YOU may wonder why an altar you have raised is not speaking or fighting for you. Why is it that your prayer altar is not a gate to heaven?
Pastor Nellie’s new book Altars The Gate of Heaven answers the fundamental question why God rejects prayer altars.
The book in the Spiritual Warfare Series Volume 11 says a proper altar raised to the Lord produces a pleasing Aroma.
It presents the topic of altars, which you will not hear preached from many pulpits- by explaining that it is the central way in communication between God and Man-where the divine meets the physical.
Pastor Nellie writes that God has chosen the way of altars to communicate with His children and as believers we are subject to His way.
He has chosen to deal with His people both in the Old Testament and the New Testament through altars, she writes.
Click on this link for a related post on the spiritual warfare series.
For God to relate to us, for Him to hear us, for us to talk, it has to be at an altar, therefore an understanding of altars is foundational to one’s prayer life.
Need to have an altar
Altars The Gates of Heaven helps believers understand what an altar is, the conduct of an altar, why God rejects altars , through its 12 chapters including a chapter on How to raise a family altar.
Many times Christians don’t have an altar in their homes and do not even know they need to have an altar.
The book helps you learn how to raise altars so that even when you are not present in your home the altar will fight on your behalf.
It also has a chapter on the importance of naming your altar.
Pastor Nellie is the founder and CEO of Breaking Barriers International (BBI). She has authored ten other books in these series. She is a conference speaker and workshop leader.
She has been used of God to teach and train believers in Africa and the diaspora.
Click on the link below to watch a video on the ultimate altar by pastor Nellie.
The book delves into the power of altars explaining in detail with biblical references on how altars fight.
Pastor Nellie writes that an altar can fight on your behalf.
For instance, if you raise an altar in your home it is supposed to speak and fight in that home.
To demonstrate how an altar can fight on our behalf, the author sites an interesting story in 1 Samuel 5.
It is the section in the Bible the Philistines have fought the Israelites and because during the leadership of high priest Eli.
They had forsaken God and the Philistines defeated them, and even stole the Ark of Covenant!
1 Samuel 5:1 says, After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
Then they carried the Ark into Dagon’s temple. Dagon was their God,and they set it beside Dagon.
When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day there was Dagon fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord.
The Ark of the covenant was the altar of Israel.
The Bible says, the Lord’s hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity, He brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumours.
Altars The Gate of Heaven underscores that God has chosen to only hear and answer requests at an altar.
There are however three reasons why God rejects prayer altars.
- Another altar is speaking
When another altar is speaking in our lives from our idolatrous bloodline, we must first deal with it before we raise our own altar.
The author writes that God told Gideon in Judges chapter 6 to first deal with the altar his father had raised to Baal before he could raise Him an altar.
God told Gideon that he could not build a proper altar because two altars cannot be standing together and both be speaking at the same time, the author states.
Click on the link below to watch a video on why we should bother about ancestral altars.
When altars that were raised by our ancestors are not pulled down they continue to speak over our lives- we must deal with our generational curses.
God rejects prayer altars raised to him while others are still standing and speaking.
- The wrong sacrifice
A second time God rejects prayer altars is when the wrong sacrifice is made on the altar.
The author writes that Cain’s altar was rejected in Genesis 4:5 because he sacrificed the wrong thing on it instead of blood.
Sacrifices on the altars in the Old Testament were based on the blood of sheep and goats and bulls, but the altars in the New Testament are based on the blood of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Nellie writes that we cannot decide ourselves what to put on the altar. We have to ask God to teach us His ways.
- Practicing Idolatry
God rejects prayer altars where He does not come first. If there is something more important than God it becomes an idol and God rejects your altar.
When the altar is not honoured God will reject it.
God wants first place in our lives and when we raise an altar to Him, it must take pre-eminence of everything we do or get involved with.
Pastor Nellie writes that the strength of an altar is the strength of the sacrifice placed on it.
So if you can compromise your prayer time for visitors, a sudden busy engagement or ignore the prayer altar because you are tired then God will reject that altar.
Altars The Gate of Heaven is available for sale at BBI office Apex Court No.10 at Ksh 1000 only. Contact us to order your copy.
Pastor Nellies other books in this series include Breaking Invisible Barriers- The Power of the Cross, Breaking Financial Curses, Access the Throne room of God among others.
Click on this link New book on life’s abundance out for a review of this series Volume 9.
