Prayer is our offering, a dwelling place for God.
1Chr 29:5 of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be made by the hands of artisans. Who then offers willingly to consecrate himself this day to Yahweh?”
Matt 10:8 Be curing ones being sick, raising dead ones, cleansing lepers, casting out demons. You received freely— give freely.
Lev 1:3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it at the door of the Tent of Meeting, that he may be accepted before Yahweh.
Offering or Korban in Hebrew is referring to a gift, emphasizing that it is freely given. One of the reasons God created us with free will is to enable us to express true love, for true love can only be an act of free will, likewise Spirit filled offering.
In 1 Chronicles 29:5 the gift offering that should be freely given was in order to build the temple of God. What is interesting, is that the offering is seen an act of consecration before Yahweh. Jesus said in John 4:23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will give-worship to the Father in spirit and truth. For indeed the Father is seeking such ones to be the ones worshipping Him. Today we are called to stand in the presence of God as we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, consecrating ourselves to God in order to build a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone;in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord;in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
We are a dwelling place for God as a living temple being built by those who freely give themselves to be consecrated before Yahweh as a house of prayer. Prayer is an offering, a gift of love motivated by love based on what we received. 1 Timothy 1:5 And the goal of your command is love from a pure heart and good conscience and sincere faith. Remember, when Jesus sent the disciples to pray for the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the sick and cast out demons, He instructed them to give freely because we freely received everything. When we truly receive the fullness of the gift from Father God, our inheritance in the Spirit, we lack nothing! When we consider what Jesus said concerning Mary who anointed Him before His burial with expensive ointment, we can see that praying is first of all an act of love giving on account of the gift we received.
Worship in Spirit and in Truth is not bound to a place or a specific activity. It is a matter from the heart. It is not a ceremony or a time-limited ritual. In Deut. 6:4 it is evident that to worship God in Spirit and in Truth is to love Him with your whole heart, your whole soul and your whole spirit – with everything in you, more than anything else. When loving Him like that and making Him bigger, we are worshiping Him in Spirit and in Truth, building a dwelling place for God.
1Cor 3:9-17 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming,God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it.For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble;each man’s work will be revealed.For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is.If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward.If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you?If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.
If we are building a dwelling place for God through prayer, we are destroying it through a lack of prayer or praying from wrong motives.