Raised Altars II

Friday 11 December
READ: Exo. 30:1-9
MORE LESSON: Num.16:44-48

As altars are raised for cursing, so also altars or high places are raised for blessing. Examples of the two are Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim in Deut. 11:29, 27:12-13. When God wanted a sanctuary, fellowship and blessing of His people in Exo. 25, He included an altar in the pattern for building the sanctuary. God gave the altar's specifications and what should be done on it, teaching us some lessons about raising altars to God.

First, He said it is a place of meeting with Him regularly (Exo. 30:6). The more the altars you raise to God, the more of His blessings you will experience. There are many types: personal altar (quiet time), marriage/marital altar (by married people) and family altar.

Second, the altar is a place of regular burning of incense to God (Exo. 30:1, 8). The incense God wants to continuously receive on your altar is all kinds of prayer (worship, thanksgiving, petition, supplication and intercession).

Third, it is a place of using blood to atone for the sins of the people. God no longer requires the blood of bulls or rams on altars that are raised to Him. A better way has been given once and for all (Heb 9:11-14) through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary.

When you come to God by faith, applying the Blood of Jesus on your life for forgiveness and remission of sins, your prayers are acceptable, bringing down the blessings of God upon your life, destiny and family. Benefits of altars that are raised to Jehovah are many as evident in the children of Israel when they obeyed God's instructions in building an altar to Him (Exo. 40:27-28, 34-38). God's glory descends and protects, defends, preserves, favours and takes you into fulfillment in life and destiny.

The exciting thing is that the prerogative of raising altars is not in the hand of the enemy alone, the believer also can raise altars. When the enemies raise altars to curse, the believer can raise altars to reverse the curse and to pronounce blessing. More, we have an altar that is greater than the enemy's. It is the one raised by Jesus Himself at Calvary for which He paid the highest price ever, making it the most expensive altar in the universe. This altar speaks better things and can swallow any enemy's altar. This indeed is good news for all who know it. Prayer, fasting, prophetic declaration of God's Word are all altars that you can use to destroy any evil in your life. Raise an altar today.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God to make your life an altar of His presence.
* Ask God to turn every challenge in your life to an altar of prayer.
* Command every satanic altar against you to be swallowed up today.
* Ask God to strengthen your altar of prayer for great results.

PROPHETIC PRAYER
This month, old things must pass away in my life: old tears of sorrow, sinful habits, old afflictions, delays, pains, regrets, old songs must give way to new things, in the name of Jesus.