Temple Prayer Blog

Prayer is the easiest to perform yet the most under utilized spiritual discipline. You can do it most anywhere and at many different times during the day. It requires only that you focus on God for a few minutes. Yet our busy and distracted lives prevent prayer from having it's transforming impact in our lives. Now I'm talking about any kind of prayer here. There are many different kinds of prayer. And the Tabernacle Prayer is my favorite by far. But TP is like a college education vs. a grammer school assignment. I believe all prayer is good. And more prayer is better than less prayer. This week, a familar verse... an often lost subtlety...revealed in the Amplified version. These kinds of things only apprehend your soul when you are praying them. Review in Matthew where the Lord is encouraging us to be prayers: Mat 7:7 Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. Ther...

My kids used to ask me, "Dad, why do you pray so many bible verses outloud?" It seems many people who consider praying the Word at some point wonder why they should do it. On one hand it seems kind of foolish, praying the words God wrote back to Him. Are we so dull that we cannot come up with meaningful prayers ourselves? I told my kids at the time that when you pray alot you run out of your own words and since I want God's promises to come alive in our family I declare them outloud. The Bible is full of people praying that way, quoting other Scriptures. By watching me they are learning how to pray the Word as well. The other day I felt like the Lord let me in on a even better reason why praying the Word is so important. The revelation came through my son D.J. He's two years old now and learning to talk up a storm. How does he learn to talk? The same way we all did, by making the same sounds his dad and mom make. He learns to speak to us by saying the things ...

The Jewish culture has always centered on temple worship. It is we gentiles who are ignorant of it. Yet we know from Ephesians that Jesus died to make one new man out of the two. (Jew and Gentile) In our ignorance we have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Our modern form of worship pales in comparison to simply following the pattern established by God in temple worship. That does not mean we sacrifice animals. It means we honor the process of worshipping Christ according to the same pattern he himself fulfilled according to Hebrews. Eastern Gate – Jesus Christ the only way, Brazen Altar – Jesus Christ our Savior, Laver – Jesus Christ our Lord (reflect on the Ten Commandments). The Candlestick – The Holy Spirit, Jesus the Light of the World, Table of Shewbred – Jesus the Word and the Bread of Life, Altar of Incense – Worship the Father in Spirit and Truth, Holy of Holies – Intimacy with the Father through Jesus the Ark of the Covenant. If a new pattern of worshi...

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 ...

It's been awhile since I had the grace to post here. But now there is fresh air blowing across the campus at New Life Church. Unconfessed sin has been confessed. The facade of a church without scandal is no more. It is no coincidence that Pastor Ted's last sermon was on Saul and how he disobeyed God and was removed from leadership. Now Ted is an illustrated sermon. Was it coincidence that Ted's last book was on the Tabernacle? I don't think so. Eventually every man, no matter how respected, and how "high up" in Christian circles will be shown for what he is in his heart. Does this stop us from loving him.... no way. Ted did so much good for so many that surely there are very few like him. And he was an amazing leader and evangelist. But God Ted's legacy will be none of those. Ted is now a clear example for all of us that God insists on truth in our innermost parts. And Ted's day came for truth, as it will for each of us. Let us never forget th...

The Laver, second station in the Temple, was used by the priests of old for ceremonial washing before entering the Holy Place. Today we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, use the Laver like a spiritual bath for daily cleaning of our conscience before we come into His presence. (Acts 24:16) Just as we brush our teeth daily, we clean our minds daily through the practice of repentance. At the Laver we reflect on God’s commandments, see the difference between His standards and our behavior and realize we are no longer condemned, but drawn to repentance, contriteness, and humility. The only way to dwell with God is to have a contrite heart. (Isa 57:15-21) We gain a clear conscience by appropriating God’s forgiveness through genuine confession. (1 John 1:9) We remind ourselves that under the New Covenant the commandments are not there to condemn us, but instead to lead us to repentance and a clear conscience. (Rom 3:20) This daily practice enables us be set free from sinful behavi...

An initial defining moment of humanity... The serpent plants a new thought in Eve's mind. "Did God really say....?" Although Eve had never experienced a cunning liar before, she still pondered that idea, then made a choice based on the birth of her covetous heart. A covetous heart questions the real meaning of what God says, and twists it into permission to go one more step down the road of disobedience. How do we do the same things today? Everytime we question the Word of God. Everytime we are doubleminded about God's standards. Everytime we put on our intellectual hat and investigate looking for ways to undermine biblical authority. Everytime we say. "that doesn't apply to us today." Questioning what God said is nothing more than a method of justifying our rebellion. Satan doesn't have to get us to choose evil directly. To render our faith powerless, all he has to do is get us to question God's Word. If we are doubleminded, Jame...

Jesus Christ is truth. In him there is nothing false.Yet in our own minds, it is often very difficult to sort out truth from fiction. There are three ways that false ideas and statements get in our heads. There are lies from our flesh, lies from the world, and lies from the devil. All three types of lies are enemies of God’s plan for our lives. Lies delude us, distract us, deceive us, and if accepted long enough, lies can even destroy us. A lie from your flesh might be, “Go ahead and do more drugs, it’s no big deal.”You body is craving drugs so that appetite is driving your behavior.A lie from the world might be, “Mankind evolved from monkeys.”We reject God’s truth about how He created people, then we believe any semiplausible explanation. (just as long as God is not involved). A lie from the devil might be, “You are a worthless person.” The devil wants you dead so any negative thought he can get you believing will help Him lure you away from God’s plan for your life. ...

Someone once said that the true measure of our faith is in direct proportion to our trust in the blood of Jesus Christ. When the going gets tough, what do we trust in? If you're like me, you spent most of your Christian life basically taking the cross for granted. We are so oversaturated with the cross, it's like a religious symbol. We are so familiar with it, it tends to lose it's significance. Or should I say, over time we take the cross for granted. At some point it fails to convict us any longer. We forget what Christ actually accomplished on the cross. The temple prayer performs a great maintenance function for us. It reminds us of the cross. We spend time praying through the many benefits of the blood of Jesus Christ. In praying the temple prayer we really begin at the brazen altar which represents the blood sacrifice. Faith in the blood is our title deed to everything. (Heb 11:1) Here we lay hold of all that the blood secured for us. Our level of faith in the...

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...