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Meet Me at the Altar

 Romans 12:1-2 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

            God is calling His church back to the altar of prayer. In Matthew 21:13 Jesus made this declaration, “And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” We are called to be a “house of prayer for all people.” He meets His people at the altar.


            The altar is a place of encounter. We have a meeting with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the altar of prayer. Catherine Brown defines the altar as “a meeting place between Heaven and earth, where God creates covenant and where a priest offers either sacrifices or gifts.” 


In the New Testament an altar is simply a place of meeting with our God. It could be a prayer closet, our living room, or even the altar in our church. Matthew 6:6 says, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”


In the New Testament we are no longer commanded to build physical altars, but spiritual ones. This is the personal altar which is the inner man of the heart (I Peter 3:4). Proverbs 4:23 says, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”


There is a meeting that takes place at the altar. We meet the One who alone has the power to heal, deliver, and bring breakthrough in our circumstances at the altar. Jesus extends an invitation in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” We encounter the presence of God at the altar of prayer. 

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