And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant, these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
– Isaiah 56:6–7
This is God in the Old Testament talking about the temple, the place where his glory dwells among his people. And God is saying to his people, “This place is not just for you. This place is for all the peoples of the world to see my glory, to enjoy and exalt me in all of my glory.”
Isaiah 56:6–7 teaches us God wills for all the nations to exalt Him.
God wants all the nations, wills for all nations to exalt him, to know him, to walk with him, and experience love relationship with him. This is why we pray pretty much every day on this podcast for different people groups in the world. It’s not just kind of a little mission aside. This is the purpose of our God in history, and it’s the purpose of our lives.
We are here to enjoy God and all of his glory and exalt God among all of the peoples. This is why we have breath. We live for this. We live to enjoy God and exalt God right where we live, and wherever, however he leads us as he spreads his glory among all the nations. So let’s live today and every day with the same passion our God has for his glory among all the peoples. Let’s let it drive our prayers individually, collectively when we’re around the table or family worship or with friends, and in our churches. Let’s pray for the ingathering of all the peoples to know and enjoy our God. And then let’s rise and live toward that end, spreading the gospel wherever God leads us.
Isaiah 56:6–7 urges us to give our lives for the spread of the gospel.
So, God, we pray, one, thanking you for the people who spread the gospel to us. We know that this didn’t start with us, far from it, from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 says, “We are the ends of the earth.” Most all of us who live outside Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, we’re the ends of the earth. You’ve spread the gospel to us and we praise you that we’ve been invited in, that you’ve made us temples of your Holy Spirit, that we have the privilege of prayer that we’re experiencing right now, and any time all day long.
God, we praise you as part of the peoples, and we pray for all the peoples to be brought in, God, knowing that there are thousands of people groups who have little or no access to the gospel, who don’t have the truth about Jesus, that spread to them, knowing your desire, your will to bring them all in. We intercede for them.
God, make us houses of prayer for the peoples in that sense, for all the peoples. Lord, as temples of your Holy Spirit, help us to pray passionately, continually, intentionally, and fervently, faithfully, effectively.
Prayer for the Subarna Banik Bania People
God, hear our prayers and cause your glory to spread to all the peoples. Help us to go right around us today… Wherever you lead us in our lives so that all the peoples might know your glory. Help us to give our resources toward this end. God, we pray. Spend our lives for your glory among all the peoples, among the Subarna Banik Bania people of India, 200,000 of them. Very few, if any, known followers of Jesus among them in this Hindu people group. God, we pray for the Subarna Banik Bania people.
You have made them for your glory. You love them. Your will is to bring them in to be a part of your people. So we pray, do it for the Subarna Banik Bania and all the peoples of the world. We pray this all in light of your word in Isaiah 56:7. In Jesus’ name, in the name of the Savior and Lord of the nations. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
