Day 19: Experience God’s Presence in Prayer, Part 2

The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.
Psalm 99:1

When God explained to Moses how to build the tabernacle, and the furniture of the tabernacle, our Father gave us a picture imitating His heavenly thrown room. One picture that helps us remember God listening is the picture God gave us from the Mercy Seat, atop the Ark of the Covenant.

“They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it…. “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold….. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end…. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.” Exodus 25:10-11, 17, 18, 19, 20-22

This box, overlayed with pure gold, with a lid on top called the mercy seat is a small picture of God’s throne room in heaven. Covered in gold because gold is the precious metal we picture with a king, the tabernacle started with less costly materials hung with bronze and silver, and the metals became more valuable as the worshipper moved closer to where God would meet with the High Priest.

Notice the two angels on either side of the mercy seat (God’s throne). Both angels are bowed down with their faces toward the mercy seat, their wings overshadowing that place. It appears as if the angels are worshipping God. This picture created by the Ark of the Covenant looks like what Isaiah and John saw when they were allowed to see the throne room of God.

“…I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:1-3

“…In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back…. Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” Revelation 4:6, 8

Between the picture the Ark creates, and the descriptions of heaven Isaiah and John paint, we start to see God enthroned in heaven surrounded by angels who are praising Him. The Psalmist tells us that God builds His throne out of the worship.

When we pray, today, continue using your imagination. Imagine God grabbing the worship words, chants, and songs of His angels, and then God capturing the words of our praise and turning those words into a throne on which to rest. Worship leader and songwriter, Zach Neese, was the first person to point out the metaphor from Psalm 22 to me to use in my praise and prayer.[1]

“Yet you are holy; enthroned on the praises of Israel.” Psalm 22:3

For this prayer, we praise God and then imagine Him building His throne to sit on to lean in and listen to our prayers. Imagine, we begin to praise God, and God pulls up a chair, smiling as He listens to our praise.

Prayerwork, Part 1: Today, when you turn your thoughts toward God, imagine Him waiting to pullup a chair (throne) and sit and listen to your prayers. Then begin to praise Him. As you praise Him, imagine Him taking your words of praise and instantly building His throne. How big is the throne He builds from your praise?

Prayerwork, Part 2: Spend three minutes (or longer) praising God.

If you are have trouble remembering what you can praise God about, feel free to use this partial list from Don DeWelt’s booklet Sweet Hour of Prayer:

“Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Psalm 8:1

[1] Zach Neese. How to Worship a King: Prepare Your Heart. Prepare Your World. Prepare the Way (Lake Mary: Charisma House, 2015), Kindle edition, 96.