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The Sanctuary Safari
In your imagination, you visit the sanctuary in
the wilderness and “walk” through the ancient service, using it
as a pattern to follow in personal worship.
- The Gate. Offer praise and thanksgiving as you start
your prayer journey. Compose your own prayer or read a psalm or praise
poem from the hymnal.
- The Altar of Sacrifice. Imagine Christ, the Lamb of
God, hanging on the cross of Calvary, paying the price of your sins. Make
specific confession of sin.
- The Laver of Washing. Here you pause to accept the
forgiveness and cleansing that Christ has provided. Thank God for keeping
His promises in 1 John 1:9, Isaiah 1:16-18, and Psalm 103:10-12.
- The Candlestick. Ask for the Holy Spirit as you pause
beside the golden lampstand. Ask Him to guide you into truth as you study
God’s Word and present your requests.
- The Table of Shewbread. Spend time meditating on a
portion of Scripture. Ask the Holy Spirit to impress you with the messages
that are the ones you need. Underline those messages or copy them into
a notebook.
- The Altar of Incense. Picture yourself standing before
the throne of God, bringing your requests before His mercy seat. Present
your petitions boldly, for your prayers are mingled with the merits of
Christ, making them acceptable. Spend some time listening for directions
that the Holy Spirit may give.
- The Most Holy Place. While you wait in God’s
presence, ask Him to search your heart and motives and to reveal to you
what He wants to teach you.
- Study “The Tabernacle and Its Services” in
Patriarchs
and Prophets (by Ellen G. White, pp.
343-358) along with Exodus 25-40 and Leviticus 4 and 16. Try to imagine
what the sanctuary in the wilderness was like. Picture yourself in prayer,
walking through that tabernacle with Jesus, your High Priest.
- Color code Psalm 27. You will need the following colored pencils: blue,
green, red, purple. Let the colors stand for the following: Blue—what
God is like, His character; Red—a promise; Green—a command, something
God wants you to do; and Purple—a reference to the sanctuary. You
may want to try this with other portions of Scripture as you spend time
in the Holy Place at the table of shewbread.
- Read through the books of Psalms and Revelation, underlining in purple
each reference to the sanctuary or any of its services. Your Sanctuary
Safari will begin to take on new meaning as you notice the many references
that speak of its importance.
Source:
Carrol Johnson Shewmake.
Sanctuary Secrets to Personal Prayer.
Review and Herald Publishing Association, Hagerstown, Md., 1990.
Why Pray?