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Prayer altar foundation is Scripture

Praying in the dark

When I am thinking about my childhood and how I learned to pray, I remember where my quiet time was and where I built and established my time with God. I did not grow up with a corporate prayer lifestyle but as a father I made sure we had one aournd the dinner table every night.

“Remember these commands and cherish them. Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. Then you and your children will live a long time in the land that the Lord your God promised to give to your ancestors. You will live there as long as there is a sky above the earth. – Deuteronomy 11:18-21  GNT

Family times are foundational to having prayer a key element in praying for our family, and the needs of those we know need specific prayers.

It is sad to read that Hezekiah, after God revealed to him the nature of his covenant relationship, not think about anyone else but himself. God revealed to him that no matter the threat, sickness or bad news, if Hezekiah would humble himself and pray God would have mercy and deliver him.

King Hezekiah understood this to mean that there would be peace and security during his lifetime, so he replied, “The message you have given me from the Lord is good.” – Isaiah 39:8  GNT

Why could he not share this with the rest of Israel or even his own children?

One thing we lacked around our dinner table was spending time praising God.

Come, let us praise the Lord!
    Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us!
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
    and sing joyful songs of praise. – Psalm 95:1-2  GNT

Praise is a wonderful way to pray. There was one author that really emphazied this and I read all three of his books. There is power in praise. There is joy and strength in praising the name of the Lord especially through His Word.

The Word of God is not received by faith if it flits about in the top of the brain, but when it takes root in the depth of the heart that it may be an invincible defense to withstand and drive off all the stratagems of temptation. – John Calvin

 

 

 

Come and pray

desperate-praying-silhouette_si

I came across the summary of the items in the Tabernacle and saw incense once again. It reminded me of the importance of worship.

The gold altar; the anointing oil; the sweet-smelling incense; the curtain for the entrance of the Tent. – Exodus 39:38 GNT

My prayer life is a vital part of my spiritual worship connecting me with my God. It pictures me approaching my Father and having a time of fellowship with Him allowing me to get to know Him more. As I share my life with Him, He shares His glory with me and walks with me in my poverty and my needs.

I do not pray alone for the Holy Spirit enables me and intercedes with me.

The incense reminds me that I can approach God the way I do because of Jesus, my High Priest. I dare approach as boldly as I do to obtain mercy and find grace in my time of need.

To find a regular time of prayer is key for me. Jesus did this often – so much so He was predictable.

Judas, the traitor, knew where it was, because many times Jesus had met there with his disciples. – John 18:2 GNT

Prayer is also a natural outcome of my thirst for God.

The Lord is pleased when good people pray, but hates the sacrifices that the wicked bring him. – Proverbs 15:8 GNT

I am encouraged to pray as I reflect on knowing that God delights when I do and in return my soul is satisfied.

Prayer becomes my antidote to complaining and arguing.

 Do everything without complaining or arguing,  so that you may be innocent and pure as God’s perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky. – Philippians 2:14-15 GNT

I thank God for everything that is right, never forgetting that He does answer prayer. I think God would much rather me come to Him and pray than to hear me grumble.

“To this let us join a third rule: that anyone who stands before God to pray, in his humility giving glory completely to God, abandon all thought of his own glory, cast off all notion of his own worth, in fine, put away all self-assurance—”lest if we claim for ourselves anything, even the least bit, we should become vainly puffed up, and perish at his presence. We have repeated examples of this submission, which levels all haughtiness, in God’s servants; each one of whom, the holier he is, the more he is cast down when he presents himself before the Lord. Thus spoke Daniel, whom the Lord himself commended with so great a title: “We do not pour forth our prayers unto thee on the ground of our righteousnesses but on the ground of thy great mercy. O Lord, hear us; O Lord, be kindly unto us. Hear us, and do what we ask . . . for thine own sake . . . because thy name is called upon over thy people, and over thine holy place” [Dan. 9:18-19]. – Calvin