Prayer Call: Altars Before Answers

Good Morning, BFB!

This is a day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Today's scripture: “When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.” -‭‭Ezra‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Life can be full of questions at times. If we're honest with ourselves, we are always seeking answers. The Israelites here show us that we have to build altars before we get answers. The Israelites were in a stage of rebuilding but before they began the worked, they sought God first. They built an altar and turned to God because they understood that God would need to be at the forefront of anything they did. I argue that today we must do the same things. We must build an altar where we center and align ourselves with God before we seek answers from God.
 
The altar represents surrender, devotion, and a dependence on God. The Israelites understood that without God's presence anything they did would be in vain. When we put worship first we invite God into our situation. The altar is where we put God in control. The altar is where we center ourselves on God, making ourselves available to His preparation and plans. When we put God in His proper place, we demonstrate the importance of seeking God and His righteousness first. Before we do anything, we need to align ourselves with God. We need to posture our hearts to be focused and centered on Him so that He can work on us and through us.

Building an altar before answers encourages us to worship without worry. We need to trust God in uncertain times. Fear of what's going on around us can keep us stagnant and stop us from doing what we've been called to do. When we worship our focus is shifted from fear to faith. God did not give us a spirit of fear but one of power, love, and sound judgment. When we worship God first, He replaces the worry with His power - that gives us the ability to be bold. He covers and fills us with His love because love covers a multitude of sins and helps us to operate in grace. He gives us sound judgment - we no longer focus on the failures, but we are able to think clearly and make wise decisions based on God's purpose for us.
 
Building an altar before answers requires us to commit to constant communion with God. We have to commit to making worship a lifestyle. The Israelites worshipped both morning and evening - their worship was continuous, consistent, and constant. We have to commit to worship not only on Sunday mornings, not just in singing songs, but in everything we do. In every aspect of our lives - when we rise in the morning, on our jobs, in our schools, while grocery shopping, or pumping gas, while going through tough times or uncertain times, while cooking dinner, when we lay down each night. We have to worship God in spirit and in truth.

As we go through the week, we should focus on rebuilding our personal altars. We have to seek God before seeking answers. Before seeking solutions we should seek his presence. Before we move forward, we should put God in His proper place. When we build altars before answers, we are inviting God and not ourselves to lead the way.

#AltarsBeforeAnswers #WorshipWithoutWorry #ConstantCommunion #BacktotheBasics #PrayerCallThought #Center #Connect #Contribute #WithOneAnother25 #BFB #CORE