A Pattern of Prayer (pt. 2)

Text: Luke 6:12-16

Intro: We are continuing our study of the Tabernacle today and it is a model for us in prayer. The reason that we are starting off here in Luke is because the Tabernacle represented the place where man could come to have a relationship with God, and Christ fulfilled that physical Tabernacle through His body. When we consider the 12 names here from our text and if we were to study them today, we would notice similarities in that they all forsook who they were and followed Christ, but we would also see that they differed in their relationship to Christ.

Jesus chose 12 men, and of the twelve, we know that eleven would remain. Of the eleven, we see a distinction regarding three of them and their relationship with Christ… (Peter, James, and John) We sometimes refer to them as the inner three or say that they were in the inner circle. The reason for this is that these three men were with Christ at times, the others were not...

Transfiguration

Jairus’ Daughter

Prayer in the garden where he was sorrowful and very heavy.

I wanted to start here because I want us to consider the truth concerning these men. As we study the Bible, we see that the calling and equipping of these twelve men is exactly the same, but what made them differ concerning their access and nearness to Christ? Did God choose them specifically out of the twelve for a special assignment? It simply comes down to their willingness to be drawn into a nearness with their God!

So, as we take our next steps into the Tabernacle, we will be leaving behind 9 men that, at least during the earthly ministry of Christ, we don’t see them take the step out of the courtyard and into the Holy Place…

Imagine: I want you to close your eyes and envision this with me. The brazen laver is behind us now, and we look towards the inner circle or the Holy Place within the Tabernacle itself. As we approach, we notice five golden pillars before us, and they are stunning… Their hooks, chapiters, and pillars are gold, with their sockets being brass. We pause for a moment to recognize that each one of the pillars has its golden chapiter on top and that each one is making a statement concerning our Lord, and we are brought to the Scriptures!

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

We see linen hanging for the door of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen with needlework we have never seen before hanging from its hooks. As we step through this hanging and it closes behind us, our eyes take a moment to adjust because we are leaving the natural light and stepping into the light of the Holy Place, and as our eyes adjust, we are drawn first to the light source within this room. It is just to our left (South side), and we notice that it is a candlestick with seven lamps that are all burning brightly with fire!

Now, in our pattern for prayer, we started with the:

Gate/Court – We established this is the time of thanksgiving and praise.

Brazen Altar - This is where we yield and present the members of our body as a living sacrifice.

The brazen laver- This is where we are washed and cleansed by looking into the word of God and seeing what God sees, saying what God says, and then doing what God says to do...

Each of these first steps was in preparation for our entrance into the most Holy Presence of our God!

1. The Candlestick - Is the place of emptying and filling!

Revelation 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Revelation 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Seven Spirits of God?!? Isn’t there just One?

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

Yes, there is ONE Spirit...

Exodus 25:36 Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.

The Candlestick is all ONE piece of gold, and yet it has seven branches. This sets before us as a picture of the sevenfold manifestations or ministry of the ONE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD!!!

Isaiah 11:2And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;

It’s here in our prayer that we recognize the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives... Practically, it is the place in our prayer that we take the time to empty ourselves of ourselves so that we might be, as (Ephesians 5:18) admonishes us to be… “filled by the Spirit of God;”

It is important that we catch this… It is only through our being “filled with the Spirit” that we can do what (Gal. 5:16) commands us to “walk in the Spirit”

Don’t miss this, because it is only through our “walk in the Spirit” that we are then able to manifest what (Gal. 5:22-23) calls us to manifest through our lives which is the “Fruit of the Spirit”

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this in our prayers on a daily basis! That is because the whole Christian life is wrapped up in the candlestick.

Every day, as believers, we all get two options… That is it...

1. Filled with the Spirit

2. Filled with the flesh

Which will result in us either...

1. Walking in the Spirit

2. Walking in the flesh

Which then will result in us either...

1. Manifesting the fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22–23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

2. Manifesting the fruit of our flesh

Galatians 5:19–21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

The answer to overcoming sin isn’t working on them, it isn’t working at it, and it certainly isn’t strong-arming myself into submission or suppressing them...

The answer is being filled with the Spirit so that we walk in the Spirit, and through that, we manifest the fruit of the Spirit!

Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

The answer to the flesh is never the flesh… The answer is at the candlestick… Where we empty ourselves by ourselves so that the Spirit can fill us and then manifest the fruit of the Spirit!

2. The Candlestick is the place of Illumination!

After being at the candle stick in prayer, we are about to walk to the other side of the Holy Place to the Table of Shewbread, which we will see is a picture of the word of God!

The Bible teaches us a truth concerning our flesh and our learning the word of God...

1 Corinthians 2:9–13 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

It is why Paul prays in,

Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Our understanding of the Bible is the work of the Holy Spirit and takes place here at the candlestick!

Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, That I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

The Candlestick...

The candlestick is the place in our prayer where we empty ourselves of ourselves and where we are filled with the Spirit of God; it is where we receive that precious illumination of the word of God because a supernatural book requires supernatural help in interpreting it!

I said earlier that the Christian life is wrapped up in the candlestick because it is. I cannot tell you how many years I walked this Christian life in my flesh… Trying to strong-arm my way through it while building and guarding many strongholds that only hurt me, hurt people, and hurt the God that I claimed in all of it to love...

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:13–14 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Before Christ ascended in the book of Acts, He said to His disciples...

Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Could you imagine if they went out to preach without the Holy Ghost? What a disaster that would have been…

They waited as Christ commanded them, they were empowered as Christ said they would be, and they were filled with the Spirit; they walked in Him, they manifested His fruit, and it resulted in three thousand souls being saved by the end of Acts 2…

I am afraid that we live in a time where we do not see the necessity of the Spirit of God! Christ's earthly ministry did not start publicly until the Spirit came upon Him like a dove. Why do we think that we are better than He?

The Christian life is wrapped up in the candlestick… I am only effective through and by the work of the candlestick...

The Table of Shewbread:

The Table of Shewbread is the place in our prayer where we receive nourishment and equipping!

One side of the most holy place is characterized by light, and the other is characterized by bread. Bread, of course, in the Bible is representative of the word of God.

Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Simply stating that we do not live by physical bread but by every word of God!

A few aspects about the table of shewbread.

Exodus 25:23–24 Thou shalt also make a table ofshittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.

Leviticus 24:5 And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake.

Today, we would refer to these cakes of bread as loaves of bread. We see that there are 12 of them, which undoubtedly, historically, represents the 12 tribes of Israel. These loaves are laid out on a table and set upon pure gold; just think of that for a moment.

Exodus 40:23 And he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

God had an order, like He has with everything in the Tabernacle. The details of this thing are incredible, and the more I study it, the more I realize that it is all here for a purpose…

Leviticus 24:6 And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord.

Exodus 25:30 And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.

Numbers 4:7And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:

Here, by its very name, we get the idea that there is something about the contents of this table that God is looking to show us…

As we have already established, the bread is a picture or representation of the word of God.

And we have already seen that it is laid out in two rows of six.

Gold in our Bible represents deity, and here we have this understanding that the word of God did not come by the hands of man… But it was of divine origin, and it came from none other than God Himself, and He wanted it laid out in two stacks of six because the Scriptures contain 66 books. We can’t come to this table and miss the connection of this thing representing the word of God.

Practically, this is the time in our prayer when we prepare ourselves to consume the word of God, and we seek God to apply that which we have already consumed.

Leviticus 24:8–9 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statute.

This signifies to us, as New Testament priests, the daily consumption of the word of God.

Jesus prayed in the model prayer.

Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.

We come to the table in the prayer of our hearts that we might approach the word of God as Jeremiah did.

Jeremiah 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.

And so, we pray, Oh Lord, may I find in the word that you would have for me today, and eat it, and let it be unto me, my joy and the rejoicing of my heart.

and like Job did...

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

And here we pray, Lord, as I read your word today, help me to esteem the words of your mouth, and as I eat physical food to sustain me, help me to see the necessity of my consumption of that spiritual bread found in your word.

Alter of Incense:

So, we arrive at the Altar of Incense. The Bible teaches us that this was the place where the High Priest would burn incense unto the Lord and that incense was a picture of prayer.

Exodus 30:7 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.

When the high priest would burn that incense, what would happen is the smoke from that incense would fill the room, not just the holy place, but it would also permeate through the veil and fill the most holy place.

As we are going through this study, we must remember that this is just a picture. Although the physical Tabernacle in the Old Testament was real, it was still and is to us a picture of a breathtaking reality, which the Bible calls a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, which is in heaven. Heb. 9:11

Practically, in our prayers, the Altar of Incense is the place of casting and requesting. Back when we entered the gates, we said back then that prayer was not about petitioning but praising, but we also said that God affords us a place where we petition, and this is it. It is as Peter spoke of us...

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

and as Paul says

Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Well in heaven, when we pray, God looks to the Son and the Spirit and says, hmmm, do you smell that! That is the sweet savor of the praying saints on earth!

Now, that is how God views prayers...

But do you know how we view it?

Like a ball and chain… it is the necessary evil that gives me a guilt trip every day because I never spend enough time here...

But when we get into this place, and we see how God views our prayers, and we see all the intimacy of our relationship with God that we are actually missing out on, God uses this place to begin to change our view and transform our thinking and renew our mind, and it is as if from the altar of incense that we hear the Lord Jesus...

Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; And the lifting up of my hands asthe evening sacrifice.

Psalm 27:5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock.

Church, do you understand what we are missing out on???

We follow Paul to the altar of incense...

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

We follow Hannah...

1 Samuel 1:15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.

Most importantly, we follow our Lord Jesus Christ to this altar...

Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

And that is what the altar of incense is all about; it is that place daily where we come and cast all our cares upon Him, and it is that place where we make all of our requests known unto God!

Recap:

Gate / Court: Thanksgiving and Praising

Brazen Altar: Yielding and Presenting

Brazen Laver: Washing and Cleansing

These three are what prepare our hearts to enter the Holy Place:

Candlestick: Emptying and Filling

Table of Shewbread: Nourishing and Equipping

Altar of Incense: Casting and Requesting

These three are what prepare our hearts to enter The Most Holy Place:

Where we find the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat: This is where we have finally entered the dwelling place of God, and this is the place in our prayer time of Worshiping and Fellow Shipping.

In the book of Exodus, the High Priest visited the holy place every day. In fact, it was visited twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Exodus 30:7–8 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lordthroughout your generations.

However, The Most Holy Place was only entered once a year, on the day of atonement. The high priest would take the golden censer from off the altar of incense, then take the blood from the sin offering, and by it, he would enter the most significant place on earth, The Most Holy Place.

It wasn’t the most significant because it was where one could find the fountain of youth there...

…or because it was the place of prosperity there in the way of worldly riches or even longevity...

It was the most significant place because it was the place where the presence of God was made fully manifest!

Do you realize that if we were living in the time of the Old Testament and came to the Tabernacle of our Lord, even if we were one of the sons of Aaron, we would have never entered this place? That was reserved for one man, and it only happened one day a year, and it had one purpose: to atone for his sins and the sins of the nation of Israel...

Hebrews 9:7–8 But into the second wentthe high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

Listen, prior to Christ, although God dwelt with man and desired to dwell with man, there was still a division between Him and the people. We know it as the veil which hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.

Matthew 27:50–51 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

This being “rent in twain from top to the bottom” symbolized that God had made a way to Himself for man, and certainly not that man had made a way for himself to God. Look at what took place on the earth when this happened.

Because of what happened on that day, you and I have the unbelievable privilege to do what no human being has had the opportunity to do on this planet for thousands of years, and we have it available to us every day!

That is what the Bible tells us in...

Hebrews 10:19–20 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Today, as we stand before these pillars that hold the veil, we notice that there are four of them, and we notice first that they are without the statement piece on top, and compared to the last ones, they have the appearance of almost being cut down… That is because...

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

They appear this way because He was slain, sacrificed, and (cut down) on behalf of all those who would receive Him as their own! And as we continue to grow in our understanding of who Christ is and all that I am in Christ, I understand that He is like these four golden pillars that uphold and sustain us all in the sight and presence of God. They represent...

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

And so, we enter the holiest, not by anything I have done, but by the blood of Christ! Upon entrance, our attention is immediately drawn to the instrument in the center of the room!

The Ark of the Covenant is a golden box, and what it symbolizes for us here on earth is the throne of God. Now, what is set upon that throne, a cover that is made completely and entirely of pure gold, and we know it as the Mercy Seat!

We mentioned already that this is a place of worshipping and fellowshipping!

Everything, up to this point, had prepared us for this time. All the thanking and praising, the yielding and presenting, the washing and cleansing, the emptying and the filling, the nourishing and the equipping, the casting, and the requesting has prepared us for our time of worshipping and fellowshipping!

everything in the Tabernacle is linear except for two things. We come to the candlestick empty-handed so that we might leave the candlestick with the Spirit. From the candlestick, we went to the Table of Shewbread, which represents the word of God, and here we leave equipped in our hands with truth.

We came empty-handed so that we might leave those two places and approach God as John says...

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

We entered the Holy Place with nothing, and we leave the Holy Place with the things that make us holy. We approach God to worship Him, and the only way is to come hand in hand in Spirit and in Truth!

Here in the presence of God, we are brought to places in the Scriptures like...

Revelation 4:10–11 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Listen, one day this will be the reality for us, but what if until that day, we could bring just a piece of that every single day into our lives as we come into the Most Holy Place and we declare the same kind of worship that we will that day, when we come into His presence. God affords us through prayer the same kind of privilege that we will have then!

Like Isaiah… Where for us, getting into the presence of God can become such a reality that we can almost hear the seraphim when they cry...

Isaiah 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lordof hosts: The whole earth is full of his glory. And after seeing the Lord, high and lifted up! We see ourselves truly for who we are...

Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

and it is there that we hear the voice of the Lord...

Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here amI; send me.

Listen, we hear things that we have never heard before… I’m not talking about hearing things that are not here… I am talking about letting God speak to you through His word from His throne. Because it is here that we are finally seeing clearly, and we are finally thinking clearly, and we are finally hearing clearly… and we find ourselves presenting to Him what we have never fully been able to present to Him...

A heart that is fully surrendered which says,… Here am I; send me...

That is truly what I call meeting with God!

Exodus 33:18-23, Exodus 34:29-35

Why is this prayer important? Because we are missing out on the opportunity to worship God!

Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

How easy it is to come to church, serve God, preach, teach, lead music, greet, work in the nursery, and clean the building and snow, thinking we have it all, not even realizing that we are missing what is most important. Without worship, do you know what all that service is? It is work… There is no radiating glory, there is no joy, there is no satisfaction… And there is no glory for the Lord… It is a treasure box full of wood, hay, and stubble…

Imagine your prayer life, being one that gets into the Most Holy presence of our God each day like that… Do you think that it would change your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ?