Is Temple prayer - Prayer or Worship?
My theory is that prayer is the activity but worship is what we are doing.
Basically God instructed Moses to build the first portable Tabernacle in the wilderness so he could dwell with his people. Today we are a 2.0 version of that tabernacle in the wilderness. We are portable temples that God dwells in, and we are to conduct our lives accordingly.
This Temple pattern of worship is throughout the Scriptures from Moses, to David, Solomon, the Kings, Prophets, Herod's Temple, Jesus saying "tear down this temple (him)", to Paul telling us we are temples of the Holy Spirit, to a look at the real temple in heaven in Revelation, Ezekiel, and other passages.
So the Temple is really THE PATTERN for worshipping (drawing near to God). I don't see any other one. But wait a minute, what about Jesus Christ? Jesus is the mediator of the new way to worship God the Father. He is our Savior (Brazen Altar), our Lord (laver), the Spirit & the Light (Candlestick), the Word & the Bread (Table of Showbread), our intercessor (Altar of Incense), and our High Priest giving us unique access to the Holy of Holies anytime we want. Jesus Christ is the personification of the temple pattern. He fulfilled every aspect of the temple requirements. He literally was “the Temple” in the flesh. That is why he said, “tear down this temple and I’ll rebuild it in three days.” He was speaking of his own body.
When he died on the cross the veil was rent....but the Temple pattern was not destroyed. In his death on the cross the Temple went from being a physical place in Jerusalem to being a spiritual house in each one of us who become believers in Jesus Christ. The old priestly lineage from Aaron was now replaced with a line in Jesus Christ.
So instead of being priests like Aaron we are new covenant priests... ministering to the Lord by praying through our temples, our spiritual houses that he is building in us each day, and as we do so, we receive all that he has for us each day.
This is an incredibly deep and mysterious thing that I don't claim to understand very well. But I certainly have begun to perceive it and am energized by it everyday.
Comments
Like Paul noted: Seek the best gifts, and which would that be? He never said. But actually He did say, the best gift is the one that is needed at the time. The same is true of true Temple Worship/ Prayer: What ever is needed at the time. As the cycle of life in the Book of Judges pictures, Life is a cycle of both extremes, times of great triumph and times of despair. After triumph Worship is the thing. Really it is only experienced in truth after a victory. Prayer is needed when the world we have made is crashing all around us. When we are up we worship. When we are down we pray. The secret to on going success is to worship in faith when the sky is dark, and pray in faith knowing that even the triumph does not for ever last. By merging the two an even and moderated life will emerge when the highs are not too high nor the lows too low.