2) The Core Altar

Introduction:

Recap: 4 Altars of Prayer (5 Altars, Rick Dubose)

Book img. > “In Jesus Name” 5 Altars…

1. Personal Altar - Removal, Xp in hvn, gain oth.-focused worldv!

Two concepts developed in this book illuminate today >>

The Mountain & the Valley

The Mountain is space reserved for personal meetings with God

“Prayer closet” sometimes called; named by Jesus.

Matthew 6:6 “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.”

Pers. altar (lst wk). Spiritual work!

Pressing in; “drawing near”; seeking… make cert. time (not just Sun) to pray & seek.

The Valley, otohand, is the performative work done leading & serving others

Important work tha tneeds done! Have humor’s video illustrates this idea:

VIDEO: Volunteer apocalypse.

We need dedic. vols who love :

shaking hands & smiling, passing coll. plate

wiping a snotty nose or kneeling to tell at hyper kid that JC loves them

remind teens, "some1 DOES ‘get U’” & He is for them & wants their whole lives…

Need good parents 2B sturdy found.: kids safe; grow 2B secure, healthy ad

Need elder adults who take young man/wom. under wing & disciple & advise & walk with them.

We need ppl like YOU. However… that’s very true, AND >

It’s easy as humans to work and serve in the valley - feels productive

We like to affect the world around us. Make impact, feel want/needed

Not feeling impactful, patience & pass. wanes…

“What do I do if I feel my passion draining? Desire to serve, be prod. mem of church/fam??”

If not being bolstered, filled, empwr’d in Mt., our valley work will suffer or even destroy…

The time spent calling on the name of hte Lord, seeking pres./ voice important!

“Prayer is each of our CALLING & should be a priority, as Christians.” - Rick Dubose

We may think we need one another in practical work/needs of comm/fam/ church… as much in the Spiritual work!

We need >>

Partners in Prayer

The most excellent examples of this support comes at a time when Moses was used (proph. role) to influence a battle’s outcome.

Isr. was ambushed in desert & fought back.

Exodus 17:11–13 “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.”

This was an amazing Spiritual victory. Something symbolic happ’g when Mo’ lifted hands…

This Spiritual work happ’g on hill was hard. On the hill, Mo’ felt weakness coming on, & affected battle in valley!

So Moses’ core team - close support- stepped in.

We NEED others to back us up in prayer!

When Pentec. fell, no accident that the disc. were together! 120!

If we desire the HS fire on which denom. found’d, by whom empw’d; need others backing us up in prayr!

NEED that core altar.

I need it! Can’t do min. w/o your coveted prayers! Know have fam. & many others (dist. leadr’p, YOU) lift’g me up in prayer.

Honestly, know I’d be lost w/o those who intercede on my behalf!

Mommom’s prayer list — grandpop picked up where she left off.

“I need a Core Altar Because of:”

If prayer was simple, painless, we’d all do it all time!

Easy to forget, slip up, get distracted.

Two things to think about, as you consider the need for prayer partners. First, >>

Pitfalls surrounding Prayer

Prayer is NOT easy. Work.

Any good work, our adverary will try and thwart!

Prayer changes things - drums up resistence.

“My prayer is that when I die, all of hell rejoices that I am out of the fight. -CS Lewis”

May our prayer life echo Lewis’ when we pass…

Many different ways we are challenged in our prayer time. None more difficult than >>

(For Consistency )

“The challenge is not starting to pray, but continuing to pray.” - Rick Dubose

Easy to realize/ underst. what God suppl on the Mt.top & get lost in valley-wrk

Slip back into doing ministry/marr./ parenting in your own pwr/skill!

Battle for our prayer time out there! God jealous for it, Satan hates it!

Where Spirit’l battle/realm gets real. No coincidence.

You need some1 to walk with you and be pray’g FOR you.

AP tells us to never stop praying! Not give up.

Ephesians 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

Spiritual prayers, intercessions, HS prayers (tongue), requests!

NO matter what/who you’re praying for, need some1 to back U up & pray by side - help stay consistent!

Whether by disappointment or lack passion, accountability in prayer is important.

‘Times we need healthy peer pressure to keep a consistent prayer walk!

“If I don’t pray for/with them, i”ll be letting them down.”

We def. need a core altar of pray-ers by our side; for consistency & >>

(Agasint Disctration )

The average internet-connected person sees ~3000 ads per day!

As we’ve discussed, each Ad wants to draw your ire or your curiosity or your emotion somehow.

Geared to make you FEEL something. So you respond, react, share, buy etc

Targeted at your pocket > billboard today! Great little ad-machine

Add’ly, hobbies, passions, celeb, & ent’t all need check’g up on!

Not inherently bad, but can consuuume attn.s! Easily. Binge, stream, follow, share, invest.

Prayer seems like boring escapade in comparison! ‘Where’s dopamine hit?!’

Too easy to let fall by wayside to distraction.

CORE prayer time leads to prioritizing time, supported by others, in prayer to almighty.

The more we hear from YH, ‘times feels like MORE have to do! X reminds:

Luke 21:34 ““Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.”

and Solomon:

Proverbs 4:25–27 “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

Our prayer partnerships help keep us anchored into Jesus when even good things try to sneak us away!

NEED Core altar for consistency, distration. Possibly hardest chall'ge to prayer life>>

(Against Weariness )

Instant gratification makes it particularly diff. for younger generations to hold to any task.

Studies show that avg adult 2024 has attn. span of 8sec! -25% from 2000!

Stop difficult task to inject some ‘fun’ game time or vid time on phone… “guilty!”

However, this been prob. way b4 SM was around. Jesus in garden:

Preparing for hardest time of life, prepared on Spir’l battleground.

X faced down tempt. to not follw through; expr. anxiety at future…

Luke 22:44–46 “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.””

Disc. failed X when needed th’m most bc they were “exhausted”. Relatable?

Truly knowing exhaustion of His Spir'l battle; Jesus dismayed disc. let him down.

Happens to best of us! Ever dozed off in prayer?

Despite our physical limitations, prayer partners can push us to carry on.

Need Aarons & Hurs in our life who will motivate us, sustain us, help us to maintain Spir’l fortitude that my personal battles necessitate!

Exodus 17:12 “When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.”

Mo’ surrounded ‘mself with ppl that knew how to support a Spiritual battle

It’s not only for neg. reasons that we need prayr support; We need a core grp because of the >>

the Powerful Potential of Prayer

Studying true outbreak of revival, common theme: steeped in prayer!

Jonathan Edwards: soft-spoken, reserved, quiet (mid-1700’s) lead great spir’l awkng in NE US!

What could empower this softspoken, bookish man to preach boldly and with fire? He spent time on the MT!

“The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from prayer. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.” - Jonathan Edwards

Prayer has the power to:

break patterns of sin in your life;

raise the dead or dying back to life;

set you on new trajectory in your life - give you new purpose;

bring life to your words when before there was death or indecision;

upset or disturb the affairs of our ruling bodies such that the purposes of Christ are implemented;

provide courage and boldness to step into the call of God in our lives;

shake up the sin or conceit in another and draw them to repentance.

DO YOU BELIEVE IT CHURCH?!

If you want God-glorifying success in your life, you MUST commit to the habit (privelidge, honor) of praying.

AND - if you’re believing for God to move in an area of your life, you’re going to need support!

As your faith grows, so do prayers, need for CORE pray-ers.

Those with weak faith, don’t ask others to partner in prayer.

May God give us large prayers that requie help to lift!

James 5:13–16 “Is anyone among you [suffering]? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

James discusses a few ways to pray here - gathering a core group of believers around you to pray is one.

Sums it up by reminding readers: Your prayers are POWERFUL & effective!

“When we pray, God’s artmy is moved.” -Rick Dubose

Maybe you don’t feel you’re called to start a revival or be a missionary — 1. don’t sell yourself short!

2. What God has placed you on this earth for is still momentous!

3. don’t think for a sec. we can accomplish even Grt. Comm. on own str.!

Have faith to believe (consider this your reminder) that your prayers make a diff.!

God’s heart is moved, angels mobilized, blessings prepared

Not a gumball machine; all in His timing & omnip't grace…

but I’m reminding you today — stuff is GOING DOWN when u pray! U need backup.

I want to close by briefly giving you some practical steps for your core altar and then we’re going to close in prayer.

Building Your Core Altar:

1. Identify those who are already praying.

Seek out someone you know already has a habit of prayer

Track them down, write an email, send snail mail, && >>

2. Ask them to pray with you.

Take the next big step and actually ask.

May be harder than it seems. Opening up your prayer time to another person is challenging.

Begins that accountabilty process…

THEN >>

3. Make time to pray together.

This core group or core person should be ON the calendar! monthly, weekly, biweekly — make time to pray with them!

PRAYER TIME