Temple Prayer Blog

As we wake up each morning we find ourselves in a state of mind that is mentally “outside the temple”. Our first goal for the day should be to come into God’s presence…to activate His presence in our temples…. our bodies . Throughout Scripture God uses the Temple image to explain where He dwells. There is a Temple in Heaven and there is a temple in each of us as believers in Jesus Christ. So we approach the tabernacle from outside. First we see the eastern entrance to the tabernacle’s outer court. As Christians, it reminds us of the narrow gateway to heaven... Jesus Christ. ( Mat 7:14 ) Here we thank Him for being that narrow gate….our only access to God. He is the way , there is no other way to access God. DP

OK so I've been praying using the Temple Prayer method for over three years and there is nothing like it... period. Occasionally I'll share what I call a "Temple Principle". This is an "AHA" gleaned from praying the Temple Prayer. Today I bring to your attention : Exo 25:8 Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. (9) And you shall make it according to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle or dwelling and the pattern of all the furniture of it. (bold emphasis mine) This is a partnership friends. God does the hard stuff, we do the day to day work. There is a lot of work involved in doing anything worthwhile. There is sweat involved in doing things that will last for generations. God gave Moses the plan (the specific idea, layout, measurments etc) Moses was then responsible for going down from his mountaintop experience and actually managing the construction project. God was holding him responsible. I'm sure he face...

Over the next several days I'd like to walk you through the tabernacle to show you the significance of temple worship and how it directly correlates to our worship of Jesus Christ. So take yourself back to the time of Moses. In the middle of the wilderness we find several million Israelites encamped in the desert. You can't miss the pillar of fire coming from the center of the camp. And it is not a bonfire....it's the presence of God himself. The pillar of fire is coming from the tentlike structure in the very center of the Tabernacle. Built to exact specifications, in the midst of the camp we find this tabernacle structure. We approach the tabernacle from outside and notice there is only one entrance to this house of worship. It's on the east side . It appears that in God's master plan for worship he wanted us to know that there is only one way to access Him. As New Covenant Christians, it reminds us of the narrow gateway to heaven... Jesus Christ. (Mat 7...

There is life in the 10 c's for us today. I used to think that they went out with Old Testament. But know I know better. One of my favorite parts of praying through the Tabernacle is going through the 10 commandments at the Laver. It is truely amazing to realize that praying through the commandments brings incredible freedom and is the best thing I've seen for overcoming old sin habits that don't seem to be affected by anything else. We know from Rom 8:1 that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Paul also tells us in Rom 3:20 that the commandments don't condemn us anymore, their job is to lead us to repentance, humbleness, and a contrite heart. We compare our behavior to God's standards and confess (agree with Him) about our missing the mark (sin). Because we are under the blood (Cross / Brazen Altar) we experience true release and freedom from the guilt and shame that is normally associated with bad behavior. Do this everday for a few weeks and...

Part of us wants to make a difference. Yet we wear so many hats that our best energy goes toward putting out fires instead of investing our time in activities that will truely make a difference long term. I believe great leaders learn to do both well. And that takes discipline. For example we rise up every morning and before too long we are thinking about all the things we have to do that day. Go to work. Deal with such and such. Get the kids out of bed, etc. etc. Our thinking and doing and stressing soon gravitate to those "fires". And the Lord breathes a disappointed sigh once more. For you see, He has a different plan in dealing with the day. That is why he adopted you as a son or daughter. That is why he ordained you as a priest in His house. The day your recognize your role as a priest as your #1 activity for each day, that is the day you really begin to get God's plan for your success. Your role as mother, father, career person, dad, cook, volunteer, money m...

Well today was one of those days you hope doesn't happen often. My dear wife Marie found out she had a miscarriage. We have come to know first hand that any baby is a miracle . So to lose one is never easy. She is doing well under the circumstances. And we have 3 incredible children already. We thank God for all his blessings and trust Him completely. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away....blessed be the name of the Lord! DP

According to the dictionary "crisis" means an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty. Are you in a crisis right now? For people of faith a crisis is an opportunity for our faith to motivate our response to the crisis. God IS sovereign over the affairs of men. Faith in God keeps us steady in the midst of impossible circumstances. Faith is being absolutely convinced there is light at the end of the tunnel even when we cannot see the end of the tunnel. Now if you're like me, every now and then, my faith runs up against a big monster called my feelings. Sometimes my feelings still are stronger than my faith. My feelings then cause a different kind of crisis..... a crisis of faith. My faith says, "stay steady...let the Lord work it out." My feelings are screaming, "DO THIS! DO THAT!" My faith says, "BE SILENT and KNOW THAT I AM GOD." My feelings are saying, "get revenge", "make them pay". Guess who wins? ...

With all the big decisions we face in life, is there one that stands above them all? I propose that one indeed trumps them all. It's the very personal decision about my eternal destiny. No one else can really make that decision for me. Will I go to Heaven when I die? The natural followup to that is....What qualifies me for Heaven? Are there any qualifications to enter the pearly gates? Step one is to decide if you believe in God. If you have a basic belief in God you are in good company...about 90% of people do. Step 2... is there really a heaven and a hell? Every person must do their own research and soul searhing on the heaven and hell issue. Picture yourself standing before God. He asks you, "Welcome to heaven. Why should I let you in?" What on earth would you say? (Or more appropriately...what in heaven would you say?) Well God.... I think you should let me into heaven because................ To review my research on the BIG question, go to a special webpage I mad...

What if the life you dreamed of could actually exist? What if you play the key role in this dream life becoming real? A few years back I found out that I had been looking for this reality in the wrong places. The potential of "it" was actually inside of me, but I was unaware that "it" was there. Then I re-read in my instruction manual that I had already been given the keys to this "kingdom" I sought. I didn't need to strive in my own efforts to bring this dream to life. I simply had to use the keys I already had possesion of, to unlock "it" and step into "it". Believe it or not, this is how prayer is suppose to work. We are told by Jesus that we have the "keys to the kingdom". We've been told that when we believe and abide in Him, He and the Father (the Kindgom of God) come and abide in us. We are told that we are adopted into His family.... literally sons and daughters of God. And we are told that we have been ordaine...

An amazing insight occured in me recently. (at least I think it's an amazing insight) The majority of Christians realize they are part of "the family of God". My amazing insight is that as members of the family of God (adopted sons and daughters through Jesus Christ) we are also ordained into this royal family of priests. (1 Pet 2:9) I am a son of God and my primary role is as a priest to Him. Priests are set apart for God to worship him. I think there is great signigicance in this priesthood role in our lives. More than we realize. We tend to think the "church" is a building down the street and the "priest" is our pastor or church leader. The reality is the "church" is us, our bodies. The "priest" is our primary vocation in the Lord's Temple, our bodies. (1 hour later) This morning as I prayed through the Tabernacle with my wife and kids we received more Rehma on this important principle. We gained additional insight into it...

Were you aware that we all learn how to pray by basically copying others. And that's OK because that's how we learn most behaviors anyway. To prove this in yourself, simply reflect on the words you use in prayer. Do you use the word "just" as in: Lord, I just want to ask you.... You picked up that word "just" by hearing others use it. You subconciously want to fit in and do it like others so you added that word at some point in recent history to your own prayers. You won't find it in Jesus or Paul's or David's prayers in the Bible. (at least I don't think so, I better do a search and prove it I guess). But that's OK. Afterall prayer is simply conversation with God and there is no right or wrong way. The important thing is that you are sharing your heart with the Creator of Heaven and Earth....what a privilege! Anyway the point of this post is that you learn how to pray from copying others and that's OK. I want to suggest you te...

Books are great. Seminars are wonderful. And sermons will get you in the ball park. But prayer is where the real action is when it comes to transforming your mind. Why? Because prayer is communication with the creator of the universe!!! Duh!!! The difference between Jesus and every other God is that he claimed he was God, then He was raised from the dead to prove it. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead then as Paul says, our faith is a joke. But what makes us different from any other religious person? The fact that we are God's temple and He comes and takes us residence, "tabernacles" with us. He's the only God who says; Dad and I are going to come and hang with you from now on. You talk to me. Learn to listen to My voice and obey my commands. Then I will know you love me and I will bless you beyond your wildest dreams. (dp translation) So if your prayer life consists of a few "flare prayers" or a laundry list of things you want God to do for you then yo...

How is your house remodeling project coming along? Your spiritual house remodeling project that is! This NEW BLOG will hopefully build some community around all of us praying with more intention and passion...and discussing the process periodically. Peter tells us in 1Pe 2:5 [Come] and, like living stones, be yourselves built [into] a spiritual house, for a holy (dedicated, consecrated) priesthood, to offer up [those] spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. If you are like me, you have spent years resting in what Jesus Christ has done, receiving the free gift of salvation, going to church, reading the bible, getting into small groups, even leading some, as well as praying for myself and others. As great as all that is, I could not escape the sense that there is more to my relationship with God than I had experienced. I was not seeing breakthroughs in several key areas of life and I was not seeing those breakthroughs in my Christian friends e...