Build me an altar
David Builds an Altar [2 Samuel 24: 18 - 25]
That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build the Lord an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite”.
So David went up to do what the Lord had commanded him. When Araunah saw the KIng and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. “Why have you come, my lord the king?” Araunah asked. David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so that He will stop the plague. “ Take it my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering , and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice.” But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. David built an altar there to the lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered His prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
Quiet time (QT)is one of my favourite times in the day. It is a time of silence, when I go into worship, still my mind and wait expectantly to receive revelation from my Father in the form of His word. Now I don’t know about you, but I am definitely not team read-the-Bible-in-a-year. Trust me , I tried this once in a moment of what I can only describe as misguided good intentions and failed miserably. It all started off fairly lah-di-dah but by the time I got to Leviticus or was it Numbers, the struggle was very real. So I threw in the towel and went back to my unscripted, spontaneous ways basically starting each session with - “Lord, what do you want to tell me today through your word?” It works, I promise! Might take a few tries but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
I admit, sometimes when I read the Bible in my QT, the struggle can be very real as I wade through the words wondering quite what to make of the narrative. This often depends on which of the good Books I am in at the time. For example, riveting as the story of Hosea may be - Hosea being a prophet whom God commanded to go off and marry a rather … colourful woman (for lack of a better phrase)- I struggle to resonate with the story. The Bible is indeed the living word and comes alive as we read it to enlighten our ways and give us God’s instructions. So perhaps the better way to explain this is by saying that in such times of reading scripture and finding it a bit ‘hit and miss’, I am clearly not in the right word for my QT session unless God subsequently provides me with understanding. At other times though - and these are moments I cherish and guard jealously with my heart - scripture will leap at me and come alive, taking me through the story as though I myself were there as the drama unfolded, or giving me deeper meaning as the Holy Spirit highlights it, breathing life on the word and convicting me that God is speaking to me in that moment. Many a time I have received a rhema word from such QT sessions, a word that I have imprinted and stood on in the full knowledge that God has specifically given me this message.
One day at church, a lady speaking to me mentioned that God had asked her to build Him an altar much in the same way He asked David to do. I was a bit puzzled as I pondered this as , in all honesty, I didn’t recall ever having seen that particular story. Turns out I had actually read it in the past but in that moment, the Holy Spirit chose not to highlight it. Anyway, days later I was faithfully enjoying my QT and as I flipped my Bible, what do you know ? The story of God asking David to build Him an altar came up. I read the scripture in 2 Samuel 24 : 18 and thought, “hmm, that’s interesting.” I didn’t give it further thought as I moved on to other sections. A few days later, I came across yet another scripture in Exodus 20 :22 - 24 titled “Proper Use of altars.” “And the Lord said to Moses , “say this to the people of Israel. You saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven . Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me. Build for me an altar made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me - your burnt offerings and peace offerings , your sheep and goats , and your cattle. Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered , and I will come to you and bless you.”
At that point I had to stop and ask myself , what is God saying to me? And even if I don’t feel it’s specific to me in this moment, since I am convicted by these scriptures how can I apply them in my life? I am by no means a theologist so this will be said purely from my perspective as I considered these words. I asked myself, have I raised a prayer altar to honour God? Now that I understand the importance of travailing in prayer, now that I have accepted that it is what I see as my primary assignment, do I have a place in my house that I can point to with all confidence and say this is my prayer altar? This is where I worship and give thanks to the one true living God? As I pondered these matters even further, my mind was drawn to the (fortunate) reality that I live in London and simultaneously the (unfortunate) reality that space on the island is quite limited. And so as much as I would love nothing more than to happily point to my walk in closet and single that out as my altar of prayer, the sad reality is that I have no walk in closet ! I was stumped. I thought of the extra rooms in my house but realised how impractical that would be. Finally I decided for now, my bedroom (which is the place where I pray most of the time anyway, would have to suffice. I briefly considered purchasing a screen from Amazon to section off one portion of the room but indecision will not allow me to be great. So for now, my room stays prayed up. And every time I think of building God that altar, I know and have every faith that it will be done one day. What matters is that I am keeping my end of the bargain -praying until something happens.
And so my question to you is this : where is your prayer altar? I’m not talking about what altar you are connected to, be that at church or as part of a fellowship, no. Where have you built God an altar in your own house where He has caused His name to be remembered, where you have very confidence that God will come to you and bless you, your husband to be, your children (present and future)? If you have loads of space where you live, good for you. Clear some of it out this week and use that as a space to honour God. If like me you are limited in terms of space, be creative! Purchase a screen, section off an area or just plain dedicate a room as your altar. God will met you at your point of need.
Can I also just pause to say this - please ladies, for the love of God keep the environs of your altar clean! Our Father loves cleanliness and order. Tidy up the area regularly and make sure it’s presentable before you present your petitions to the Most High. Remember, you are carrying the Holy spirit in you so don’t be dragging Him into messy environs, abeg! In the words of Malachi 1 : 14, “…I am a great king, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is feared among the nations.”
Stay blessed dear sisters, God loves you dearly , x.