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52 Days of Building a Second Wall with the Word and Wisdom
Privilege of Prayer
Day 45 – June 27, 2013
As a believer in Jesus Christ, we must understand that God has chosen us to be a
priest for His own possession so we can proclaim the excellence of God to those who
do not know Him. He is calling us to come closer to Him, out of the outer courts
and into His very Presence, to minister to Him. In the Tabernacle, only the Priests
were allowed to do that.
2 Chronicles 29:11 "My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you
to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”
The Levites were to stand before the Lord to minister to Him (worship), to be His
ministers (of the Word), and to burn incense (prayer). This is to be our
responsibility also. We must be strong in all three areas of Worship, the Word of God,
and Prayer. If we are strong in only one area, we are not as stable as we could be if we
were strong in all three. Think about the unstableness of a unicycle or even a bicycle;
yet a tricycle with three wheels is very stable. There must be a balanced focus on all
three of these areas in our lives as priests to the Lord.
All Levites, no matter their responsibilities were to be holy, consecrated, and
dedicated to God. Numbers 8 describes the Levites, and says they are to be
cleansed, presented to God, qualified for His service, separated for the Lord, given
wholly to the Lord, are to make atonement for the people, and were to keep all the
Lord’s commandments. They had many responsibilities, but God was to be their
number one priority. They were to walk worthy of the Lord in all humility, gentleness,
patience, forgiveness, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge
of God.
Ezekiel 44 records an interesting facet of God’s forgiveness and sovereignty with His
Levites. In the years between King Solomon and Ezekiel, many priests went astray and
followed idols, because the kings did evil in the sight of God. Instead of cutting the
Levites off, God reassigned their responsibilities. Those who rebelled were to have
oversight of the gates and slaughter the burnt offerings. They were not to come near
to God to serve Him as a priest, but they were to minister to the people. They
were to stay in the outer court.
But the Priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept faithful to God, were told to “come
near to Me to minister to Me”. They were the only ones who were allowed to enter
God’s sanctuary, to be in His presence.
Hebrews 10:22 “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water.”
How do we get to be in the group that ministers to God? The answer lies in the
group that was not allowed to enter into God’s presence. Even though they were
priests (even though we are believers and part of His eternal kingdom) they strayed
from God. They worshiped and sacrificed to idols; they did evil in God’s sight, not
obeying His commandments; they led others astray; they were not faithful to God. In
order for us to come into His presence, we must live lifestyles that are pleasing to
the Lord. We do this by knowing God and what He requires for our lives. We do this
by having a lifestyle of repentance for our sins, and by allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us
in all we do. The Holy Spirit is with all believers, even in the Outer Courts. The
question is, “Do we listen to Him?” He is our teacher who will lead us to live holy
lifestyles. Our flesh hates God and fights against us coming into the Holy Place with the
Lord.
Romans 8:5-9 “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the
mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because
the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of
God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in
you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
We must understand the battle that is raging in our bodies for control. The Holy
Spirit dwells in all believers. We are set free from the bondage to sin; it no longer has
complete control of our lives, because satan was defeated on the cross. But we still
have our fleshly nature trying to keep as much control as it can; and it must die. Little
by little, with the prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will shine the light of His truth
(Golden lampstand) into our minds and hearts to expose the deeds of the flesh and
purge them from our lives. He often does this through the wise words of mature
Christians He has places around us (Table of Showbread). He will then cleanse us so
we can draw close to Him. This is His ultimate desire, for us to abide in the Most Holy
Place with Him. We must know the power to overcome the flesh is in us; it is the power
of God manifested in the Holy Spirit.
Have you noticed the different materials used in the Tabernacle? The outer Court
used bronze, and then polished brass. These are alloys, a mixture of metals. The Holy
Place and the Most Holy Place are made of pure gold. There was no mixture.
How can we think we can come before the Lord, to dwell in His presence with mixture in
our hearts? That is why the Lord desires all people to no longer be bound with sin, and
why He is especially hard on those who lead others to sin by their example!
Today in our study of the Tabernacle, we are still in the Holy Place and will look at the
Golden Altar of Incense. It was a form of worship and prayer that a priest would
perform twice every day. He would enter the Holy Place in the tabernacle carrying
coals from the Bronze Altar in container and sweet incense on a golden plate. As the
incense burned, he would offer up prayers for the people and praise to God.
These would mix with the smoke of the incense as a column of smoke, going up to God
as a sweet aroma to His nostrils. This aroma is one that should be on us at all times
when we spend intimate time with the Lord, noticeable to those around us.
The Golden Altar of Incense was located in front of the 2 nd Veil going into the Holy of
Holies; it was the item closest to God’s presence in the Holy Place. God placed much
importance on this altar, calling it “most holy to the Lord”. In the final tabernacle where
Jesus will sit on His throne, the Golden Altar is in the Holy of Holies, again showing the
importance God places on prayer.
Hebrews 9:2-4 “For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were
the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place. Behind
the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a
golden Altar of Incense and the Ark of the Covenant...”
Revelation 8:3-4 says that in the future tabernacle the Golden Altar of Incense is
placed before His throne, as an everlasting testimony to the prayers of believers
that have ascended to God from all time.
God loves our prayers; they are very close to His heart. There is a direct correlation
between our prayer life and our intimacy with the Lord! It is through prayer and worship
(the two go together) that we are able to come into His Presence.
James 5:16b “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
We all want our prayers to be effective, meaning they are heard by God and accomplish
what we pray. How can we do this? For prayer to be effective, it must be prayed
according to God’s will. To do this, we must have an ongoing intimate relationship
with God where we are ever in conversation with Him, so that we know what is on His
heart and we can pray for it.
Do we cherish this holy privilege that allows you to enter the throne room of God
and converse with Him in prayer at all hours of the day or night? The word
privilege means a benefit that is not available to everyone; a special honor; freedom,
pleasure, and joy. This important privilege is often minimized in our walk with the Lord.
Other things seem to take priority of our time, but prayer should be a priority in our lives.
One final thought on prayer. Often we start out strong and committed in our prayers,
and then we get distracted. It is vital that we do not become weary in our prayers. We
must pray for strength against the destructive onslaught of Satan.
Mark 14:38 "Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the
spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Without prayer, Christians become spiritually weak and eventually powerless in
their walk before the Lord and their testimony before others.
DIGGING DEEPER:
Please read Psalm 119:145-152. This section highlights King David’s prayer life.
Study this passage to get more insight into prayer. Remember, David was a man after
God’s own heart; he was a man who spent much time in prayer with God!
How often should we to pray? The Word of God places importance on dedicated
times of prayer. Let’s look at a few of these:
Exodus 30:7-8
Psalm 63:6
Daniel 6:10
Acts 3:1
Acts 10:9, 30
1 Thessalonians 5:17
After you have studied these scriptures, please spend time in the Holy Place at the
Golden Altar of Incense asking the Lord what He desires your prayer life to look like.