Award Winning GENESIS SCHOOL OF MUSIC

➡️As a child growing up, the only prayers modeled to me were prayers before meals, before bedtime and simple prayers prayed at church.  None of these prayers lasted more than two or three minutes.  Even as a child, I knew that the prayer times of Jesus had to be more than two or three minutes.  I also knew I wanted to pray like Jesus…or at least like Billy Graham. 

If you’re like me – you know you need to pray, you want to pray, but you’re not sure how to pray.  I want to encourage you with a model of prayer taken from the Old Testament, from the Tabernacle, the place where God would meet with his people. This Tabernacle had seven stations, specified by God, to enter into his presence.  

Before we talk about the seven steps of prayer from the Tabernacle, here’s three practical steps to remember before you pray:

1…Set your time – same time every day.  Look at it as a meeting with the King, that you would never cancel. 

2…Set your atmosphere – turn on worship music; turn off phones, tvs, or any other distractions; or maybe light a candle – do anything you can do to make it special. 

3…Set out your list – I have a “thank you” list, a “this is what God says about me” list, and a prayer list.  When I pray, I have all three lists ready to go. 

There’s three practical steps – now, let’s go to the Tabernacle.  This is a prayer model taught to me by my Pastor several years ago,  When I pray this model, I go through all seven steps.  Here they are and what they represent:

1…The Outer Court.  This was an area where the Israelites would enter the tabernacle with thanksgiving and praise.  Psalm 100:4, says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.”  Like I said earlier, I have a list on my phone of things that I’m thankful for – whenever I think of something new, I put it on that list. When I pray, I bring that list before God and I thank him.

2…The Brazen Alter.  In the Old Testament, the Israelites had to bring an animal sacrifice to pay for their sins. This animal was sacrificed on this alter.  However, when Jesus died on the cross, he became our sacrifice – according to Hebrews 10:10, “…we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”.  Psalms 103 says, “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all my sins, heals all my diseases, redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion.  And he satisfies my desires with good things.”  Because of the cross of Jesus, I’m forgiven, healed, redeemed, crowned and satisfied.  I pray and thank God for the benefits of the cross of Jesus. 

3…The Laver.  The next step in the Tabernacle was a large bowl of water, called the laver, where the Israelites would wash themselves before going any further into the presence of God.  This represents offering our bodies to God.  Romans 12:1 says, “…in view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”  Personally, I start at the top of my head, and I pray over my mind that I would think thoughts that Jesus would think – that I would have the mind of Christ;  I pray over my ears that I would only listen to what Jesus would listen to; I pray over my eyes that I wouldn’t look at anything that Jesus wouldn’t look at – that I would see people and situations the way that Jesus sees them; I pray over my mouth that I would speak words of hope, that I would speak the words of Jesus; I pray over my hands, that I would work hard and I would represent Christ in what I do; I pray over my feet that my steps would be directed by the Lord.  Finally,  I pray over my heart, that God would search me and see if there’s anything inside me that’s offending him. 

4…The Candlestick.  The next piece found in the tabernacle was a seven-branched lamp stand.  The fire of the candles represents the Holy Spirit.  Before Jesus left this earth, he told his disciples that he would send another one to be with us, to be inside of us – the Holy Spirit. He is our comforter, our helper, our teacher; and he is the third person in the Trinity – God, the father; God, the son; and God, the Holy Spirit.  According to Isaiah 11:2, the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord.”  

5…The Table of Showbread.  Next in the Tabernacle was a table with 12 loaves of bread on it. In the Bible, the bread always represents the Word of God. Jesus said, “We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).  I encourage you in your prayer time to read the Word of God, meditate on the Word of God, pray the Word of God. When we pray what God has already said in his Word, the answer is always yes. It is so powerful!

6…The Alter of Incense.  Finally, before you could enter into the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was placed, there was an alter of incense where the priest would worship. This is where we stop, like the priest, and just worship – we play a song, we sing, we tell God how great he is, we remind God who he is.  This is where I go through a list of the names of God – “Thank you Father for being my shepherd, my provider, my healer, my peace, my righteousness, my constant companion, my defender and my sanctifier.”

7…The Ark of the Covenant.  The final place in the Tabernacle was the Holy of Holies. This is where the Ark of the covenant was – and this is where the priest would intercede for the people.  Our final step in prayer is to pray for others. I start with the president, the vice president, the Congress, the Supreme Court, our governor, and our mayor.  I then pray for neighbors and acquaintances that I don’t really know. After that, I pray for close friends and extended family.  I then pray for our church and our church leaders.  I finish off my time of prayer praying for my personal business, and my wife and children.  

I encourage you to take the responsibility, and the honor, to stand in the gap for others. This is one of our greatest gifts we can give to our friends and family.  

I mentioned it earlier – but one of my favorite names of God is Jehovah Shamma – it comes from Ezekiel 48:35, and it means God is there.  He’s always with me.  Sometimes when we pray, we feel his presence; many times when we pray, we feel nothing, yet still, God is always there.   According to I Peter 3:12, “The eyes of the Lord are always on the righteousness and his ears are always attentive to our prayers”.

That’s in the Bible…and the Bible is always right!