There are many different methodologies to ensure the essential parts of prayer are covered that may be useful. People have come up with ideas such as the ACTS prayer to help us remember. But why is this important?
I have found that if I don’t have some sort of mental map or blueprint, my prayer tends to gravitate to a prayer of asking for things. Or I forget intercessory prayer, or to thank God for something He has done. It is easy to forget elements, and it is easy to fall into a rut as well.
I use the Sanctuary as a model for my prayer, and it enables me to have a frame of reference to ensure the essential parts of my prayer are incorporated every morning.
So you remember the Sanctuary consisted of three compartments: the Courtyard, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. In the Courtyard there is the Alter of Sacrifice or Burnt Offering where the lamb was slain and the Laver where the priests washed. In the Holy Place was the Table of Shewbread, the Menorah and the Alter of Incense. And housed in the Most Holy Place was the Ark of the Covenant where the Shekinah Glory of God was.
Before the fall, Adam and Eve had face-to-face communion with God. They were in the Most Holy Place. But sin put the entire human race outside the gates of the Courtyard. The Sanctuary illustrates God’s plan of salvation and our journey back to what Adam and Eve had before the fall. Revelation 22 tells us we shall see His face, and have His name on our foreheads. We will be restored to the communion that was lost.
So using this model, I “enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” Psalm 100:4 NIV
Praise God for who He is and thank Him for what He has done. I begin my time with God with praise and thanksgiving.
Then I come to the Alter of Burnt Offering. John 1:29. Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. NIV At this point in my prayer, I invite the Lord Jesus into my heart, I receive Him as Saviour and Lord of my life, I accept the Robe of Righteousness He offers and I ask Him to “create in me a clean heart Oh God, and renew a right spirit in me.” Ps 51:10 KJV
The next article of of furniture is the Laver. It reminds me of 1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. NIV This gives opportunity to confess any sin that comes to mind. Things I may have said or done over the previous day. Confess at the Laver and receive cleansing.
Then enter the Holy Place. At the Menorah, where every day the Priests would tend the candles and fill the sticks with oil, I ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22 describes the fruit of the Spirit and when we invite the Holy Spirit into our hearts, the fruit will naturally appear – it is a process and takes time but as you daily ask for the Holy Spirit, His presence will become evident.
Next we come to the Table of Shewbread. Jeremiah 15:16 says that when God’s word came, je ate them, they were his joy and his heart’s delight. At this point in my prayer, i pause and open the Word of God. I have just asked the Holy Spirit to fill me and as the Great Teacher, He will guide me into truth. John 14:26. So now I feed on the Word with Him teaching me.
After the Table of Shewbread comes the Alter of Incense. Psalm 141:2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. KJV This is the point in my prayer that I take the opportunity for intercessory prayer. The time where I have a list of individuals the Lord has placed on my heart whom I lift up to Him in prayer. Not just for their physical needs, but also for their spiritual needs. when praying for someone else, it gives God the legal authorisation to move above and beyond what He is normally able. Remember the paralytic bought to Jesus by his friends – the Bible says when Jesus saw THEIR faith, He healed the man. Your faith can pave the way for God to move in another’s life. So don’t give up praying for those you know who have yet to know God. Those prayers exist before God and He does not forget them. Intercessory prayer is a powerful gift and it is ours to take advantage of every single day.
Finally, we come to the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place. We can not yet commune with God face-to-face as Adam and Eve did. We do know though, that Enoch had an intimate walk with God. So intimate, God bought him physically into His presence, because he existed spiritually in the presence of God every day. We an ask for that experience to continue with us, even when we leave our prayer closet.
Ask the Lord for the same walk with Him that Enoch had. And take that secret place of the Most High with you, into your day.
David Shin is a pastor in America. Twelve months ago, he preached on prayer life in Quarantine. His message is just as relevant today… His sermons can be heard on Faith FM and the AudioVerse podcast.
You can read this full transcript prepared and edited by IntraVic here .