You may be wondering how a blog with “Raise An Altar For Yourself” as a title has a picture of zebras. Let me share with you an interesting fact that I recently learned. Stripes on each and every zebra are as unique as fingerprints even though we cannot see it with our eyes. When a zebra gives birth, the mom goes and isolates with her baby for up to three weeks intending to make sure that the baby learns to recognize the mother’s stripes. Then, after that, the mother can bring the baby into a herd, knowing that the baby had enough time for intimacy, has had a bond, connection, and affinity with her mother, and will be able to recognize her mother in a large group of zebras.
This was so fascinating for me because it illustrates a profound aspect of intimacy and recognition. Similarly, this is the kind of intimacy God desires to have with His children- us. God wants us to fix our eyes on Him and Him only, so that we may know Him more than anyone else, that we may recognize Him, that we may gaze on His beauty, that we may hear His voice and be able to recognize Him even in a room full of noises, He wants us to be so intimate with Him that we tell Him everything. Sometimes my son talks to me about so many things that I find myself lost because he was just talking about all the things that may be going through his little brain. God wants us to feel the same in His presence, but for this to happen, we need to know Him; the only way to do so is through prayer and spending time with God.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Matthew 6:7
When praying, there is no need to keep repeating or saying many words. Recently, I was going through some spiritual attacks and the only prayers that I was able to pray was “God I love you”, “God I need you”, and “God I know you are with me”. Because He is a LOVING God He sure made me feel His presence and that gave me peace. One of the prayers that the Holy Spirit has put on my heart is to grow old in Him. I would give everything to have wrinkles in years to come but have God’s face shine upon me and my life. I want to grow old in serving Him and generations to come; my heart longs for this! But this will never happen if I do not spend my current years, building a prayer life. This cannot be a one time thing, it has to be a habit,consistent, I have to make it a pattern.
The secret of a pattern is that it breaks the cycle. If God is telling you to wake up and pray at a certain time, obey because there is something in the spiritual realm that happens at that time and God wants to break it! There are bondages God wants to break in you and your family if you would obey and come to Him. An altar is a place of sacrifice and a power point to draw spiritual and supernatural strength (Genesis 8:20-21). Altars are places of separation where we separate ourselves from curses and generational traits through the power of prayer. Altars represent our worship to God. They represent a place of private communion with our heavenly Father. Building the altar was a reminder to Abram that God was his only source of hope. Without continually calling on God, he could not fulfill the call God had placed on his life. This is still true for us, we cannot fulfill the call God has placed in our lives without leaning on Him.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I come before you with a heart filled with gratitude and longing. Thank you for your everlasting love and grace, which sustains me in every moment of my life. I ask for the guidance of your Holy Spirit as I seek to deepen my intimacy with you through prayer and communion. Help me, Lord, to fix my gaze solely upon you, to recognize your voice amidst the noise of the world, and to find solace in your presence. Teach me the true essence of prayer, that it is not in the multitude of words, but in the sincerity of my heart. Grant me the wisdom to discern your will and the strength to walk in obedience to it. May my life be a living testament to your glory, as I strive to grow old in you, serving you faithfully until my last breath. May my prayers be a sweet fragrance unto you, rising up as incense before your throne. And may your face shine upon me and my descendants, guiding us in the path of righteousness all the days of our lives. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
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