by Derek Packard | Jan 15, 2023 | bible, bible study, end times, How to Pray Tabernacle Prayer, tabernacle prayer resources, temple prayer
Through this website, we hope to help other Christians experience the presence of Jesus Christ by learning His original pattern of worship.
Praying or worshipping in a temple is most likely a brand-new concept to you even if you’ve been a Christian for many years. You probably are like us many years ago. We knew nothing of the central role the temple plays in the Bible as the place where worship was ordained by God to happen for Israel. We didn’t know that Jesus powerfully defended His Father’s house (Herod’s Temple) in John chapter 2. We were not aware that the Apostle Paul said our bodies were temples of the Holy Spirit. We were not really clear on what it meant when Peter told us we are members of a royal priesthood.
Future Temples
We had not been taught that many of the prophets in the Bible speak of future Temples to be built in Jerusalem and that the Lord Jesus himself will rule and reign in a Millenial Temple for 1,000 years when he returns.
Did you know that John witnessed, in the Book of Revelation, the heavenly temple that even has the original Ark of the Covenant in it?
Temple in Heaven
We have now learned that God’s original temple is in heaven and that Jesus himself is the High Priest in that Heavenly Temple. It was God who gave Moses the original pattern for worship for the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and the LORD gave King David the original plans for what become Soloman’s Temple in Jerusalem. This pattern of worship is a powerful way to worship God.
What does temple prayer mean for Christians today?
Well, it means that Temples are central to worship in the Bible. In fact, there are literally thousands of verses and passages in the Bible about Temple worship. From studying those passages it became clear that the primary place in Heaven and on earth where worship happens is in a temple designed by God himself.
Since our bodies are temples and we are priests in our temples, does it make sense that we should learn something about how God explicitly defined how worship is supposed to happen in His Temples? Could it give us insights into how we are to worship God today?
Well, that is what our temple prayer website is all about.
by Derek Packard | Mar 19, 2020 | How to Pray Tabernacle Prayer
Priest worships God at the Laver
The Laver, second station in the Temple, was used by the priests of old for ceremonial washing before entering the Holy Place. Today we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, use the Laver like a spiritual bath for daily cleaning of our conscience before we come into His presence. (Acts 24:16)
Just as we brush our teeth daily, we clean our minds daily through the practice of repentance. At the Laver we reflect on God’s commandments, see the difference between His standards and our behavior and realize we are no longer condemned, but drawn to repentance, contriteness, and humility.
The only way to dwell with God is to have a contrite heart. (Isa 57:15-21) We gain a clear conscience by appropriating God’s forgiveness through genuine confession. (1 John 1:9)
We remind ourselves that under the New Covenant the commandments are not there to condemn us, but instead to lead us to repentance and a clear conscience. (Rom 3:20) This daily practice enables us be set free from sinful behavior, transformed in our mind. No longer a slave to bondage that leads to spiritual death. (Rom 12:2)
The Laver is a major obstacle for most of us. We shy away from a regular, honest, appraisal of our behavior. (Psa 26:2) Actually fooling ourselves into thinking we have not sinned. (1 John 1:10) Or that Christ has already forgiven us so we don’t need to confess sin anymore.
This of course is not true, we are deceiving ourselves and missing out on the fundamental way to stay very close to God…. a contrite and humble heart.
DP
by Derek Packard | Jan 22, 2018 | bible study, house of prayer, How to Pray Tabernacle Prayer
The Packard family began praying the Tabernacle or Temple Prayer in 2002. Here Derek Packard explains the impact Tabernacle prayer has had on his family. This is a great video for those wondering “Why pray the tabernacle prayer?” and “What is so special about this form of prayer?”.
by Derek Packard | Aug 26, 2013 | bible study, How to Pray Tabernacle Prayer
The Bible is the best prayer guide
My kids used to ask me, “Dad, why do you pray so many bible verses outloud?” It seems many people who consider praying the Word at some point wonder why they should do it. On one hand it seems kind of foolish, praying the words God wrote back to Him. Are we so dull that we cannot come up with meaningful prayers ourselves? I told my kids at the time that when you pray alot you run out of your own words and besides God’s words are ALIVE ! They are the most powerful words anyone can ask to come to pass. And since I want God’s promises to come alive in our family I declare His Words outloud.
The Bible is full of people praying that way, quoting other Scriptures. By watching me, my kids are learning how to pray the Word as well. While talking to God about this the other day, I felt like the Lord let me in on a even better reason why praying the Word is so important. The revelation came through my son JD He’s two years old now and learning to talk up a storm. How does he learn to talk? The same way we all did, by making the same sounds his dad and mom make. He learns to speak to us by saying the things we say. As he experiences the world around him he sees us communicating with strange sounds and he begins copying us, “truck, cars, mom, dada, more” etc. From one word spurts he began putting two and three words together into phrases. The closer he gets to intelligible words the more we understand and answer his requests. Things move especially fast when he really wants something so he is very motivated to learn how to say it so we understand and give it to him. It’s the same with us and God. The best way to learn to communicate with God is by saying things His way. He wants us to learn a new language. He wants to teach us a new way of thinking. So he gives us a whole new vocabulary and a new way of thinking. This gift is in his words to us. As we learn to declare his words appropriately, a new bond of communication between us and Him develops. The more we do it, the better it gets, and we sense our relationship with the Lord becoming stronger and more passionate . We forget that we are really babes and one of the signs of growing up in spiritual maturity is how much we believe God’s words. My experience tells me there is a strong connection between praying God’s words and believing Gods words.
Jesus Christ is the Word
So much of our bible teaching today looks at God’s words as literature, or history. While all that is fine and good, it diffuses the true nature of God’s word.
Let us not forget that Jesus Christ literally is the Word.
Joh 1:1 IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.
Joh 1:14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. [Isa. 40:5.]
So praying the Word is praying Jesus Christ into our mind and into the atmosphere surrounding any situation. My wife points out that children learn to say words before they really understand the meaning of them. It’s the same with us in the Spirit realm. As we declare God’s truth even before we fully understand it, his Word begins to take effect. It’s as if the more we say it, the more we learn what it means.
Praying through the Tabernacle Prayer is based on praying through many powerful bible passages. I have come to believe that praying the Tabernacle is a powerful blessing because not only are you praying God’s word. But you are also praying according to his ordained pattern of worship. This pattern is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. His body is the Temple. And we are part of that body. How do you feel about praying according to a clear order of worship? Do you think there are patterns of worship in the Bible? DP
by Derek Packard | Jun 11, 2012 | How to Pray Tabernacle Prayer
Not just an Old Testament Idea, The Tabernacle is an Eternal Reality.
When I first started out with the Tabernacle prayer, I stumbled over praying through something in the Old Testament. I’m not alone. Many Christians look at the Tabernacle in the Wilderness as Old Testament history that’s a story about the Israelites in the Wilderness. In Exodus we are told of how Moses was up on the mountain and was instructed by God to build a sanctuary where God could dwell with his people. But… it had to built according to a very specific design and pattern.
Every detail was communicated to Moses from God. And Moses did what he was told. As most read the Old Testament, especially Exodus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy, they stop at the historical presentation of what happened. In years past, I would glean a lesson or two from a chapter, and move on, because those books are so tedious in their detailed explanation of how God prescribed worship to happen for His people.
But What does that really have to do with me today? And besides we are not under the law anymore right? The thing I didn’t realize is that the pattern that Moses received from God was a replica of the actual Temple in heaven. And that changed everything for me.
So what Moses built was a portable replica using the materials and technology he had at his disposal in 1500 BC. Moses Tabernacle was a replica of what has existed in heaven for all eternity, It’s the same Temple that exists today in heaven and it’s the same Temple that we may see one day when we enter eternity. The Tabernacle or Temple is a heavenly reality. It is not just an Old Testament idea. Get your mind around this.
Before the earth was created….the Temple was. Before the physical realm described in Genesis 1 happened, the Temple was functioning as God’s house in heaven. When Jesus ascended in Acts 1 he went to prepare a place for us in his father’s house, the Temple in Heaven. When Hebrews describes Jesus as the High Priest who actually carried his own blood to the Mercy seat in real Temple Heaven, he’s talking about Jesus putting his own blood on a real Mercy seat on the real Ark of the Covenant in the Permanent Tabernacle in Heaven. When Paul says we are seated with Christ in heavenly places….he means in the Throne room in the Temple in heaven. When John describes the Throne room in Revelation 4 … he’s talking about the Holy of Holies in the eternal temple in heaven that Moses saw when he built the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. Are you getting this?
What about today? Today we have temples built by God and not by the hands of men. As a faithful believer in Jesus Christ, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit today, another replica of the Temple in heaven! And you need to understand the implications of this reality. The principles of Temple or Tabernacle worship are to be practiced in my temple (my body) today. In John 2 Jesus said his body was the temple. Today the scriptures tell me that I am a Temple of God.
The Temple is the original house of worship, it’s permanent, and is the source of all things in the physical universe and the center of all things in the spiritual dimension. It’s where God, the Father lives. It’s the House where Jesus hangs out. The Holy Ghost has his own wing there. Anything in the Bible that refers to the Temple, the Tabernacle, Throneroom, Tent of David, Tent of Meeting, Bethel, Secret place, etc. is ultimately pointing out some aspect of worshipping God according to pattern permanent established in the heavenly Temple. And this is good news for you. Because these principles of worship are keys to you worshipping God fully today.
Today as Evangelicals, we totally focus on Jesus Christ. We want to know Jesus. We want to love Jesus. Jesus called his own body the Temple. And we are made in that image. We worship Jesus in our temples. Do you want to really study Jesus and his ministry? Then pray through the tabernacle prayer because it’s a picture of who Jesus is, and what he did for us, so we would be prepared to “come boldly before the Throne of Grace.” By the way all this I’m writing to you came not through bible study per say. Nor was I told it by a bible teacher. This is an example of what the Holy Spirit teaches you as you pray the Word, the Scriptures, according to the Tabernacle worship pattern or tabernacle prayer.
