1. God is restoring a deep sense of prayer and worship among His children.

A. Acts 15 God says that He is going to restore the Tabernacle of David in the last days.

1. 15:16 " After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent.

Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it,

2. 15:17 that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things"

II. Why is God interested in the reestablishment of David’s tent?

1. David established a place where God and man had an intimate place of communion.
2. Tommy Tenny calls the tabernacle of David God’s Favorite House.
3. God pursues a relationship with us and longs for a place where He can have fellowship with us.

III. David knew the importance in the presence of the beauty of the Lord.

1. It was his primary desire.
2. PS 27:4 One thing I ask of the LORD,

4. God specifically said that His house will be a House of Prayer. Isaiah 56

ISA 56:7 these I will bring to my holy mountain

and give them joy in my house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house will be called

a house of prayer for all nations."

A. God is referring to all people when He says "these"

B. It will be an international house of prayer where all foreigners can come together in unity.

C. God inhabits (dwells in, lives in, takes up residence) in the praises of His people.

D. Jesus declares the Father’s Name and leads praise in the congregation. Hebrews 2:12 He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers;

in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises."

E. In His glory (magnificence, beauty, splendor, brilliance), we are changed.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJ

F. The Father calls for us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.") and to be perfect as He is perfect (Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.)

1. This can only be obtained in His presence. For there we are without sin.
2. There we become the perfected image of Christ.
3. There we learn to become mature in our love for God.
4. There we learn to see God for Who He really is and to see ourselves for who we are made to be.

V. In Song of Songs Chapter 1, the bride learns of her spiritual identity.

B. It was while she was in the King’s chambers, in verse 4, that she is given that revelation.

C. Although she may not walk in complete, spiritual maturity, her willingness to do so stirs God’s heart. She has the desire to embrace more of the love of her King.

VI. David’s one desire

1. David stated in Psalm 27 that he desired and sought after that he would dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life.
2. Many times David showed his spiritual immaturity but he never lost his desire to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.

7. God knew what kind of man David was

1. He still gave David the biggest honor ever given an earthly king.
2. That there would always be an ancestor of David on the throne of Israel.
3. David found real satisfaction in the beauty of the Lord. The many years he played his harp unto the Lord as he was tending his sheep gave David many opportunities to praise and worship God and enjoy the habitation of His majestic beauty.
4. David knew the One Thing that could satisfy him.

7. Mary of Bethany found that One Thing
1. As she sat at the feet of Jesus and gazed into the beauty of His presence. Luke 10:39
2. As she poured out the fragrant oil, she poured out anointed worship to the King of Kings. Mathew 26:7
8. Anna found the One Thing
1. After the death of her husband, she poured out her heart to the Lord
2. For 60 years, she ministered to the Lord in the temple. Luke 2:36-38
9.  
10. John the apostle found the One Thing
1. He laid his head upon the breast of his Master and Friend.
2. He became known as the Disciple that Jesus loved. John 13:23
1. John realized how much Jesus loved him
2. John was able to return Jesus’ love
11. John the Baptist proclaimed the One Thing
1. He knew in his mother’s womb and leaped for joy when the pregnant Mary came near. Luke 1:41
2. He knew that Jesus would take away the sins of the world. John 1:29
3. He poured out his life as a living life to prepare the way of the Lord.
12. The rich, young ruler refused the One Thing Luke 18:18
1. He knew and kept all the commandments.
2. But he did not know the One Thing that would have given him all wealth and all power and joy beyond his wildest dream.
13. God makes it hard to be a king.
1. Throughout David’s life, God gave him many confirmations.
2. He was anointed king at a very young age and then sent out to pasture.
3. He was given many victories over the enemies of his nation only to be pursued by the very men he commanded and by the king to whom he swore his loyalty.
4. He was made the most loved kings of all times yet he was hated in his own household.
14. Jesus seeks out lavishing lovers
1. Mary of Bethany found such favor with Jesus that He spent much of His last week before the crucifixion with her family in Bethany, outside of Jerusalem.
2. Jesus revealed the glory of God through her family in the raising of Lazerath from the dead.
3. It was Mary who was at the empty tomb.
15. God rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
1. Anna found that her one refuge was in the place of the Lord.
2. Anna was allowed to behold the Messiah in His infancy.
3. John the apostle was known as the disciple that Jesus loved and was given long life.
4. John received the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

XVI. Matthew 22:14"For many are invited, but few are chosen."

5. The rich, young ruler was invited to follow and find the One Thing.
6. Because he refused to follow, he was not chosen to part of what Jesus was doing.

1. Pray, is that all you do?
2. The church is achievement oriented. Task oriented. Event oriented. Growth oriented. Those priorities are good but they are not the One Thing that needs to be the top priority.

7. Which of the commandments are the greatest
1. The Great Commission is the Second Commandment.
2. The First and Great Commandment needs to be restored to top priority.
3. Psalm 133 – Is a picture of how the first and second commandments work.

We anoint the head of our High Priest, Jesus, with our praise and worship and the anointing flows over the rest of the body of Christ. Even in blessing and anointing, you cannot out give Jesus. God gives a commanded blessing because of the corporate gathering.

 

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WHAT IS HARP ‘N BOWL
Rick Combs

1. In its’ simplest form, Harp ‘n Bowl is prayer and music intermingled together. It is the most effective model of intercessory prayer.

a. The Heavenly Model in Revelation 5:8

1. The Tabernacle of David is the first earthly representation
2. It is enjoyable prayer; you can literally go for hours.
3. Harp ‘n Bowl is a great way to dwell on the Beauty of God – Psalm 27:4.
• public
• private
1. Aspects of the Harp ‘n Bowl prayer model.
1. Dialogue – prayer echoed with a response in song, agreement.
2. Loving meditation on the Word of God – using small phrases.
3. Go over and over the same verse using a variety of words, musical phrases and melodies.
2. The most important aspect of any prayer and worship experience including Harp ‘n Bowl is that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1)…laying down our lives. The prayer and worship experience is an outward expression of an inner attitude of our hearts; the attitude of laying down our life for the Lover of our soul.
1. John 15:13 "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends…" not only friends, we are His Bride.
2. The true expression of Love is that we give ourselves to Jesus.
3. We lay down our lives through being willing to die daily (I Cor. 15:31), and crucify the passions and desires of our flesh, which causes us to sin and separates us from the Lover of our soul. Jesus’ earthly pattern is our earthly pattern.

 

Harp ‘n Bowl personal notes by Rick Combs

1) Tabernacle of Moses

Three tents; outer court, inner court, and the holy of holies which was surrounded by the outer tents. Enclosed and nobody could see it.

Tabernacle of David

The Tent where the Presence of God was was surrounded by singers and musicians. The "Tent" was now brought out in the open. David meditated and worshipped there. During these times, David would receive strategies concerning his kingdom; conquering, etc.

2. Antiphonal Praying.

This is very much apart of church history. Just after St. Patrick died in Ireland, some monk brothers had an open vision of Heaven and saw the choir of angels singing back and forth to each other as described in Revelation 4. Finally, a 24-hr. choir Antiphonal prayer was established. They put out the call and 3,000 monks arrived. They split the men into 8 hour shifts. Two sets of choirs were set up in the cathedral during each shift. All they did for 8 hours was sing back and forth to each other. This was going on 24 hours a day. They sang a particular song (Ps. 145) for a full year. Would that really get into your spirit. This went on for 300 years.

We also see this in the catholic tradition, Clariveau, and the Moravians.

3. Worship in the Word format.

This was the type of worship in our clinic on June 28, 2000.

1. The worship leader began singing a passage of scripture (Rev. 7:9-10).
2. Then the prayer leader read the passage.
3. The prayer leader then prayed through the passage in her own words and broke it down into small phrases.
4. Then the chorus leader sang that phrase in response in their own words; 5-20 seconds over and over with the people in the room following her. When she was to finish, she added something different on the last time to let everyone know that this is the last time.
   This happened for about 10 minutes.
5. Then we did something different. The prayer leader prayed a portion of scripture (Eph. 1: 17-19)
6. The worship leader sang a portion of it.
7. The prayer leader then prayed a portion of that scripture (a phrase) in her own words and related it to her community.
8. One of the singers sang in response in her own words.
9. It went back and forth like this for an hour.

4) Fire on the Altar – Lev. 6:12-13….the music IS THE FIRE. The music and prayers are not recorded and are literally gone after being sung. It’s being consumed. This is literally our sacrifice of praise.

 

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