Posted on 08/04/2015 5:37:03 AM PDT by Gamecock
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (v. 7). - Isaiah 56:6–8
As Christians consider what the Bible has to say about worship, it is crucial that we consider what all of Scripture says about how we are to come before God when we offer up our sacrifices of praise. This means that we must look at the Old Testament no less than we consider what the New Testament teaches. In so doing, we have to keep in mind that not everything done in worship under the old covenant carries over into the new covenant. For example, we do not offer up animal sacrifices anymore because Hebrews 9–10 tells us that Jesus is the final sacrifice for sin. Nevertheless, there are principles we can discern from the Old Testament Scriptures that can guide our worship practices.
One emphasis in the Old Testament’s teaching on worship is that the temple was to be a house of prayer for all the nations (Isa. 56:6–8). Prayer’s role as one of the defined purposes of the sanctuary where people would meet for corporate worship points to the critical role of prayer in the life of the church. There is an emphasis on corporate intercession that the Lord desires for His people that we see carried into the new covenant, for we read of the gatherings for prayer that the very first Christians held (Acts 12:12). Of course, the earliest believers did not have dedicated sanctuaries for praise and prayer, often meeting in homes for teaching and worship. Still, the corporate emphasis on prayer indicates that it is appropriate to have sanctuaries that are houses of prayer for God’s people. It is good to have a dedicated space where the people of God can gather to call upon His name and even where individuals can go outside of service times to meet with the Lord in a quiet place.
It is surely a mark of spiritual poverty that we devote little attention to corporate prayer when we gather for worship. In many of our modern churches, there is much focus on the music, the sermon, or both, but corporate prayer often seems like an afterthought. It is proper, of course, to focus on the teaching of God’s Word and on the praises we sing to our Creator, but we must also emphasize the practice of prayer. Whether we kneel, sit, or stand as we pray to our God, we are confessing our absolute dependence upon Him to bless our worship gatherings and to sustain us in our service to Him. Prayer keeps us humble before our Maker and reminds us of our need for His mercy, which is key as only those who rely on God’s mercy alone are declared righteous in His sight (Luke 18:9–14). They understand that they have no merit of their own to offer the Lord but rely only on Him for salvation.
Coram Deo
The prayer life of an individual and of the church says a lot about their view of the Lord. If we are careful to develop a precise theology and yet have an anemic prayer life, it may be that we have not really grasped with our hearts the truth that we are fully dependent upon God for all things. 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.
Passages for Further Study
Psalm 32:6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
Matthew 6:5–15 5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread,3 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from qevil.4 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing,
Jude 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
Morning Devotional Ping
Good morning!
Those verses from 1 Thessalonians are even more beautiful when expanded to include more context:
“Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Sometimes these are the three hardest verses in the Bible for me to claim, but they are also three of my favorites. Bless your day.
I wonder, did David keep his heart parying without ceasing? IS that why he was a man after God’s own heart? Did David repeatedly open his soul to The Lord in repnetence and seek forgiveness from God? Is that the real reason he was a man after God’s own heart? I wonder???
David was far from perfect, as we all know. But if you read Psalm 51, it might provide some reasons why God loved David's heart:
"For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." - Psallm 51:16-17.
Thanks to your post, I have just prayed this Scripture and it is a wonderful feeling.
Indeed Brother, every time I pray it, like right now, it brings tears of joy to these old-man eyes. Thanks be to God that He has broken me so that He can remake me in an image pleasing to Him, fit for living with His family. Maranatha!
You are a good man. Bless your day and thank you for making me think this morning.
You humble me, Sir. I’m just an old sinner saved by the astonishing Grace of God in Jesus Christ.
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