Multicultural House of Prayer

 When God's Word tells us God wants His house to...

"...be called a house of prayer for all nations..." (Isaiah 36:7),

it means He wants people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation to be there praying (see Revelation 7:9-10).  He invites one and all.

Granted, in the book of Isaiah, 'the house of prayer 'refers to the Israelite temple where the people of God worshipped God.  The idea flashed through my mind, that in this day of grace, this 'house' is the Kingdom of God and we could even extend that to our respective churches.

God wants all men everywhere to be saved (see 1 Timothy 2:3-4).  He gave Jesus, His one and only Son to redeem one and all, making salvation available to the "whosoever will" (see John 3:16).

So saying, we should not let racism or prejudice rule our hearts and taint our attitudes when we share the gospel or when we invite and/or welcome newcomers into our midst at church who may not be of your same "species".

Think of the story we call "The Good Samaritan".  You can read about it in Luke 10:30-37.  A priest, a Levite and a Samaritan each saw the beat up man.  The wounded man was likely a Jew.  Jew's and Samaritans hated each other.

The priest and Levite were both "Jews" and did not do anything even for their own kind.  They came, they saw and they passed by, on the other side of the road!  The Samaritan came to where the victim was and tended to the man's wounds, and took him to an inn for further care until he was well enough to be on his way.

The Samaritan showed mercy, kindness and love to his "enemy".  As believers, we too can overcome our prejudices and racism and show God's love in action to people of all ethnic backgrounds, including one's own.

Afterall, we will be sharing heaven with people from all cultures.  Let us begin to make our homes and churches #1, a house of prayer and #2, a house of prayer for all nations until Jesus calls us Home to His House in Heaven.

Father God, hallowed be your name.  Hallowed be your home in heaven but often our own homes and churches on earth are not up to snuff.  We confess this, hopefully with the integrity and sincerity to make the needed changes so that our houses dedicated to you do indeed become houses of prayer that welcome people of every tribe, tongue, people and nation.  Help us to show Your love in action towards all so that we can bring many sons to glory, adding to Your Kingdom as we live out our day-to-day lives until we all come and pray, and Jesus comes for us.  Then we will be able to rest with You wherever you are, holding hands together and praying in your Multicultural House of Prayer.

In Jesus' name I pray and ask.

                                               ~ERC  September 2023~

Based on Isaiah 56:7; Matthew 10:30-37 and Matthew 5:44 NIV.

Sing, Glory Come Down, along with Christ For the Nations Worship.