This is a guide for praying through the Old Testament sanctuary, from the gate to the mercy seat. You can walk it on your own, with your family, or as a congregation. At each station there is a Scripture to read, a prayer to pray in your own words, and a hymn to sing. Each hymn number links to its words in the SDA Hymnal.
It grew out of the message My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer. Take your time. There is no need to finish in one sitting.
The path
Introduction → Gate → Altar of Sacrifice → Laver → Lampstand → Table of Shewbread → Altar of Incense → Most Holy Place
At every station
Read the stanza.
Pray it, speak its own words back to God, in your own words, with your own specifics.
Then sing it.
Praying it first is what stops you singing absent-mindedly.
Before the gate, the call to reverence
But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.Habakkuk 2:20
Sing
I. The Gate
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.Psalm 100:4
You do not argue your way in. You do not qualify your way in. You sing your way in.
Do this
- Name specific things God has done, this week, not this decade.
- Praise Him for His works: creation, providence, rescue, faithfulness.
- Bring your felt sense of need. Nobody walks to a sanctuary who thinks himself whole.
- Say one of them out loud. Testify.
Sing
83 O Worship the king100 Great Is Thy Faithfulness12 Joyful joyful we adore thee15 My maker and my king
II. The Altar of Sacrifice
And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.Leviticus 1:4
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.John 1:29
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.1 John 1:9
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.Proverbs 28:13
This only works if you are honest with God and you actually want to get clean. That means confessing all of it.
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.Mark 7:21–23
The Forty-Three
Romans 1 lists forty-three works of a mind that let go of God. Go through them one at a time. Do not skim, sin hides inside general words, and a confession that stays general stays shallow. The number in gold is the commandment being broken.
The ten: 1 no other gods · 2 no graven image · 3 His name not in vain · 4 the Sabbath · 5 honour parents · 6 no killing · 7 no adultery · 8 no stealing · 9 no false witness · 10 no coveting
The Source, the mind
- Evil thoughts. Thoughts you would be ashamed to see put on a screen. If you have entertained one, replayed it, enjoyed it. [1, 10]
- Vain imaginations. Reasoning about God that you invented; picturing Him the way you prefer Him. If you have made God smaller or softer than He is, to suit yourself. [1, 2, 4]
- Inventors of evil things. Finding a new way to do wrong, or dreaming one up. If you have schemed, planned, or worked out how to get away with something. [1, 6]
The Body
- Fornication. Sexual sin outside marriage, in act or in private. If you have given your body to what God did not give it for. [7, 10]
- Adultery. Unfaithfulness to a spouse, in act or in the heart. If you have looked to lust, Jesus says it is already done. [7, 10]
- Uncleanness. Impurity of body or habit, especially in secret. If there is something you do that nobody knows about. [7, 10]
- Lasciviousness. Shamelessness; no restraint; stirring desire in others by dress or manner. If you have dressed, spoken, or moved to be wanted. [7, 10]
- Vile affections. Desire turned against nature and against God’s design. If your desires have gone where God never made them to go. [1, 7]
Against God
- Idolatry. Anything that gets what belongs to God: money, a person, a screen, a career. If something else has your first hour, your best thought, your deepest want. [1, 2, 4]
- Witchcraft. Charms, horoscopes, mediums, luck objects, things worn for protection. If you have consulted, worn, or half-believed any of it. [1, 2]
- Unthankful. Receiving and never saying thank you. If you have taken His mercies as though they were owed to you. [1, 3, 4]
- Haters of God. Resenting His law, His providence, His timing. If you have been angry with God, or found His commandments heavy. [1, 3]
Appetite
- Drunkenness. Anything taken to alter or dull the mind. If you have drunk, smoked, or taken something to escape. [1, 6]
- Revellings. The party; pleasure that leaves nothing behind. If you have spent yourself on entertainment that fed nothing in you. [1, 6, 7]
- Gluttony, excess. Intemperance. [1, 6, 7]
The Grasping Hand
- Covetousness. Wanting what is not yours. If you have wanted another person’s house, spouse, position, body, or life. [1, 10]
- Thefts. Including time, credit, tithe, and what belongs to your employer. If you have taken anything that was not yours to take. [8, 10]
- Evil eye. The grudging, stingy look at another person’s blessing. If it has cost you something to see someone else prosper. [8, 10]
- Envyings. Pain at another person’s good. If their promotion, their marriage, their gift, made you smaller. [6, 10]
- Emulations. Rivalry; needing to outdo. If you have competed where you should have served. [1, 10]
Fractured Brotherhood
- Hatred. Any settled dislike of a person. If you have hated anyone. Disliked, distanced, disregarded anyone. Even presidents. Even leaders. Even people in this room. [6]
- Variance. Quarrelling; being hard to live with. If you are difficult, and you know it. [6]
- Wrath. The outburst. If you have lost your temper on someone weaker than you. [6]
- Strife. Keeping the fight alive. If you have kept an argument going that could have ended. [1, 6, 10]
- Seditions. Division, faction, undermining. If you have worked quietly against your own church or your own leaders. [5, 6]
- Heresies. Party spirit; your opinion set above the Word. If you have held a position because it is yours, not because it is written. [1, 6]
- Implacable. Will not be reconciled; holds the grudge. If there is someone you have decided you will never forgive. [6]
Malice and the Tongue
- Wickedness. Active harm done to another. If you have deliberately hurt someone. [6]
- Deceit. Lying, half-truth, and the impression you allowed to stand. If you have lied. If you let someone believe something untrue. [8, 9]
- Blasphemy. God’s name used lightly; slander of God or of man. If His name has fallen out of your mouth carelessly. [3, 9]
- Murders. Hatred in the heart; character assassination. If you have killed a person’s name or reputation. [6]
- Maliciousness. Wanting harm to come. If you have hoped something bad would happen to someone. [6]
- Malignity. Putting the worst construction on other people’s motives. If you assume the worst about people as a habit. [6, 9]
- Whisperers. The private word that damages. If you have said it quietly, to one person, and meant it to spread. [9]
- Backbiters. Speaking behind their back. If you have said what you would not say to their face. [9]
- Despiteful. Insolent, contemptuous, injuring for the pleasure of it. If you have humiliated anyone and enjoyed it. [6, 9]
Exalted Self
- Pride. Looking down on others. If you have thought yourself better. More spiritual. More educated. More clean. [1]
- Foolishness. Acting without God and without the Word. If you have made decisions you never once prayed about. [1]
- Boasters. Claiming what God did; exaggerating. If you have taken credit that was not yours. [1, 9]
- Without understanding. Refusing to learn; despising instruction. If you have been corrected and would not receive it. [1]
The Broken Bond
- Without natural affection. Cold to those you are bound to love. If your family gets the worst of you and strangers get the best. [5, 6]
- Disobedient to parents. Dishonour, in word, tone, or neglect. If you have dishonoured, ignored, or embarrassed your parents. [5]
- Covenantbreakers. Vow, promise, marriage, contract. If you have broken a promise you made before God or man. [3, 9]
- Unmerciful. Hard, without pity. If you have had power to help and did not. [6]
And the last one
- Pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:32. Watching it, laughing at it, applauding it, paying for it. If you have been entertained by what God calls death. [all ten]
The fourth commandment is the quiet one
No item in the forty-three is Sabbath-breaking. Yet look where the passage begins: when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful (1:21), and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator (1:25).
The Sabbath exists for exactly that, the weekly memorial that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth (Exodus 20:11), and the everlasting gospel’s call to worship him that made heaven, and earth (Revelation 14:7).
Nobody in Romans 1 breaks the fourth commandment. They simply forget what it was for, and forty-three works fall out of that one forgetting.
Also search me here
- If you have lied. Outright, or by the half-truth you let stand.
- If you have lusted.
- If you have slandered.
- If you have been lazy, disorganised, wasting what God gave you.
- If you have wasted your hours on social media.
- If you have been too busy for God.
- If you have denied the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit. Through a preacher, through your own heart, through the Word, through the Spirit of Prophecy.
- If you have misrepresented God. Or never represented Him at all.
- If you have been unfaithful to any covenant you made.
Now put your hand on the Lamb
Name it. Not “forgive my many failings.” Name the thing.
Transfer it. Lay your hand on the head of the Lamb and leave it there.
Forgive whoever you are holding. You cannot leave an offering here with somebody’s debt still in your pocket. (Matthew 5:23–24)
Lay yourself down. Present your body a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.1 John 1:9
Sing
313 Just as I am296 Lord I am coming home
298 I lay my sins on Jesus
300 Rock of Ages
Also: 307 I Am Coming to the Cross · 517 My Faith Looks Up to Thee · 309 I Surrender All
III. The Laver
They shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not.Exodus 30:21
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.Ephesians 5:26
The altar dealt with guilt, the penalty, transferred. The laver deals with defilement, the dirt still on you. Justification, then sanctification. He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet. (John 13:10) The bath is settled. The feet still get dirty. And the priest washed every time he ministered, not once at ordination.
Do this
- Ask for clean hands and clean feet, what you do, and where you go.
- Ask for cleansing of the imagination, and of motive.
- Lead us not into temptation, ask not to be taken where you would be soiled.
- Ask to be washed by the Word, not by resolution.
And then go and do it
- Clean out your house.
- Clean out your phone.
- Clean out your children’s phones.
You cannot confess a sin and then go straight back to it.
Sing
318 Whiter Than Snow *330 Take My Life and Let It Be567 Have Thine Own WayLord
IV. The Lampstand
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. , Zechariah 4:6
Ye are the light of the world.Matthew 5:14
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path – Psalm 119:105
Jesus is the light of the world.
Holy Spirit is the oil.
You live in light of Jesus, powered by the oil of the Holy Spirit, you are choosing to be a light for Jesus, and to follow the light revealed in the word.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.Mat 5:14
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.Jhn 8:12
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.Jhn 9:5
There were no windows in this room. The lamp was the only light. It does two things at once, the Spirit given, because a lamp does not manufacture oil, it receives it; and the Spirit shining, because in Revelation the lampstands are the churches.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. , Galatians 5:22–25
Do this
- Ask to be filled, not merely forgiven. This is the station most often skipped, and skipping it is why a person can be clean and still be powerless.
- Pray the fruit by name. Love. Joy. Peace. Longsuffering. Gentleness. Goodness. Faith. Meekness. Temperance. Ask for the one you have least of.
- Ask for light on Scripture, and light on the decision in front of you.
- Then ask to burn, that your household, your work, your street would see it.
Sing
264 O for That Flame of Living Fire260 Hover O’er MeHoly Spirit262 SweetSweet Spirit269 ComeHoly Spirit580 This Little Light of Mine
V. The Table of Shewbread
Thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.Exodus 25:30
I am the bread of life.John 6:35
Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. [Mat 4:4 KJV] 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Twelve loaves, one for each tribe, ringed by a golden border so that not one could slide off. Nobody sits on that table by merit, they are borne. This is the station where you stop asking and start receiving.
Do this
- Read Scripture. Out loud if you can.
- Claim a promise. Name the verse, put your name in it, take it.
- Listen. Prayer that is not shaped by the Word is prayer shouted into the air.
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.Proverbs 28:9
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.John 15:7
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.1Jo 5:14-15
You cannot pray according to God’s will until you know God’s will. And you cannot know it unless you first sit at the feet of Jesus.
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification. , 1 Thessalonians 4:3
God wants you holy.
Sing
271 Break Thou the Bread of Life408 LordEnthroned in Heavenly Splendor538 Guide MeO Thou Great Jehovah547 Be thou my visio
VI. The Altar of Incense
And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning… and when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD.Exodus 30:7–8
Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense.Psalm 141:2
And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints.Revelation 8:3
Kindled morning and evening, and yet called a perpetual incense, because the coals were never allowed to die. That is what pray without ceasing means. Set times, and between them the fire keeps.
And in Revelation 8 the prayers of the saints do not go up alone. They ascend with much incense given by another hand. Your requests carry Christ’s merit, or they do not carry.
What Jesus commanded about prayer
Most of it is in the upper room, on the last night.
- Ask in My name. And I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13–14
- If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15
- If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will. John 15:7
- I have ordained you, that ye should bring forth fruit. That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. John 15:16
- Love one another, as I have loved you. John 13:34
- Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24
- The Father himself loveth you. You may come direct. John 16:26–27
- Without me ye can do nothing. John 15:5
And elsewhere:
- Pray in secret, in the closet, and not with vain repetitions. Matthew 6:6–7
- Ask, seek, knock. Matthew 7:7
- Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. Matthew 26:41
- Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Luke 18:1
- Pray for them which despitefully use you. Matthew 5:44
- Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers. Matthew 9:38
- When ye stand praying, forgive. Mark 11:25
The conditions of prevailing prayer
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.James 5:16
Eight elements, drawn from Ellen White’s article of that title (Signs of the Times, 21 August 1884). Check yourself against them before you ask.
- A felt sense of need. You must actually need help from God. Our great need is itself an argument, and pleads eloquently in our behalf.
- No cherished sin. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. All known wrongs righted. The prayer of the penitent, contrite soul is always accepted.
- Faith. He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder. If we ask doubting and distrusting, that prayer is not of faith.
- Forgiveness of others. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. It is solemn mockery to worship with a heart full of envy, malice and bitterness.
- Perseverance. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Persevering prayer has been made a condition of receiving.
- Diligence. Let nothing hinder , keep your wants, joys, sorrows, cares and fears before God. You cannot burden Him. You cannot weary Him.
- In the name of Jesus. Not a phrase at the start and end of a prayer. It is to pray in the mind and Spirit of Jesus, while we work His works and rely on His grace.
- Between the mountain and the multitude. Prayer without work becomes formal and selfish. He who does nothing but pray will soon cease to pray.
The Impossible-God verses
The Anchor
Mark 11:22-24
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
The Invitation to Ask
Jeremiah 33:3
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
James 4:2
…ye have not, because ye ask not.
John 16:24
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
The God of the Impossible
Genesis 18:14
Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Matthew 19:26
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Mark 9:23
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mark 10:27
And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Luke 18:27
And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
The Supply Behind the Promise
Ephesians 3:20-21
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Philippians 4:19
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
The Two Limits
James 4:3
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
1 John 5:14
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.
What blocks a prayer
- Regarded iniquity in the heart. Psalm 66:18
- Sin that has separated. Isaiah 59:1–2
- An ear turned away from hearing the law. Proverbs 28:9
- Asking amiss, to spend it on your own pleasures. James 4:3
- Wavering. Let not that man think he shall receive. James 1:6–7
- An unforgiving spirit. Mark 11:25–26
- How you treat your wife, or your husband. 1 Peter 3:7
Now pray
Bring your own requests. This is their station.
Intercede by name. The sick, the wandering, those in authority, the church, the field. Names, not categories.
Deliver us from evil.
Go back to what you have asked before and not yet seen. Keep the coals alive.
My prayer list
Write them. A list you can see is a list you will keep. Is any thing too hard for the LORD?
Sing
292 Jesus I come485 I must tell Jesus.50 Abide With Me478 Sweet Hour of Prayer684 Hear Our PrayerO Lord
VII. The Most Holy Place
There I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat.Exodus 25:22
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near.Hebrews 10:19, 22
One thing have I desired of the LORD… to behold the beauty of the LORD.Psalm 27:4
One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. … [When thou saidst], Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.Psa 27:4-5, 8
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.Psa 91:1
One object in the room. Inside it, the two tables of stone. Over it, solid gold and two cherubim. This is the only place in the universe where the broken law and the atoning blood occupy the same square foot of space, blood on gold, over stone.
In the daily service sin was forgiven, but the blood carried it inward, and it accumulated in the sanctuary all year. Once a year the high priest carried blood through the veil to cleanse the sanctuary itself, and the iniquity was carried away. (Leviticus 16) It had to happen in this room because this is where the law is. So this is not the room where nothing happens. It is the room where the case is closed. And it is where we are now.
Do this
- Every other station had you working: confessing, washing, asking, interceding. Here you stop.
- Behold. Adore God for what He is, holiness, beauty, justice, mercy. Not for what He has done; that was the gate.
- Submit. The law is in this room. Thy will be done is prayed over the tables of stone.
- Let the record be searched. Search me, O God, and know my heart. (Psalm 139:23–24)
- Come boldly. The verdict is settled for those who are covered.
- Be silent. Do not fill it.
Sing
495 Near to the Heart of God316 Live out thy life within me73 HolyHolyHoly what the cherubim are doing in that room
Also: 21 Immortal, Invisible · 321 My Jesus, I Love Thee · 495 Near to the Heart of God
The Sending
You came in with thanksgiving. You go out with a blessing spoken over you.
Sing
694 / 695 Praise GodFrom Whom All Blessings Flow
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: the LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.Numbers 6:24–25
Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.Psalm 141:2
Keep going
These go with the Sanctuary Prayer Walk, which grew out of the message My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer. Each hymn number links to its words in the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal.