be a believer.
2. You must not hold a grudge against another person.
3. You must not pray with selfish motives.
4. Your request must be for the good of God's kingdom.

To pray effectively, you need faith in God, not faith in the object of your request. Isaiah clearly proclaims the radical message that God's blessings are for all people, even Gentile foreigners and eunuchs, who were often excluded from worship and not even considered citizens in Israel. Whatever your race, social position, work, or financial situation, God's blessings are as much for you as for anyone else. No one must exclude in any way those God chooses to include.

What kind of prayers do we pray? Are we praying for our will, our preference, our wants, or for God's will to be done in a certain situation?

LET IT GROW

How is Isaiah describing the watchmen of Israel, in verses 10-12?
He describes them as blind, ignorant, and dumb dogs.

The nation's spiritual leaders, who should have been alert watchmen and caring shepherds, were like mute dogs who cared only for themselves and their own appetites. (Tony Evans)

We should pray for our spiritual leaders and national leaders that they sacrifice for the good of their people and not sacrifice their people for their own greed.

The problems Israel had was the Jewish leaders had made the Temple a commercial venture in the N.T. and brought in idol worship into the nation in the O. T. 

LET IT GO
Your will, Your way, today, I pray.