The mystery of altars – Part 5

What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in
you… (1 Cor. 6:19).

Ultimately, We All Are Altars Of The Living God

Every temple has an altar. Your heart is God’s altar. Everyone of us is to be portable moving altars of God. The Ark of the Covenant, in the Old Testament had staves which enabled it to be carried from one place to another on the shoulders of the priests. The altar of incense and the brazen altar could be dismantled for convenience and transported from place to place. The sum total of all that has been said, is that God wants you and I to be living, moving altars carrying the fragrance of the Lord everywhere we go, transmitting and sending signals of His majesty wherever we dwell and opening up gateways, drawing down power, taking control and dominion over the jurisdiction we find ourselves, depositing and recording prayers, fasting, worship, money, etc. and retrieving grace, honour, strength and glory.

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place (2 Cor. 2:14).
The Power Of Your Personal Altar
In the first place as earlier said, as believers our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. 1Cor.6:19, meaning you’re automatically a mobile altar. However scriptures teach the importance of us having a location as our personal altar.

Ezra 3:2 reads, “Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests….arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it…”

Just as rebuilding the altar and making sacrifices was very important to the Israelites, so it is to us. When we pray, we are making an offering to God; turning away from our own lives and agenda to acknowledge God’s sovereignty and influence over everything including those things that concern us. Prayer can transform our homes, workplaces, churches, schools and communities; our health, our nation, government leaders and our marriages can all be affected by prayer if we use it. I want to make mention that Daniel had an altar of prayer; He prayed three times a day. Abraham also built a personal altar where he sought the Lord “Abraham gets up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: Gen. 19:27.

There is a reason why so much darkness is coming into our land and into our individual home and families. The wall is broken down. We need God to show us how to build up the wall again. We must create an atmosphere for Him to come and abide with us so that the real work of restoration and redemption can begin in our land. “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30-31, NIV)
What conditions did God give David? He said, ‘David, go build me an altar, and I will not just stop the destroying angel, but will remove the plague completely.’ (2 Samuel 24:18-25).

When Elijah rebuilt the altar at Mount Carmel, this singular event caused ripples in the nations. According to 1 Kings 18:39 fire came down and fear came back to the house of God. When altars are repaired, God judges wickedness in the land and in our families and a new season begins.

Building a prayer altar is foundational in our pursuit of God’s Presence. It is the starting place, the consistent place, the fuelling place where we meet with God and create an environment for Him to come. This needs to happen personally, first. We then establish similar altars in our home as families and in our churches. It’s from this place of personal encounter that we have the anointing and authority to counter the darkness in our communities and create a place for God to come and dwell.

Creating a sacred time and sacred place takes practice; it takes discipline. As we keep the fire burning in our own lives, we become the kindling for the corporate altars that must be established within our communities.

Prayer altars consist of reading God’s Word, worship, listening, journaling, studying, waiting, and “soaking” in His Presence.
Rev. Theodore Effiong
Assemblies of God Church, Calabar
Or Prayer To All Nations (PTAN),
Prayer City, Calabar. CRS
Email: theoeffiong@yahoo.com
Phone – +234 9030012007, +234 7031921770