An Altar in the House of Prayer

For about a year now, Pastor Paul (that’s not how I refer to him at home ☺) has been preaching about the model of the early church in Acts 2, and our vision of being “Devoted.”  He’s spoken several times about our call to fellowship, outreach, discipleship, and PRAYER.  Well, Church, it’s time.  It’s time to “put our money where our mouth is” so to speak- to not just talk about what kind of church we want to be, but to BE that church- the church that God is calling us to be, and it starts now (or maybe it has already begun for you).  

This is a time of transition for us.  I think we are all feeling it.  Meeting together as we’ve known it, is changing.  Outreach? Discipleship? When is there time?  Some of you have toiled countless hours just packing, sorting, moving items, signing documents, making remodel plans and tearing down ceiling tiles.  It’s true: many of our ministry plans feel a little ‘on hold’ at the moment, just waiting to see what the Lord has planned in our new location.  

However, the way I see it we absolutely cannot forget, or put ‘on hold’ that we are CALLED to be a house of prayer, a people who pray, a people who listen for the Lord’s direction in these next exciting steps! 

A few of us have been participating in a training this week in preparation for our upcoming ROOTED experience. We were asked to participate in a ‘Prayer Experience’ during the training.  What a gift! I’d like to share some of the insights that the Lord spoke to me from Psalm 20:

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!

May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!

May he send you help from the Sanctuary and give you support from Zion.

May He remember all your offerings and regard with favor all your burnt sacrifices!

May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!

May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners!

May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving might of His right hand.

Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand firm.

O Lord, save the king! May He answer when we call.”

The word ANSWER in this passage was like a neon sign with flashing L.E.D lights for me.  As a church who IS PRAYING we should be seeking how, what, when, and why the Lord answers.  We should be listening to hear what He is saying. (Have I heard this somewhere before?) He revealed Himself to Jacob, who is referred to in the beginning of Psalm 20, at an ALTAR of all places.  Check out Genesis 35:7-11 for more of this little part of Jacob’s story, but in short, God ANSWERED Jacob.  Jacob first built an altar, and called the spot ‘El-Bethel.’  Bethel means the house of God. Then God appeared to him and blessed him.  He gave him an answer.  Imagine that, God revealing Himself, answering Jacob there on that altar in the ‘House of God.’  

This seems to me an ‘Altar call’ of sorts.  Are you ready?  Are you willing? Do you have your cushy kneeling pad handy?  I think we’re gonna need it!  It’s nice to talk about prayer.  It’s lovely to read how folks in the Bible met with God and He told them awesome stuff.  But if we aren’t taking action for ourselves then we are missing the point.  In the book “Draw the Circle” Mark Batterson suggests that, “Secondhand faith is as dangerous as secondhand smoke- we need a faith [prayer life] with our own name on it.”  

So here is a challenge for you- for all of you (insert your name here, even if you are a child, a grandma, a pastor, or someone who isn’t even quite sure how to pray).  Let’s PRAY.  Let’s seek the Lord on the Altar. Let’s ask him to reveal Himself to us and answer us.  Let’s be diligent and relentless in our prayers about this new adventure and neighborhood.  I have a simple but bold challenge:

We need 42 (or more) people who will commit to praying for our new church for 5 minutes a day, 7 days a week.  Pray at home, pray on your couch, pray on a walk, pray while you drive…..just pray!  I know that you are already praying, and that adding more time is impacting, but if we have…..

42 pray-ers   X   5 minutes/day   X   7 days/week = 24.5 hours 

of prayer covering for our church!  That’s more than a whole day collectively spent praying!

I am excited to think about all the answers the Lord might reveal in our time praying together!  If you are willing to commit to our collective prayers for Compass I’d like you to do three things:

1. Be counted! This week during service you will be given an opportunity to sign-up.  If you are not able to be at service, you can email me at tiffanyalf@yahoo.com  so we can write down your name and keep track of how many we have participating. You are committing to adding 5 minutes a day to your prayer time.  

2. Pray! Try setting aside time at the same time each day.  Set a reminder alarm on your phone if you need to (I just don’t recommend leaving said phone on a stand on stage during worship service- oops).  

3. Get to the ALTAR.  When we are together, let’s be intentional about giving God the space to reveal Himself to us.  You don’t have to be able to get down on the floor, you don’t even have to kneel.  However, sometimes God honors the physical act of people coming to the Altar of God to spend time in His presence.  

There will be several opportunities for us to spend time IN THE NEW BUILDING praying together.  I will be there every Wednesday evening at 6 to pray through each area and room of our building.  I’ll be giving more insight and direction on that this Saturday in service.  Look for more posts coming-up on prayer: specifics to DIG deep in our prayer times.  

“When you want to go deeper, you have to dig DEEP in the same spot.”         (Rooted Network  Leader Derek Alonzi)  

Let’s dig DEEP together, friends.  I can’t wait!