May 24
The Mystery of Incense and Prayer (II)
Let my prayer be set before You as incense,
The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
— Psalm 141:2
The height of the Altar was two cubits or three feet. Just about the height of the mouth of the priest when he bowed on his knees to pray. Thus, when He prayed, the prayer came from his mouth to God as a vapor of smoke. The same is true for you. When you bow before God you humble yourself. You are declaring He is supreme and you are there to do His will. From your mouth to His - the vapor of prayer arises.
THE TEST
So now, let’s take another look at this amazing Altar of Incense. The Golden Altar was the smallest of the pieces of furniture in the Tabernacle and many treat the matter of prayer as if it were that small or insignificant. But, what if this altar was actually a test? A test that determines how much mystery you can handle, or whether or not you are personally ready to stand up under the power and presence you will encounter in the next Room of Mystery. What if prayer really is a test before you cross the Veil? In other words, if there is no prayer then you go no further than this Golden Altar. The reality is this - only the pure in heart can pray, and it is the pure in heart that shall see God (Matthew 5:8).
THE SMOKE
What is it that enters you here, as you kneel before the Golden Altar of Incense? Smoke. What is this smoke? It is the Cloud, the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is there to receive and carry your prayer to God. It can pass through the veil, between the woven threads while you are still on your knees. The Jewish Rabbis knew it as the Shekhinah or Glory of God.
It is the cloud that filled Solomon’s Temple and it is here with you – infilling you so you can better pray. Without Him in you, at best, your prayer will be selfish and self-centered.
The Holy Spirit knows what is happening to and in your family, your friends, and the home life of those you know at work. He even knows those you do not, and will touch you to pray, even when you do not know for whom, what, or why you are praying. But, all that matters is that He knows, and He will carry your prayer to the Throne where God will hear and God will act.
THE HEART
Amazingly enough, this Altar is so small it can fit into the heart. Jesus was this Altar of Prayer, and it was this Altar that was in the Heart of Jesus while He prayed in the Garden, just before His crucifixion. In fact, this Altar represents Jesus as He intercedes for you before the Father – so you can do greater things than He did. I know, this is difficult to believe. My taking you on this Tabernacle Journey is in the hope that you will see the beauty of God’s plan for you.
Blessings,
John Paul
29 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Loading ...
Oh Lord…Teach us to pray. /
I want to encourage y’all to “stay the course” and not give up…
You may be thinking to yourself that it seems like you will never enter into the fullness that the Lord has prepared for you. Will you ever fulfill the “priestly” requirements and get beyond the veil?
YES, you will!!!
Not everyone hears the call to go deeper with Him. Because you are reading this wonderful inspired material that John Paul is laboring to get into your spirit, you have already made the first step.
This is the day of “Suddenly” the Lord will enter His temple.
This is the day of acceleration and multiplication of time.
The reaper is overtaking the one sowing.
I got my call to come into the temple in the early seventies–that was almost four decades ago…I had to work through a lot of obcurity to discover a little light here and a little light
there to make my way through and past the veil.
Now there are books, teachings, seminars,etc. and a greater release of the Holy Spirit to enlighten your path and your heart as John Paul is talking about.
Read Philippians 3.
You are on a path to gain Christ Jesus.
Be like Paul–who has not attained, but is PRESSING ON.
Lay hold unto what Christ Jesus had desired to lay hold in you.
Forget your insecurities, fears and stumbling times.
Put your running shoes on, tie your laces and go for it.
Press for the prize (and it is a prize and the treasure in the “secret place” is beyond measure and value) and fulfill this upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
I have gone through a lot of shoes, but I now can stand barefoot before Him as I continue to go deeper. Hallelujah!!!
Dear John Paul, yes I think I can see what you mean when you say the altar of incense-prayer-is a test. As I look back how the Lord has led me since I met Him 16 years ago I understand now the significance of this test.This is what ultimately leads us behind the veil!
At the beginning of my spiritual journey I struggled much with prayer. The first time when I met the Lord He came as a fiery love-presence to me which completely overpowered all my physical senses. From an atheist in a former communist country I became a believer: I knew that He was real, alive and everything that I was taught before was lie. But how do you communicate with a “presence?”
I started to talk to Him first just in my thoughts then out loud. I think hearing my own voice helped me focus on Him. It also gave me the sense of “real” conversation which I greatly longed for. But I quickly discovered that it was not easy to talk to Him. During these times I had to admit that I was the one who did the talking , or I would rather say stuttering, and there was -at least this is how I felt- nothing coming back. In my desperation I cried out to Him and He answered my cry. I received the same answer as the disciples:
NAS Matthew 6:9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.
10 ‘Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.’
He lead me to a book just translated into Hungarian which showed the reader that what we call the Lord’s Prayer is actually a pattern that helps us pray. I took one line at a time and looked up scriptures that explained the meaning of it. I made those 80 or so scriptures into a written prayer and started to pray through it every morning. First it took an hour to read it out loud slowly, really paying attention to every word.
As months and even years passed by I knew every scripture by heart. And things started to happen…Now having them all in my heart I would pause sometimes and take only one in my mind. I took each word, phrase and I started to have questions. As I asked those out loud I could hear a voice inside giving me the answer. I knew it wasn’t mine for the answers were shocking to me. I began to listen to this voice more and more. Now I really understood that He was in me……
Since that day He has taught me to rest in Him. My prayer time has changed greatly. I ask the Holy Spirit to make my whole being- spirit, mind, emotions, will-fully present to Him and He never fails to do it. As I rest in His conscious Presence, at His feet, He is the one who determines what happens during that time. Many times we just enjoy each other’s presence, look into each other’s face. Or express our love for each other in words, songs, either silently or out loud, either in tongues or in languages I speak.Or we “go to places” in heaven or here on the earth. I feel His heart for others as names or faces come to my mind. I listen to His plans and I agree with Him sometimes with just a yes, a nod, sometimes with declaring those plans out loud etc. Now I not just hear but see, touch, smell, taste in the spiritual realm. I KNOW that the veil is torn, taken away!
Love and blessings in Him
Andrea
The CJB “22:41He went about a stone’s throw away from them, kneeled down and prayed,22:42″Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, let not my will but yours be done.”22:43
There appeared to him an angel from heaven giving him strength,22:44and in great anguish he prayed more intensely,so that his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Luke 22:35-46; Genesis 3:15-24; Leviticus 16 “The Jewish Rabbi’s knew it as the Shekhinah or Glory of God.”-His Presence…Amen;Exodus 30:1-10; Isaiah 53; John 14; Hebrews 2/7:25/8:1; James 5:16; Revelation 8:3-4 etc. Beloveds, let us continue this journey together…Proverbs 27:17
“After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!” Rev 19:1
Because the nations of the earth were drunk in the wine of the great harlot’s fornications, they derived salvation from her hand thus they committed fornication with her. It could be just watching TV to get over a bad day. But God saw fit to give the harlot the wine of His wrath. And after her judgment, heaven proclaim, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!” The harlot’s hand is not where we are meant to get our answers. God is a jealous God with eyes of fire. He was angry that the harlot polluted the world with herself. Because of Jesus, we can find God to be our refuge and salvation. All the provision has been made. And we find God to be a strong tower, fortress, refuge and strength in times of difficulties with prayer along with praise and worship. He will give you the kingdom according to His good pleasure, after all He is really all we need. Did He not say that friendship with the world is enmity with Him. James 4:4 I know that we are so used to getting our fix from the world, but if we are honest we know God has made available the kingdom like the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, strengthening of His might for all patience and longsuffering, taking comfort in His example etc…
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Absolutely beautiful, thought provoking and awe inspiring!
Thank you.
Blessings,
ransom33
wow great stuff
lets starts now
abijon 1m89m7
Thank you again John Paul!
It never ceases to amaze me how many times the subject of your blog coincides with what God is talking to me about
Prayer is something that I have had difficulty doing & to actually be disciplined in doing it. It is interesting how many others have mentioned the Lords Prayer, because that is exactly what I have been praying!
Your teaching truly reminds me of who I am & called to be. It gives me the encouragement to ‘keep on keeping on’!
God bless you for sharing what He has shared & revealed to you.
Also, thank you to others who share their experiences/insights on this blog, it is encouraging to hear from you too.
May the Holy Spirit reveal more & more as we learn & yearn to seek our Lord God & His ways.
Love & Blessings,
Kiran
i think what i’m getting from these blogs is a picture of what a real christian life is like. Sometimes it’s hard to understand at first, but the big picture you are giving us makes things clearer. I feel challenged very much, to admit where I am, examine the foundation, and go on from here; to live in truth rather than a false spirituality.
Thank you!
That was a wonderful and insightful post, John Paul, thank you.
Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work. –Oswald Chambers
John Paul,
Thank You.
To be called to pray to be led to pray, to be in love with Jesus, how wonderful. to have the veil removed to experience the Love of Christ and to know the Holy spirit is ever present, brings me to my knees that He is mindful of me as an individual and us as a body, my eyes close in humble awareness that I am beyond blessed.
I really love you John Paul, Thank You.
Kimberly Dale
woodland California
Thank you John Paul for this wonderful teaching!
Thank you Linda Burns for that Word of Encouragement!
Dear John Paul,
Thank you for writing about the Tabernacle of God, the alter of incense, and prayer. I have been wondering a lot of things about our prayers and God’s heart and how they intertwine. When praying, and the vapor arises up and out of our mouths,… I was wondering if that vapor was a mingling of the Holy Spirit and our prayer, because the Holy Spirit helps carry the prayer through the veil, and the smoky incense in the room is inhaled also which helps us pray, like you said. So does the vapor have abit of the golden light in it too?
The Nicolaitane system in the churches, the Lord hates, it is a departure from the word and the Spirit by implementing organization that does away with the freedom of the Spirit to move.
William Branham
What are these Nicolaitanes? The word comes from two Greek words. Nikao, which means to conquer, and laos, which means the laity (the layman-Ed). In plain fact, somebody was doing something in that early church which was conquering the laity. If the laity were being conquered, then it must have been some “authority” there doing it.
And again…
What was it that God hated that was happening in that church? What was going on then, and is now going on today, is exactly what the word Nicolaitane means. The people were being subjected somehow in a way that was absolutely contrary to the Word of God.
This showed forth the day that ceremony and form, ritual and works, would take the place of the Holy Spirit and no longer would charismatic manifestation fill the temple of God. Over them all was the high priest, a man of political power and public influence, portraying what was already in progress, though not too manifested, that is, the church would soon be given over to the leadership of man with man’s plans and man’s ambitions and “Thus Saith The Holy Ghost” would no longer be a living reality. And underneath them all were the temple slaves who had no choice but obedience to the religious hierarchy.
What can this mean but the day would come when the vested clergy, by political maneuvering, state help, and the substitution of Word and Spirit for creeds, dogmas, and human leadship, would enslave the laity while the leaders luxuriated in ill gotten wealth and enjoyed their filthy pleasures, and the poor people who were to be served according to God, now became the servants.
Continue…
You will remember from your own reading that Polycarp was martyred, Too old to flee, and too sincere a man to allow another to hide him and then suffer a penalty for doing so, he gave himself up to death. But before he did, he asked for and was granted permission to pray two hours for his brethren in the Lord, for the governor, for his enemies and his captors. Like the great saints of all ages, and desiring a better resurrection, he stood firm, refusing to deny the Lord, and died with a free conscience.
He was placed at the stake (untied at his own request) and the fire was lit. The fire bent away from his body, refusing to touch him. He was then pierced through with a sword. As this was done, water gushed from his side drowning the flames. His spirit was actually seen to depart in the form of a white dove released from his bosom.
Yet from all this great testimony, this student of John the Revelator was not militant against the Nicolaitane system, for he himself leaned toward organization, not realizing that the desire for fellowship and what appeared like a good plan to foster the work of God was really a trick of the enemy.
With Irenaeus this was not so. He was militant against any form of organization. Also, his life history, wherein he served the Lord, was one of much manifestation in the Holy Spirit; and the Word was taught with unusual clarity and conformity to its original precepts. His churches in France were known to have the gifts of the Spirit among them, for the saints spoke in tongues, prophesied, raised the dead, and healed the sick by the prayer of faith. He saw the danger of any kind of organized brotherhood among the elders, pastors etc. He stood solidly for a unified, Spirit-filled, gift-manifesting local church. And God honored him for the power of God manifested among the saints.
Before Jesus was resurrected (rapture), He was in hell preaching the word and setting the captives free, but His body was in a rich man’s tomb. We are baptized into Christ. Soon like Jesus we will be resurrected. Three days and three nights. God’s timing.
This is symbolic of the hour we are now in, earth is dark and like hell, but the majority of the churches are dead and rich like the Jesus dead body in the rich man’s tomb (without movement) except for a remnant who is the true church in the Spirit with Christ who does the work of the kingdom in the living hell on earth.
And it is organization that killed the church. Social status and financial power elect elders, leadership system that elects the worse kind of people to leadership and puts away the true believers, etc…no wonder why the church is dead.
THE HEART
“Amazing enough, this Altar is so small it can fit into the heart. Jesus was this Altar of prayer and it was this Altar that was in the Heart of Jesus while He prayed in the Garden, just before His crucifixion. In fact, this Altar represents Jesus as He intercedes for you before the Father – so you can do greater things than He did.”
A Brilliant Commentary on Transformation through Encounter.
Our life is not for pleasure, You pray harder,read his word longer,and cry out louder. Why? Is it to get the joy of the LORD? That is coveting! Who can be satisfied with King Jesus just because he is? Lord do this, Lord do that! Wait a minute who is LORD? Seek to know the fellowship of his sufferings! Let this mind be in you. Stop with the, LORD give me your JOY. There is a time for reward,and we will get to that time. Soldiers, a great army is what is being raised up, not complainers limiting the LORD of Glory
Through much tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). Harvest Page 159 - In his will, tribulations are not obstacles; they are gateways into his kingdom. We are entering days when everyone will have tribulation; those who count it joy will have great joy and a peace that will cause a world in turmoil to marvel and seek after God.
As saints gather spontaneously in one another’s homes and community centers home groups and home churches will be born. A great anointing will be upon these home meetings and some of the greatest visitations of the Lord will take place in them. Leaders and ministries will be raised up through them just as Stephen and Philip were in the first church. Some will even send out apostolic teams. Large congregations will begin making home meetings the center of church life. Even without knowing it most of these are being prepared for the time when all large meetings will be banned or will become the targets of violence anad persecution.
I join with all of you good people who love the Lord. Press in soldiers of Christ. And take no thought for your life. He is the Prize. Triumph in his praise. Exalt him above all creatures. Jesus is Lord! Praise you, King of kings and Lord of lords! Blessed be God forever! Receive your rewards Lord Jesus!
John Paul,
I have felt another shift in the spirit. I have followed this blog ever sense summer, knowing the Lord has put me here to read this and prepare for such a time as this.
The song this morning that came to me was the following.
Take me past the outer courts into the holy place
Past the brazen alter
Lord I want to see your face
Pass me by the crowds of people
To the priest who sing their praise
Lord I hunger and thirst for your righteousness
And it’s only found one place
So take me into the Holy of Hollies
Take me in by the blood of the lamb
So take me into the Holy of Hollies
Take the coal cleanse my lips here I am
Blessings JP
Sincerely,
CM
Great post John. Some days I know that the presence of this spiritual reality is there. Other days I cannot focus as much. I probably just need to relax. I desire more spiritual consistency. But He is not the inconsistent one. I have not been consistent.
Yes
John Paul Wrote:
The Holy Spirit knows what is happening to and in your family, your friends, and the home life of those you know at work. He even knows those you do not, and will touch you to pray, even when you do not know for whom, what, or why you are praying. But, all that matters is that He knows and He will carry your prayer to the Throne where God will hear and God will act.
My Response:
Both my husband and I just started our prayer outreach in our local area hospital and it is awesome as to what God is doing in the lives that He has entrusted to us. At the same time that this ministry has taken off, the warfare has increased within our family, namely in the life of our 25 year old daughter, who is bi-polar and self medicating herself with street drugs, namely heroin. After talking with her at great length the other day after an episode, she has disclosed that she is deeply hurt about the rejection that she has been experiencing from her biological father who lives in Texas. And this has caused her such great emotional pain that it actually translated to physical pain to the point that she needed to be on oxycontin, and when the doctors caught on to her they stopped enabling her habit and stopped writing out prescriptions for pain meds. Within the last couple of months she progressed to heroin and got a very bad staph infection which landed her in the hospital and right now she is fighting for her life as I am typing this post.
Both my husband which is her stepfather and myself have been in constant prayer for her break thru within the last 2 weeks. It was so intense that the smell of smoke from the altar of incense every time I get into intercession increased within my nasal passages. This experience with the incense going up has encouraged me to intercede on my daughters behalf more aggressively because apparently the Father wants to let us know that He is working behind the scenes on her behalf in the spirit. There are many things that my daughter has told us to acknowledge that there is definitely an evil presence that is keeping her a slave to this addiction, because she does not want to be on the stuff, she has even cried out in the hospital that she feels she is dying and that she doesn’t want to die but she is feeling weak and out of control and she needs help. Then these words along with the smoke from the altar of incense within my being came to my spirit, “You Shall Not Die, but you shall live to declare the works of the Lord!” and then all of sudden she got peaceful and felt something lift from her. The reason I am writing this is that I do trust people on this blog who come to this room on a regular basis to pray for my daughter and those who have a dual diagnosis of addiction and mental illness that they submit their wills to the will of the Father and that He will reveal His love to them to melt away the pain of rejection. On Friday night I did lead my daughter back to the Lord, she first got saved and gave her life to the Lord when she was 3 and we both prayed together, prayer’s that we prayed when she was a young girl. I realized that this would be a good place to start while she was connected to the IV and no place to go. Based on what she disclosed in her spiritual experiences while she was using I discerned that she needed to re-establish a prayer connection to the Lord and to rededicate her life back to Him.
This is only the beginning for my daughter in her struggle to become clean physically and spiritually in order to insure a full cooperation with the Lord in her transformation process. I suppose that this is her transition and so now there needs to be accountability and sustained prayer in the continuance of securing the victory. And please pray for me for wisdom because I need to use “TOUGH LOVE” to make sure that she gets the right help so we can keep her alive! I believe that there are many out there who read this blog and know of close relatives that are struggling with this kind of addiction who either have died and are fighting for their life to stay alive. Prayer can be the life support system for our loved ones at the Altar of Incense!
In His Love, Mercy and Grace,
Shirley C.
Shirley C,
I was”touched” by your outpouring today.
After prayer for you, I felt the Holy Spirit whispered into my spirit to tell you to “Cast” all your cares upon Him, because He cares for you, Shirley C.
I live near a large river. (I am no fisher woman)
When my husband teaches our grandchildren to fish, he tells them to “cast” their fishing lines out as far as their lines will go.
Vision yourself with a rod in your hands. Instead of
bait on the end of your hook, see yourself putting all your pains, struggles, heartaches, etc. (It might help to even make a list of all these.)
Now Shirley see yourself “casting” all these problems into God’s river or stream of Life.
Believe that when you reel in your line—that you will reel in God’s peace, God’s joy, God’s love and God’s answers for you and your family.
A word of warning—don’t cast in doubt or you will just reel your same problems back.
By faith believe He will take your problematic bait (your cares) off the hook and replace it with the answers and solution you are seeking.
I will look forward to reading your blogs in the future and hearing the answers that come in His perfect timing.
Your new friend and sister in Christ,
Linda Burns
Prayer… what a powerful, effective and often neglected privilege. (Raising hand because I am guilty of this.)
To catch the heart and ear of God and then realize He caught ours first.
The disciples realized that prayer was a source or opening point for the supernatural asked Him to teach them how to pray. They didn’t ask, Lord teach us how to cast out devils or how to heal the sick. No, they simply asked, teach us how to pray.
As the singer says… “Thank God for unanswered prayers” as His plan plays out and we see that our prayers were selfishly motivated. (Raising hand because I am guilty of this.)
Here is one simple prayer that I have found to be effective. Lord, I give you permission to do the things you want and need to do in my life.
Thanks and blessings to all of you and to JP for sharing such wonderful insights into the Holy things of God.
David
As always the revelation that John Paul explains wonderfully, so deep a well is his knowlegde to help guide us. As in faith we move in closer into the Holy of Holies Jesus brings our prayer,what is in our hearts as his children a closer facet on the lords love to his children. The alter of incense experience Jesus capturing the prayers of the saints pouring into the heart of Father God as the Holy Spirit moves His Glory already has the perfect answer on the way as created from the Throne On High and carried out by the spirit from the spirit realm into the natural realm in his perfect time and will. Shirley I’m praying for your daughter, I too have grown children battling addictions,please pray for me & my family also. I could write a book on warfare with the enemy lately, Higher levels bigger devils is so true,As we move closer the devil attacks,be glad your equally yoked you can pray thru with your husband, i just got divorced recently, he tempts our loved ones at their weakest point, but never-the- less holdfast in faith,keep praying believe for the miracle. God is so Good. Stay encouraged! Blessings & thanks JP
The Lord Jesus wants us to watch for the day of the Rapture, He is coming back soon for a church who is ready for Him very soon. And this is very important in His heart to get ready for this event. Everyday in the office, i check this forum and have been watching for His return with the articles they post. Hope it blesses you.
http://heavenissoreal.info/forum/index.php
Wisdom with numbers are found here.
http://www.fivedoves.com/
I can’t pray all the time, neither can i read the bible all day long, but with exceptions to naps when i am tried or short breaks etc.., i am always busy with the things of God.
Thank You John Paul Jackson for your teaching, I have bought a few books and I especially Love the 365 Names of God Cd, I play all the time. Thank You for Blessing me and many many others,
In His Joy,
Elida
To Linda Burns,
Thank you for staying the course and giving me the encouragement I needed right at the moment I needed it. You are a true Champion of the faith. And I know you have struggled like us all. But you can be proud that yu are a good soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ. I salute You! Blessed be the holy Name of Jesus, our King, our Redeemer, our Life! Love, Holly