Lord Prepare Me To Be A Sanctuary

[AriseNshine4Jesus]

Lord Prepare Me To Be A Sanctuary

Using the lyrics of this song, I would like for each person to write down in your own words, what each stanza means to you :) Don’t just answer to be answering, stop and really think about what you are asking God to do when you are singing the words of this song. It doesn’t matter how long or how short your answers are, just speak from your heart :)

In preparing for this assignment, please read Romans 12:1-2. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The purpose of this assignment is to understand your understanding individually and collectively of what being a living sanctuary for the Lord really means. This assignment will help us to create assignments based on everyone’s level individually and collectively as a group of believers desiring to grow in the ministry of praise & worship.

Feel free to use scripture references :) Let’s get started…

Lord Prepare Me
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


To Be A Sanctuary
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


Pure and Holy – What does it mean to be pure and holy?
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________ _______________


Tried and True – What does this mean to you?
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________ _______________


And With Thanksgiving
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________ _______________


I Will Be A Living Sanctuary
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________ _______________


Sanctuary For You
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________ _______________


Self-Examination Questions:

1. What are you asking the Lord to prepare you for?

2. What is a sanctuary?

3. What does it mean to be pure and holy?

4. What does this mean to be tried and true?

5. Why do we offer thanksgiving?

6. What is a living sanctuary?

7. Is the sanctuary for us, for the church or is it for God?

I pray that this lesson will bless you, challenge you and help you to understand what you are asking God to do, when you sing the words to the song, "Lord Prepare Me To Be Sanctuary"

In His Service!

[fmckinnon]

Hey
Wow - that's a great post ... if it weren't 11:00 PM and I have 3 services to lead in the AM - I'd love to take a shot at answering it ... but will meditate on it and come back to it ...

I think it's a great idea to break these songs apart and really take some time and dwell - meditate on what we are saying ... I think it would contribute to being more engaged in our hearts with true, authentic worship.

Thanks for getting us started!

[chipshot0701]

Great idea. I always sing songs without dwelling on the true meaning. Except for Amazing Grace!

Santuary: A holy Temple, a house of Worship. A quiet place with peace and tranquility.
Pure and Holy: to be like Jesus

Tried and True: as if I were tested by Satan but holding true to the word.

with Thanksgiving: praying everyday and night to the lord and to Jesus asking for forgiveness and thanking them for sending Jesus to live and die for our sins 2000 years ago!!!!
I'll be a living Sanctuary for you: impossible! but I try live it....:(

[AriseNshine4Jesus]

Peace & blessings:)

I used to sing songs without dwelling on the true meaning too, when I first started singing on the choir as a child...but than I became curious and wanted to know why certain songs would touch my heart, I wanted to know why certain songs would make me cry...I wanted to know why certain songs would fill my heart with joy...so I began to dissect the verses of songs, just like I do with bible verses and what I learned is that there is healing in a song.
There is deliverance in a song, there is restoration in a song, there is hope, love, joy, peace and comfort in a song! There is a yoke destroying and burden removing anointing in a song and I glorify God for the wonderful gift of singing that He has blessed us with!


Santuary: A holy Temple, a house of Worship. A quiet place with peace and tranquility.

Great answer! I agree that a sanctuary is a holy temple, a house of worship and along those lines, so are we:) The church building is a sanctuary, it's where we come to worship and as born again believers, we are God's living sanctuary....and it is our reasonable service to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. Romans 12:1

Living is to be alive, not dead.

(Isaiah 52:1) Wake up, God Is Leading You Out of Here

1AWAKE, AWAKE, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2Shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit [erect in a dignified place], O Jerusalem; loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.

3For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.

Glory hallelujah!

Sacrifice is to surrender something for the sake of something else; to give up or to lose something.

Genesis 22:1-11,
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.

12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram [a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

In this text Abraham was ready, willing and able to sacrifice (surrender, give up, lose) his son Isaac and symbolically, we must be willing to surrender ourselves to God...not just the areas that we want to freely give to God but those hard to reach areas that we hold dear to our heart...those areas where we hold God back at arms length!

Like Abraham we must learn how to deny ourselves, we must be willing to give up our desires in exchange for God's desires...for we were brough with a price! God purchased us with the blood of His Son Jesus Christ...we belong to Him and it is our reasonable service to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, seeking His will for our lives, seeking His rigtheousness, seeking His purpose, the reason that God fearfully and wonderfully made us.

What are you ready, willing and able to sacrifice unto the Lord today?

Need some encouragement along the way? Good:D let's take a closer look at
Genesis 22:3-5, Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

Abraham the man who stepped out in faith...in Genesis 12, the man who left his family and home (his comfort zone) to go to an unknown place didn't doubt God....and in obedience Abraham followed God's instructions and Abrahamed believed that he and his son Abraham would return to his servants and they did! Let's go to Genesis 22:6-8

Genesis 22:6-8
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

What are you believing God for today?

What is preventing or hindering you from making a sacrifice today?

In your response for Tried and True, you said:


Tried and True: as if I were tested by Satan but holding true to the word.

And I want to encourage you today to remain true to God's word as you go through life's test, knowing and believing that God is not a man that He should lie! If God did it for Abraham, God will do it for you! Whatever is preventing you from being a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, let it go and watch God bless you with something 100 times greater and better for you!

Matthew 19:16-28 The Rich Young Man
16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."

18"Which ones?" the man inquired.

Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'

20"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"

21Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"

26Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
27Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?"

28Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

It is possible to be a living sacrifice but we must be willing to endure the test, the trials and tribulations that come in and out of our lives, knowing that God is building character and developing the very nature of God within us that allows us to be more like Jesus:)

I pray that this message will bless and encourage you to keep pressing forward. I love you in Christ Jesus and I am praying for you and with you!

Many, many blessings!
Stacey

[chipshot0701]

Thanks for putting so much work into that. Nice job.

[bblankin]

Lord Prepare Me

because i cannot prepare myself. after i have done all i can do to prepare myself for worship, i still need You to transform my heart.


To Be A Sanctuary, Pure and Holy

a sanctuary is a place set apart for the purpose of meeting God. that's what i want to be -- set apart, dedicated, committed. the big struggle of life for me is to remain set apart all the time. but when i'm preparing to worship, that's when it is most important for my heart to be fixed on one purpose: pleasing my Father.


Tried and True – What does this mean to you?

He knows me. He has tested me for His purposes. He has allowed me to struggle because it serves His purposes in my life. One of those purposes is to prepare me for worship, to make my heart malleable and humble and open.


And With Thanksgiving

thanksgiving leads to praise, which leads to worship. it's the first step because it's the easiest and most natural.


I Will Be A Living Sanctuary For You

i think the writer wanted to echo "living sacrifice" here, as you did in the question (by ref to rom 12:2). while preparing to preach on that text not too long ago, i was struck by the contrast between Paul's notion of worship and the polytheist-pagan notion. to the pagans the whole idea behind worship seems to be, "if i give this god a sacrifice, he will leave me alone/be nice to me/stop being mean to me, and i can get on with my life." sacrifice serves the purpose of pushing the pagan god away so he won't interfere with my hopes, dreams and ambitions. to paul's readers, the whole idea of approaching God was completely different. our goal is to immerse ourselves in Him, not to escape his interference. we don't offer a sacrifice of our stuff to appease Him; instead we offer ourselves as a sacrifice, with no higher goal than to be consumed by Him.

thanks for the exercise -- i'll sing that song differently next time :)

--
Ben B

[AriseNshine4Jesus]

Praise God Ben....what a blessing it was to read your responses!

I felt the awesome love you have for the Father...very refreshing!

God bless you....look forward to reading more of your writings:)

Blessings,
Stacey

[El Ben]

Lord prepare me: God, I recognize that at this moment in time, I'm not prepared for your glory. I'm not prepared to see you face to face. God, if I were honest with myself, I'd admit that the same issues that tripped me up yesterday are still with me today. I also recognize that there's nothing I can do in my own power to make all of this extra stuff go away. So God, here I am, I need you to supernaturally empower me to change, to supernaturally empower me to move forward into what you have for me. Prepare me spirit, soul, and body for whatever you want to do.

to be a sanctuary, : I desire to be a safe place for you, God, not because there are places that are unsafe for you, but safe in the sense of my heart being a place where, as soon as you walk in the door, you just feel like sighing in relief. Make me man like Noah, a living vessel who, when you searched the whole Earth for a righteous man, even if you could find no one else, Noah was a refuge for you. Let me be a dwelling place in which you are comfortable, God. Let me be a dwelling place where the furniture isn't bolted to the floor like in some cheap hotel room, or to numerous and bulky to move, but let me be an open, airy space that you can make your own.

pure and holy, : Nothing between us, God. Nothing. I want to be pure before you, God, like pure water that is refreshing. Even purified water has its imperfections, but everything that is dangerous or threatening or unhealthy has been removed. I want to be that water that, even though I still have my imperfections and I'm not necessarilly soley H2O, that I am refreshing to you, that my life blesses and is a source of life, not poison, to your plan. I want to be holy before you, God, just like the ephod, the Urimm and Thummim were. I want to be holy in that I am separated for you, set apart for your service, and used to execute your will for your people, and just like those things you declared holy to you in the Old Testament, there's nothing special about me (save, for the way I was made!), nothing that sets me apart from anything else EXCEPT for the fact that YOU have said that I am holy and YOU have said that I am set apart.

tried and true, : God, as David said when he was looking for the place to build your temple, I don't want to give you anything that costs me nothing. Test me, God. I invite you. Test me so that when That Day comes, the offerings that I have to give you aren't wood, hay, or stubble, but they are gold, silver, and precious stones. I ask you to test me, not because I am confident that I can endure, but because I am confident that your Holy Spirit inside of me can endure all. Test me so that I can KNOW that I am yours. Let it be a living word to me that I am your child, not because it was said, but because you proved it to me. Even in my failures, God, I know you bring truth from my mistakes and blessing from my curse.

and with thanksgiving, : I thank you in advance because I am confident of this very thing, that you who BEGAN the good work in me will be faithful to COMPLETE it until the day of your son, Christ Jesus.

I'll be a living sanctuary for you. : I'll be a living sanctuary in I won't be some dead, structured place that never changes. I'll be a sanctuary for you that lives and breathes and moves and grows. I'll move forward or backward, whatever it is that you desire. I'll be vibrant and motivated, filled with joy and laughter, weeping and intercession, and deep, jealous love for you. That's what I want to be.



Really and truly, this song is like a statement of faith, isn't it? God, do this in me (because I know it's your will already), and I declare forth that I will be a living sanctuary for you. Even if it seems unlikely, I say it anyway, flexing my faith to see it through.

[chipshot0701]

True DAT! Bro.

[AriseNshine4Jesus]

pure and holy, : Nothing between us, God. Nothing. I want to be pure before you, God, like pure water that is refreshing. Even purified water has its imperfections, but everything that is dangerous or threatening or unhealthy has been removed. I want to be that water that, even though I still have my imperfections and I'm not necessarilly soley H2O, that I am refreshing to you, that my life blesses and is a source of life, not poison, to your plan. I want to be holy before you, God, just like the ephod, the Urimm and Thummim were. I want to be holy in that I am separated for you, set apart for your service, and used to execute your will for your people, and just like those things you declared holy to you in the Old Testament, there's nothing special about me (save, for the way I was made!), nothing that sets me apart from anything else EXCEPT for the fact that YOU have said that I am holy and YOU have said that I am set apart.


Amen...I was truly blessed by your entire response but the above, really touched my heart, I like your style of writing...keep writing...God bless!

[AriseNshine4Jesus]

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary

Create In Me A Clean Heart

Psalm 51:10, Create in me a clean heart O God: and renew a right spirit within me.

What I love the most about Psalm 51:10, is that David knew that he had an unclean heart and in humility he asked God purge him with hyssop and create in Him a clean heart. Although God was responsible for cleaning and creating in David a clean heart, David was responsible for doing his part...and so am I.

Create is to bring into being and as I thought about the definition of create, I thought about a fire in the fireplace that is about to go out but the moment you place some more coals on the fire it begins to burn brightly and I began to smile because I can see it, I can feel it and I can smell it!

You see you can’t place new coals on a smoldering fire and not see the black coals turning orange as a sign that it’s no longer cold or lukewarm, it’s getting hot! You can’t place new coals on a smoldering fire and not feel the warmth from the coals. You can’t place new coals on a smoldering fire and not smell the coals burning.

As I continued to read Psalm 51:10-15, I was fanning the fire which brings me back to the definition of create, which is to bring into being. I learned that if I want to burn hot for God (clean heart), I need to do a few things:

I need to cooperate with God and offer Him no resistance as I am humble myself and submit to His authority, His will and His purpose being fulfilled in my life.

I need to be transformed by the renewing of mind through the reading, hearing and application of His word, Romans 12:2

I need to present my body as a living sacrice holy and acceptable unto God which is my reasonable service, Romans 12:1

I need to stay smack dab in the middle of His will while He is making and molding me, on the Master Potter's Wheel, Jeremiah 18

I need to turn up the fire in my prayer life

Psalm 51:15, O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

I need to turn up the fire in my praise because verse 15 tells me that God wants my praise!

I need to turn up the fire in my worship. Worship isn't just something that we do on Sunday mornings. Worship isn't something that we can turn on and off, worship is a lifestyle. Every day, I must make a conscious decision to worship God and I must be intentional with living a consecrated life.

There's an old hymn entitled "Draw me nearer, Nearer blessed Lord to the cross where thou has died" and the first stanza of that song says....

Conscecrate me now, to thy service Lord, by the power of Grace divine.
Let my soul look up, with a steadfast hope and my will be lost in thine; which brings me to the following stanza of Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary....

Pure and Holy -

2 Timothy 2:21, If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

The next word that I looked at was clean. Clean is to be free from dirt, impurities or contamination and I thought about the coals on the fire and again I smiled because I can see it, I can feel it and I can smell it. I thought about the Refiner’s Fire as it is recorded in Malachi 3:1-3,

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom he delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like the refiner’s fire and fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord and offering in righteousness.

Tried and True -

I thought about silver and gold as it is being burned in the refiner’s fire. As the silver and gold melts away, all of the impurities separate and rises up to the surface so that the Silversmith can scoop out the impurities. Once this process is completed the Silversmith will continue to watch the silver and the gold burn unto He can see his reflection in it. This lets him no that the refining process has been completed and it is hear that I heard the Lord say that I am not silver, I am gold.

1 Peter 4:12, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

The next word that I looked at was right spirit and that is a steadfast spirit. Steadfast is not moving, it is fixed, not easily shaking, not easily moved. It is firm allegiance to one’s country or government. It’s to be faithful to a person, an idea or cause and it is clear that I am to stand firm in allegiance to God. I am to be faithful and loyal to God. Not the things that I have been busy doing. Things that He didn’t tell me to do! Things that take up too much of time! Things that pull me away from God. …Moving in my own strength and leaning to my own understanding….

Order my steps in Your Word Lord....

And With Thanksgiving

1 Peter 4:13, But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

I'll be a living sanctuary for you.

1 Peter 2:4-6, As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."[you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood], offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Living is to be alive, not dead. (wake up child of God).

Isaiah 52:1-3, Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor O Jerusalem, the holy city.
The uncircumcised and defiled
will not enter you again.

2 Shake off your dust;
rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,
O captive Daughter of Zion.

3 For this is what the LORD says:
"You were sold for nothing,
and without money you will be redeemed."

Sacrifice is to surrender something for the sake of something else; to give up or to lose something. Abraham was ready, willing and able to sacrifice his son Isaac. What are you ready, willing and able to sacrifice unto the Lord today?

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary Pure and Holy, Tried and True, the word clearly tells us in Isaiah 28:16 that Jesus was tried and He was true, faithful to God. Jesus the Chief Cornerstone The Living Stone...endured all that we are enduring now. 1 Peter 2:5 & Romans 12:1 tells us that we are a living sanctuary, we are living stones and our reasonable (rational, intelligent) service is to be a house of worship.

We have been set apart by God. For God, to be used by God, for His glory! During our separation process, God begins to prune and purge us...preparing us for His service.

Prune is to trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth. Purge is to rid (someone) of an unwanted feeling, memory, or condition.

In laymen terms God is unclogging the spiritual arteries of our heart. He is removing those painful hurts of our past, those things that have been hindering us, those things that are preventing us from being used to our fullest potential in Christ, causing us to be functionally illiterate. It's time for a change....create in me a clean heart O God!