THE AROMA OF YOUR PRAYERS
May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2
Recently I read a blog post by Tyler Kenney titled, Don’t Stop Reading in Exodus. It was encouragement to those tracking with a Bible reading plan to keep reading through the old covenant laws. I appreciated his motivation and delighted in the discovery of a prayer lesson tucked within its pages.
In Exodus 30 God gave instructions on the production, purpose, and placement of the Altar of Incense. It was to be made out of acacia wood and overlaid with pure gold (vs. 2-5), used for burning incense (v. 1), and placed in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the Testimony – before the atonement cover that is over the Testimony – where God would meet with them (v. 6). In a nutshell, the Altar of Incense was a reminder to pray!
The altar’s gold symbolizes the ministry of prayer. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8).
The altar’s incense symbolizes the special ness of prayer. In Exodus 30:34-38, God detailed how to blend the fragrant incense, and warned that they must not make any incense with this formula for themselves; it must be considered holy to the Lord (v. 37). O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice (Psalm 141:1-2).
The altar’s placement symbolizes the presence of God. God no longer meets His people by the altar in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the Testimony (Exodus 30:6). When Jesus breathed His last, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Mark 15:38). We now have confidence to enter God’s presence by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body (Hebrews 10:19-20).
The altar’s fire symbolizes the need for the Holy Spirit’s “fire” in our prayers. He helps us pray, guides our prayers, and intercedes in accordance with God’s will (Romans 8:26). His power keeps our prayers aflame!
Over time, Israel neglected and abused the Altar of Incense. Through Isaiah’s vision God said, “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me” (Isaiah 1:13). Does He feel the same about your and my prayer life today?
Prayer Step: Pray that the aroma of your prayers be a sweet fragrance to God (Exodus 30:35).
Prayer ascends by fire. Flame gives prayer access as well as wings, acceptance as well as energy. There is no incense without fire; no prayer without flame. E.M. Bounds
Grace and peace,
Lenae
A connecting place for British Columbia GEMS counselors and club coordinators. . .
Monday, February 22, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
PRAYER LESSONS FROM A WEDDING
Dear Sisters,
Psalm 63:1 says, O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I was at a Beth Moore simulcast when she greeted us with that verse and these words, “Glorious morning to you! Earnestly means ‘rising in immediate pursuit.’ A victorious day begins with a victorious morning when we rise in immediate pursuit of God! God is a morning person!”
Praying that you have a victorious morning and victorious week as we earnestly and joyfully seek God, our God!
PRAYER LESSONS FROM A WEDDING
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. John 2:1-3
Until this morning’s quiet time, my single correlation with the wedding that took place at Cana was that it was the location of Jesus’ first miracle: He turned water into wine. What joy to discover that it’s also a place packed with lessons on prayer. Before you go on, please get your Bible or log on to biblegateway.com and read John 2:1-11.
Put yourself in the shoes of the servants who were the first to know that they ran out of wine for the wedding guests. I don’t know about you, but I’d be in the kitchen pacing and panicking. Now what? Are the local wineries still open? Does anyone have some sparkling grape juice available? Then the lessons on prayer begin . . .
1. When you’ve run out of what you need, go to Jesus. When Mary discovered the wine was gone, she went to Jesus, knowing He could change the situation (John 2:3). When love runs out of your marriage, go to Jesus. When joy runs out of your heart, peace runs out of your family, or patience runs out of your parenting, take the need to Jesus. He makes change possible!
2. Pray that He opens your eyes to the resources nearest you. Nearby stood six stone water jars (John 2:6). When needs are deep we can miss the obvious or think that every solution is an arm’s length or more away. Pray that He opens your eyes so you can clearly see His plans, and don’t be surprised if the answer is nearby.
3. Pray that you readily obey Jesus no matter what His command. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (Luke 2:5). Was this whatever- command a stretch for the servants? They needed stone jars filled with wine, not water! Their thoughts are not recorded, only their wholehearted obedience. They filled them [the stone jars] to the brim (John 2:7). For Jesus to do miracles we must readily cooperate with full, up-to-the-brim obedience (John 2:7)!
4. Pray for people to see Jesus’ glory. This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him (John 2:11). Do you have loved ones who closed their hearts to Jesus? Pray that He opens their eyes to see His glory! It was being eyewitnesses to Jesus’ glory that initiated the disciples’ faith.
Prayer Step: Make one of these prayer lessons your heart’s cry for yourself or a friend today.
Work as if everything depended on you and pray as if everything depended on God.
D.L. Moody
Grace and peace,
Lenae
Psalm 63:1 says, O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I was at a Beth Moore simulcast when she greeted us with that verse and these words, “Glorious morning to you! Earnestly means ‘rising in immediate pursuit.’ A victorious day begins with a victorious morning when we rise in immediate pursuit of God! God is a morning person!”
Praying that you have a victorious morning and victorious week as we earnestly and joyfully seek God, our God!
PRAYER LESSONS FROM A WEDDING
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. John 2:1-3
Until this morning’s quiet time, my single correlation with the wedding that took place at Cana was that it was the location of Jesus’ first miracle: He turned water into wine. What joy to discover that it’s also a place packed with lessons on prayer. Before you go on, please get your Bible or log on to biblegateway.com and read John 2:1-11.
Put yourself in the shoes of the servants who were the first to know that they ran out of wine for the wedding guests. I don’t know about you, but I’d be in the kitchen pacing and panicking. Now what? Are the local wineries still open? Does anyone have some sparkling grape juice available? Then the lessons on prayer begin . . .
1. When you’ve run out of what you need, go to Jesus. When Mary discovered the wine was gone, she went to Jesus, knowing He could change the situation (John 2:3). When love runs out of your marriage, go to Jesus. When joy runs out of your heart, peace runs out of your family, or patience runs out of your parenting, take the need to Jesus. He makes change possible!
2. Pray that He opens your eyes to the resources nearest you. Nearby stood six stone water jars (John 2:6). When needs are deep we can miss the obvious or think that every solution is an arm’s length or more away. Pray that He opens your eyes so you can clearly see His plans, and don’t be surprised if the answer is nearby.
3. Pray that you readily obey Jesus no matter what His command. His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (Luke 2:5). Was this whatever- command a stretch for the servants? They needed stone jars filled with wine, not water! Their thoughts are not recorded, only their wholehearted obedience. They filled them [the stone jars] to the brim (John 2:7). For Jesus to do miracles we must readily cooperate with full, up-to-the-brim obedience (John 2:7)!
4. Pray for people to see Jesus’ glory. This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him (John 2:11). Do you have loved ones who closed their hearts to Jesus? Pray that He opens their eyes to see His glory! It was being eyewitnesses to Jesus’ glory that initiated the disciples’ faith.
Prayer Step: Make one of these prayer lessons your heart’s cry for yourself or a friend today.
Work as if everything depended on you and pray as if everything depended on God.
D.L. Moody
Grace and peace,
Lenae
Monday, February 1, 2010
Wait on God
Dear Sisters,
Happy February! How are you, dear sisters? I hope that this morning’s devotional isn’t too gloomy for those of you who are grinning from ear to ear and answering, “Great!” Like the writer of Ecclesiastes 3 points out there’s a time for everything . . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. This devotional is especially poignant for those who are in a time of tears. Praying for all of you! Have a God-seeking week.
WAIT ON GOD
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:25-26
January 2010 brought many heavy prayer requests to the ACTS Team: doctors discovered a malignant tumor in the stomach of a counselor and mother of four, a counselor’s 4-year old son was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a counselor’s 20-something year old son suffered from a fall and has severe head trauma, and a 35-year old husband and father suddenly passed away. Along with those public requests come private petitions – prayers for healing for strained relationships, hope in business/financial challenges, and faith in uncertain times.
If salty tears have been your food, one of the places you’ll find affinity is in the book of Lamentations. Known as the book of tears, Lamentations is filled with sorrow for the fallen city of Jerusalem. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet writes, “My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within, my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city” (Jeremiah 2:11). Although your source of heartache may be different than Jeremiah’s funeral song, its message of hope is timeless.
Jeremiah looked within (Lamentations 3:1-18). He sees an old man with broken bones that is surrounded by bitterness and hardship. He feels mangled, abandoned, mocked, and deprived of peace. Can you identify? The more fixated we become on self, the more hopeless we can feel.
Jeremiah looked to God (Lamentations 3:19-39). By faith Jeremiah shifts his internal focus upward and has hope! Why? Because of the LORD’s great love ________________ (your name) is not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him” (v. 22-24). To wait on God is an expectant hope! You look to Him in prayer and in His Word and expect Him to speak and show His goodness.
Jeremiah looked to the people (Lamentations 3:40-66). He sent out a prayer request to the people asking them to lift up their hearts and their hands to God in heaven and beg for His mercy and forgiveness (v. 40-42). A reminder of the importance of joining with the family of God in prayer!
Jeremiah heard God (Lamentations 3:55-57). When he called on the Lord from the depths of the pit, God heard, He came near, and said, “Do not fear” (v. 57). When you call out to God, He will come close and say, “It’s going to be all right.”
Prayer Step: Through tears and smiles, wait for the Lord and put your hope in His Word (Psalm 130:5, 6).
In the rush and noise of life, as you have intervals, step home within yourselves and be still. Wait upon God, and feel His good presence; this will carry you evenly through your day’s business. William Penn
Grace and peace,
Lenae
Happy February! How are you, dear sisters? I hope that this morning’s devotional isn’t too gloomy for those of you who are grinning from ear to ear and answering, “Great!” Like the writer of Ecclesiastes 3 points out there’s a time for everything . . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. This devotional is especially poignant for those who are in a time of tears. Praying for all of you! Have a God-seeking week.
WAIT ON GOD
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:25-26
January 2010 brought many heavy prayer requests to the ACTS Team: doctors discovered a malignant tumor in the stomach of a counselor and mother of four, a counselor’s 4-year old son was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a counselor’s 20-something year old son suffered from a fall and has severe head trauma, and a 35-year old husband and father suddenly passed away. Along with those public requests come private petitions – prayers for healing for strained relationships, hope in business/financial challenges, and faith in uncertain times.
If salty tears have been your food, one of the places you’ll find affinity is in the book of Lamentations. Known as the book of tears, Lamentations is filled with sorrow for the fallen city of Jerusalem. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet writes, “My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within, my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city” (Jeremiah 2:11). Although your source of heartache may be different than Jeremiah’s funeral song, its message of hope is timeless.
Jeremiah looked within (Lamentations 3:1-18). He sees an old man with broken bones that is surrounded by bitterness and hardship. He feels mangled, abandoned, mocked, and deprived of peace. Can you identify? The more fixated we become on self, the more hopeless we can feel.
Jeremiah looked to God (Lamentations 3:19-39). By faith Jeremiah shifts his internal focus upward and has hope! Why? Because of the LORD’s great love ________________ (your name) is not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him” (v. 22-24). To wait on God is an expectant hope! You look to Him in prayer and in His Word and expect Him to speak and show His goodness.
Jeremiah looked to the people (Lamentations 3:40-66). He sent out a prayer request to the people asking them to lift up their hearts and their hands to God in heaven and beg for His mercy and forgiveness (v. 40-42). A reminder of the importance of joining with the family of God in prayer!
Jeremiah heard God (Lamentations 3:55-57). When he called on the Lord from the depths of the pit, God heard, He came near, and said, “Do not fear” (v. 57). When you call out to God, He will come close and say, “It’s going to be all right.”
Prayer Step: Through tears and smiles, wait for the Lord and put your hope in His Word (Psalm 130:5, 6).
In the rush and noise of life, as you have intervals, step home within yourselves and be still. Wait upon God, and feel His good presence; this will carry you evenly through your day’s business. William Penn
Grace and peace,
Lenae
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