The phrase House of prayer is from Isaiah 56:7(AMP) “All 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 will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
Jesus referred to this verse when He threw out everyone who had set up shop in the temple. Matthew 21:12-14(MSG) “Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. He quoted this text: My house was designated a house of prayer; You have made it a hangout for thieves. Now there was room for the blind and crippled to get in. They came to Jesus and he healed them.
The heart of the house of prayer is also captured by the cry of David’s heart in Psalm 27:4(AMP) One thing I have asked of the LORD, and that I will seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD [in His presence] all the days of my life, To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.
Read Acts 2:42 and see how the words teaching sessions, communion services and prayer meetings are used in relation to or as part of the house or prayer.
Acts 2:42(TLB) They joined with the other believers in regular attendance at the apostles’ teaching sessions and at the Communion services and prayer meetings’.
The temple was God’s chosen dwelling place, where He would meet with His people through worship and sacrifice. It was His earthly house. The combination of God’s emphasis on prayer and his earthly place of worship makes it His house of prayer.
1 Timothy 2:8(AMP) Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger and disputing or quarrelling or doubt [in their mind].
The Lord’s heart is for His place of worship to be a house of prayer, but also that all the peoples of the earth would be united in prayer together.
We also learn from the Bible that our bodies are the temple of God. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20(AMP) Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honour and glorify God with your body.
God no longer lives in tents or buildings made by human hands but in the lives of all those who receive Jesus Christ as Saviour. We are now God’s house of prayer. 1 Peter 2:5(ESV) you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
I conclude with: “Prayer delights God’s ear; it melts His heart; and opens His hand. God cannot deny a praying soul.” – Thomas Watson