A FORETASTE OF HEAVEN
Greetings church family!
Prayer has commonly been defined as talking to God. While this is a good start, the Hebrew tabernacle gives us more depth into what prayer truly is.
The Hebrew tabernacle was the Israelites’ central place of prayer. Their word for tabernacle was mishkan. The Hebrew root for mishkan is shakan, which means “to dwell.” So, mishkan means “the dwelling.” Remember, in Exodus 25:8, God gave the command to Moses concerning the Israelites, “They are to make a sanctuary for me so that I may dwell among them.” Thus, if the tabernacle was the central place for prayer for the Israelites, then prayer was linked to God’s dwelling.
In addition, the tabernacle was called the Tent of Meeting. It served as the meeting place between God and man. So, it is important to see from this that prayer isn’t just an action, it is a meeting; an encounter.
Prayer isn’t just about expressing words, it is the dwelling of God and man together. The deepest part of prayer goes beyond saying and into being! Regarding the new heavens and the new earth, Revelation 21:3 says, “Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling[b] is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God.” Thus, prayer is truly a foretaste of the dwelling with God, the being with God we will experience in heaven.
The word mishkan also means “the remaining,” “the continuing,” “the abiding.” So, the heart of prayer is to abide in His abiding, to rest in His resting, to dwell in His dwelling.
I believe this is what Paul is referring to in Ephesians 6:18 when he counsels his readers to “Pray at all times in the Spirit!” The Holy Spirit brings us into the presence of the Father, where we can just be, just abide, just dwell. This is not to say that the expression of words isn’t important, but they aren’t the totality of prayer.
Whenever I go snorkeling, I like to dive deep below the ocean to get better views of the sea life below. However, it isn’t long before I need to return to the surface for oxygen, before once again plunging into the depths of the waters. When we take time to dwell with God in prayer, just be with him in that special meeting place meant to be a foretaste of heaven above, we are much better equipped to handle the challenges and obstacles the in this world below.
How long have you gone with out a breath of fresh heavenly air? Take time to enter heaven and not just talk with God, but truly dwell with him there. Your mishkan awaits!
Blessings church family, and remember, God is for you (Psalm 56:9), God is with you (Isaiah 41:10), and God loves you (1 John 3:1)!
Pastor Chris
