The Power of Family Altars

Pr Julius Suubi

09-09-2018

Genesis 18:17-19 New King James Version (NKJV)

17 And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”

What are family altars? Family altars are altars that are raised up in the family. The whole purpose and focus of family altars is to pray for the family and to draw the presence of God in that family.

There is a difference between altars and prayer meetings.

Every time altars were raised in the Scriptures, they were acceptable altars.

Not all altars are acceptable. Not all sacrifices are acceptable. God rejected the sacrifice of Cain because it wasn't acceptable. We think that God is so desperate that anything that we throw to Him, He can just receive it. God is not desperate for your sacrifice. God has standards.

Malachi 1:6-8 New King James Version (NKJV)

Polluted Offerings

6 “A son honors his father,

And a servant his master.

If then I am the Father,

Where is My honor?

And if I am a Master,

Where is My reverence?

Says the Lord of hosts

To you priests who despise My name.

Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’

7 “You offer defiled food on My altar,

But say,

‘In what way have we defiled You?’

By saying,

‘The table of the Lord is [a]contemptible.’

8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice,

Is it not evil?

And when you offer the lame and sick,

Is it not evil?

Offer it then to your governor!

Would he be pleased with you?

Would he accept[b] you favorably?”

Says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 1:10 New International Version (NIV)

10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

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The Lord is telling the children of Israel that that fire is useless fire. Not all sacrifices are acceptable before the Lord. At times, you can worship and pray but what you are giving does not meet the standard requirements that God expects from you.

Acceptable altars means approaching the presence of God with honour, with respect, with reverence.

God is God. And He must be respected, honoured and revered.

When we approach Him with honour and with reverence, we will call upon His name and He will answer us. He will move.

At times when we enter into prayer, we are so casual with God.

Acceptable altars that meet the expectations and standards of God will rise up and the presence of God comes down.

When Elijah reconstructed the altar, the presence of God came down.

When Noah reconstructed the altar after coming out of the ark, the presence of God came down and He said, "I will never destroy the earth again using floods."

When David raised an altar at Araunah's threshing floor, God removed the judgment that had come upon the nation.

When we talk about the altars, we are focusing on drawing the presence of God into your homes.

It is not only about experiencing the presence of God in church.

When we take about altars, we are talking about power points. God wants you to establish a power point. If it is a demonic altar, it draws demonic power into your home. But when we raise an altar to the Lord, we are drawing and courting the power of the Holy Spirit into our family.

The Jews have gone through the greatest persecution that any community has ever faced.

But Judaism has never been totally eradicated because the discipleship in the Jewish family is not based on the synagogue; it was based on the family altar.

The indoctrination of Jewish children takes place at home. Many times we leave discipleship to the Sunday School teacher. We celebrate the work that Sunday School teachers do but how much time do they have with our children?

If you are going to infuse the gospel into your children, you have to be intentional to disciple your children from the family altar.

Why do we need to raise up family altars and what do family altars do?

We are going to compare the family of Abraham and the family of Lot.

One family had an altar, the other family did not have an altar.

Abraham was committed in raising up his children in the ways of God.

The greatest people that you need to get respect from are your wife and children. Otherwise you cannot impact your family.

The impact and influence must begin in the house.

Genesis 18:1-2 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Son of Promise

18 Then the Lord appeared to him by [a]the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground,

When God comes to visit Abraham's home, He finds Abraham at home. Abraham was a family man. He was not an absent father. He was there for the family.

We invest a lot of money to ensure that our children study and get good grades but we do not invest enough time to ensure  that our children also grow up in the Word of God.

To raise up a family that fears God does not come by accident. It must be intentional. You have to deliberate about it.

Fathers, when we look at Lot, don't leave the running of the family altars just to your wives. Many times the mothers are praying and interceding for their families and the fathers are not.

Fathers, you have the priestly mantle. Research have proved that even when the fathers just get involved in the homework of the children, children will always perform better. Daddy, your input is needed in the family.

Genesis 19:1-3 New King James Version (NKJV)

Sodom’s Depravity

19 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.”

And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”

3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Lot was not at home when the angels came to visit his family.

Because the family of Abraham had an altar, Sarah was obedient to Abraham. Sarah called her husband, "My lord."

Genesis 18:12 New King James Version (NKJV)

12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

1 Peter 3:6 New King James Version (NKJV)

6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

The word "lord" is a statement of obedience and submission.

Because of the presence of God, there was respect for one another in that home.

Some husbands call their wives "bitter lemon" or wives call their husbands "that beast!"

But Sarah called her husband "my lord." How sweet is that!

I'm not saying you should call your husband "my lord." What is means is that there was honour and respect because the presence of God was there in that home.

Tell your wife "I love you."

Now, having a family altar doesn't mean that you're not going to have challenges in your family. Challenges are going to be there. But because you pray together and have that time of sharing the Word of God together, the presence of God will help you to create a different atmosphere in your family and you'll forgive one another very easily. I pray with my wife. We pray every day. But every Monday evening, we have our official family altar. When we gather, everybody has to share.

The children share the dreams that they are having. And they share the revelations that they are getting.

We need to infuse the Word of God into our children at the family altar.

We need to pray together.

When Abraham was about to die, he said to the oldest servant of his house, "Go and get a wife for my son from my country." The servant went and Rebekah obeyed and married Isaac. (Genesis 24) The family of Abraham had a powerful prayer altar.

When God asked Abraham to offer Isaac, the beloved son asked the father, "We have the wood but where is the sacrifice?" (Genesis 22:7) Abraham had trained his son that when you approach the presence of God, you must always approach with a sacrifice. He had disciple him. Even God had testified that, "I know that Abraham shall raise his children in the ways of God."

What happened to the children of Lot? When the angels of the Lord came and declared that there was going to be a judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law. The Bible says they mocked him, they laughed at him and nothing good came out of that. (Genesis 19:14) Why? Because this was a family that had no prayer. This was a family that never gathered together as a family to worship the Lord. There was no fear of the Lord amongst the sons-in-law of Lot.

But in the family of Abraham, even Rebekah, though she never saw Abraham, she obeyed.

Altars are very, very powerful.

You cannot raise up your children by telling them, "Don't do this." You cannot raise them up by don'ts and dos. It only works when your children are in your presence. They might not do certain things because of respect for you.

But what about when they are not with you? You need to raise your children around the presence of God. You need to teach how to access and draw the presence of God themselves. In the day when they are not with you, even though they are going through a crisis, they will know how to call upon the name of the Lord by themselves, and not relying on daddy's or mommy's prayers alone.

That was what Job did. Job never taught his children how to access the presence of God. The Bible says every time they have a birthday, he used to sacrifice for them. That is good. It is good to pray for them. It is good to also ensure that they experience and they know what to do.

Lot had tried. Raising up girls in Sodom and Gomorrah, the Bible testifies his daughters were virgins. Could you really raise up daughters in Sodom and Gomorrah who were virgins? That's a very tall order. Sodom was weakened. It was full of darkness. It was full of evil. But he managed to.

But then we also see that when these children were subjected to pressure, they wanted to get married but could not get men to be married to, they manipulated their father, gave him wine and slept with him. That was the first incest recorded in the Bible. (Genesis 19:30-38) Why? Because don'ts and dos cannot survive pressure. There is a level when the pressure becomes too much.

But the presence of God will help you to overcome every kind of pressure.

Lord, I want more of Your presence.

Holy Spirit, release Your presence. Ignite the family altars. Release Your fire and power over Your people.

Your marriage will be spared.

Your children will be spared.

Fire of the Holy Ghost, come upon me and my children this morning. In the name of Jesus.

Divorce rates are so high these days. When divorce takes place, hearts are broken, children are affected, destinies are crushed and destroyed.

The only way to keep the marriages is--not to destroy one another but for people to love one another and fulfilling destinies--by raising up that family altar.

It looks like a very simple instruction but yet it is very, very powerful.

How are you going to raise up children where there is so much rebellion released to ensure that children do not agree with their parents? Drug abuse, moral fabrics broken... It is only by raising up family altars and bringing the presence of God into your house.

Family altars are powerful in shaping the destinies of families.

Matthew 20:20-21 New King James Version (NKJV)

Greatness Is Serving

20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.

21 And He said to her, “What do you wish?”

She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.”

Can we celebrate our mothers and fathers?

This lady came to Jesus and she did not ask for her personal needs.

If it was a man, a man would have told Jesus to pray for my business and my career. Men are always talking about their career.

But this woman asked on behalf of her children.

Was that prayer answered? Yes. The sons of Zebedee were John and James.

Jesus had the three who were in the inner circle. Who were they? Peter, John and James.

So her prayer for greatness for her children were answered. 

The prayers of your family altars shape the destinies of your children. They shape the destiny of your marriage. When Rebekah was going to get married to Isaac, they prayed for her and prophesied upon her that her offspring seize the gates of their enemies. That prophetic word came at the family altar. Rebekah gave birth to Jacob, Jacob to Judah, Judah to David, David to Jesus. It came to pass. Jesus possessed the gates of the enemy.

Let us raise up family altars. This one of the greatest strategies to overcome the hosts of hell that are destroying families today.