Aug 9
The Incense of Prayer (I)
“Prayer does not change God, it changes man.”
Abraham Heschel
The focus of prayer is not prayer, it is God. You will come to understand that prayer does not necessarily make you feel at home in this universe, in fact it actually prepares you to no longer feel at home in this universe. Kneeling before this Golden Altar of Incense, you not only find it increasingly necessary to pray, you find you are actually beginning to long to pray.
PREPARING FOR ETERNITY
Your prayer does not have to be an hour in length, thirty minutes in length, or even ten minutes long. What is important is that you are actually thinking about prayer, thinking you should pray, and now longing to pray. The time you spend will take care of itself. The next Room of Mystery, the Holy of Holies, is all about Eternity. There is no time there. In that room you will meet He who inhabits Eternity (Isaiah 57:15)
THE WORDS YOU SPEAK
All true prayer begins with God placing thoughts in your mind about what to pray. He does this by and through His Holy Spirit. That transfer of thought comes only as to increase your focus on Him. The Holy Spirit, as you reach the focal point, enters your spirit and prayer comes forth. Think about this; did you know that all prayer begins with you taking a breath in. That is right, you inhale and there is a reason for that - it is symbolic and it is God’s way of telling you that His Spirit is entering you to help you pray. Only then do you utter back what you think are your words, but they are really His.
ANSWERED PRAYER
Answered prayer is the completion of a cycle; “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things …” Romans 11:36. In other words, Prayer is you returning to God what He desires you to pray. So He can give you your desire. That is why I wrote the words - ‘true’ prayer. For all prayer is not true prayer. There is a lot of carnal, Earthly prayer being done today, but that is another post for another time. For now we will focus on ‘true’ prayer because that is where we all want to head toward.
INGREDIENTS OF PRAYER
There are five foundational types of prayer and five ingredients blended in perfect balance burning on the Altar before you. Yes, there are other types of prayer, but I believe they will fit within the parameters of these five. The five foundational prayers are Devotion, Adoration, Intercession, Supplication, and Contemplation. These five foundations of prayer correlate with the five spices that were perfectly balanced and blended together as the Incense that would burn on top of the Golden Altar of Incense.
The five spices that were burned and arose to God as a “sweet fragrance” were Stacte, Onycha, Galbanum, Frankincense, and Salt. The aromas of the first three of these are naturally sweet. The aroma of the last two, Frankincense and salt are not sweet, but when blended with the other three they become sweet. Like so many things in your life there times when what seems bitter in itself, becomes sweet in light of the whole.
THY KINGDOM COME
Prayer, links God with this world - prayer links God to you. When you pray you expand His presence in both. Prayer is then the first way to bring God’s Kingdom to Earth as it is in Heaven and in a way also brings you into Heaven - even if for only a moment the constraints of time are lost and Eternity is found.
Thus, as Heschel also said and you will find, “God is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance.”
True Prayer reveals His supremacy to your heart - it can be found in no other way.
Blessings,
John Paul
14 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Loading ...
Stunning way of understanding prayer!
God Bless…
Spending time in prayer—is like spending time with the Perfumer.
I thought of Esther (a type of the bride of Christ). Before she was presented to the King–she went through six months of myrrh (bitter spices) and six months of sweet spices in the purification process.
It was her destiny to “pray”— intercede for her people. She had gained maturity to pray because she yielded to the process.
As we yield our lives to the Perfumer (Holy Spirit), at the altar of incense, He will carefully extract, measure out and blend this precious compound inside of us. We must trust the Perfumer that He knows how much fire it will take to make us holy, pure and a sweet fragrance for others to inhale.
“Light” me when I am ready,
Linda
Do others perceive me as the one in control? I made a mistake, i shall confess that i have little control, in fact the Lord is to me and us what others perceive as ‘me’, but its the Lord, that’s why i can sleep soundly at night. It looks like me but its the Lord, i am just a conduit for Him to manifest. I realised that He deals with people all along. I want to write this because He has judged me, though i always tried to be humble, but He has still judged me, now i give Him credit because it was a misrepresentation all along; so it is the Lord not me. I rest in Him for what is ahead. He will manifest. Now, concerning prayer, i have been through stages, isn’t the ability to pray for ‘long periods’ rather the ability to know how to rest, stop for a few moments, breathe well and pace yourself? This works for me, i don’t know about you. I follow the Holy Spirit.
Hello to JP and to all the brethren,
A quote from Sojourner Truth, “We are in God like a fish is in water.” It is good to hear from you Linda Burns. Your words always bring refreshment. It is true the Lord knows just how to mix the spices in our lives. A little bitter with a little sweet. Blessings upon you all. Holly
As our prayers like bitter sweet aroma of incense, so also the salty tears we’ve cryed to the Lord has saved in jars in heaven.
HI there
Many years ago here in New Zealand a group of us had the privilege of sitting under one of the body’s amazing prophetic/apostolic teachers “Tamara Winslow” from Colorado. She taught on the five spices mentioned. What Tamara imparted about these spices & what they mean was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! These spices come at a price. Was wondering if you will be talking on the significance of these spices. Love having coffe time & always anticipate it with much enthusiasm. Thank you so very much!!!
Ps. 56:8 (Catholic Living Bible) You have seen me tossing and turning through the night. You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle! You have recorded every one in your book. The very day I call for help, the tide of battle turns. My enemies flee! This one thing I know: God is for me! I am trusting God-Oh, praise his promises. I am not afraid of anything mere man could do to me! Yes, praise his promises!
We are meeting people who have had great adversity throughout their lives out here wandering with the Lord through the homeless camps. To have the priviledge of hearing their stories and identifying with their pain is an honor. Please remember the homeless, tired, and worn today as well as the incarcerated brethren throughout America in your prayers. And that Richard and I would be empowered to minister grace to those most in need and those cases most despaired of.(Steve, Dave, and Brian). We need miracles! (especially pray for Flash, a cross-gendered woman who has been on her own since she was 3 years old, fighting her way through life just to survive.)Please help us pray for the faithful brethren in Arizona State Prison. They have asked us for prayer because the prison is downsizing and wants to eliminate the faith pod where they now live. Also there are men from the state of Alaska who do not want to be sent back there. The Lord is working in this prison. Pray for Larry who has completely turned his life around and works to reverse the damage he caused from operating a Meth lab. We have names of christian inmates in need of mail if anyone wants to write. God bless you today in all your adventures with the Lord. Thank you for your prayerful support. Love, Holly
Check out this music video with the Lord’s Prayer. This is awesome! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGAZVASoUv4
Blessings
The end of January the Lord put me in a “sabbatical” season. Sometimes I question all the rest and staying hidden, but I know He knows what He is working in and out of my life. It doesn’t have to make sense to me.
I enjoy reading all the exploits like Holly is experiencing and you all are doing to advance the Kingdom. Keep the good reports coming in.
John Paul, I noticed on Facebook that you have released these same notes, but that a different audience responds. What I would say and release here on Coffee Talk would be a totally different response on Facebook.
Here I am close enough to hear the heartbeat of God, and on Facebook it is like I have moved further out and am holding His hand. There is a different atmosphere at each site.
I know it is good to intermingle and learn to flow different ways—just don’t lose your integrity with new freedom.
God bless all of you today!!! Whose turn is it to bring dessert with our coffee and tea as we fellowship?
Love y’all,
Linda
Hi Linda:
I do not think we are releasing the full blog on facebook are we?
We are not releasing the comments on facebook are we?
If we are, please let me know.
John Paul:
I am with Linda, I definitely like the prayerful atmosphere on this site. It is like an online retreat. I am in a deeper place because of it. The ways that others have responded on FB is very casual in nature. Probably due to the fact that the FB people haven’t taken the time to pray and to process through the spiritual wealth that is characteristic of the content of this blog. Food for thought. Keep the flow coming, its great stuff!
Blessings,
Shirley C.
John Paul,
This is the first quality time that I have been able to sit down and give you my full attention to your response to my comment.
First, I react as a “priest” and “watchman”—Over the years God has imparted to me the importance of separating and distinguishing between the holy and unholy–and between the clean and the unclean. This is just a reflection about me. I am not trying to be judgmental or harsh.
You have worked very hard to set the scene inside the temple—You have created this awesome atmosphere that breathes God—You have inspired your followers of Coffee Talk blog. to stretch–to go deeper and yes, higher as we move about. It is like you have been building up to a crescendo. You have led us through these discussions because the Holy Spirit has released this priestly drama to you.
Those of us that have been following along and participating are feeling that we are going to arrive at this predetermined destination together. We have been faithful at each room–at each piece of furniture–to allow the Holy Spirit to broaden our vision—-even when we’ve been in the dark.
Then you leave the inner sanctuary of Coffee Talk–step into fb pages and see these same blog. notes and topics of discussion shown at this site. (Coffee Talk blog is not mentioned.) Reading these notes does not take you on the inner journey. It does not cause the impact or reaction like it has when read at the Coffee Talk blog. Something is lost in the translation—even though they are the same words.
I truly believe God gave you these inspired words!!! You have the right to share them with whomever and wherever God directs you…I just don’t believe some of the people on fb have gained entrance inside the temple. They are on the outside looking in. Many don’t have a clue what they are looking at or what is going on below the surface.
You established your Streams website and John Paul Jackson website as a holy and clean place.
FB was not established as a holy and clean site. There are many wonderful godly organizations who use fb as an evangelistic tool—and praise God for that!!! But many people like to play games–like to sound cute–respond from the soul rather than the spirit–are wanting to be heard because they are desperate and lonely. I realize they need to read the Godly life changing words that you and others make available…..
It saddens me, that they are not attuned to the deeper things of God…
Thank you Daddy God that you let me take part in Coffee Talk blog. along with my fellow team members!!!
I did not mean to ramble this much—hope you can make some sense of this. It just amazes me that at different sites something can make you stand in glory and at the other place you just see the ordinary.
God bless you, John Paul!!! A prophet’s life has challenges.
Maturing together,
Linda
Dear Linda:
Thank you - I understand.
Blessings,
John Paul
Hi Everyone sharing in this awesome move of the Spirit of God,
This has been an awesome priviledge for me to share in what has happened on this blog. I don’t share too much about my time of visitation but would like to. I want to make sure that it is ok with the Lord. And to make sure I am not self-promoting. But I have seen unbelievable things. And desire more understanding. We have found a nice church. Small, just beginning, with the Fire of God to love those who are different and the lowly here in Waterbury, CT. True Life Christian Church is just a few months old. The pastor has definitely stepped out of the box and is refreshing. He is already opening up shelter for the homeless. Keep this little fire kindled in your prayers please. Thank you all soo much for remaining faithful. love, Holly