======================================================================== PERSONAL & FAMILY ALTAR IN THE MOVE OF GOD by Gbile Akanni ======================================================================== Summary: Gbile Akanni emphasizes the critical importance of both personal and family altars as foundational for spiritual communion and effective participation in God's move. Duration: 1:19:46 Topics: "Family Devotion", "Personal Communion", "Spiritual Leadership" Scripture References: Genesis 12:1-8, Isaiah 1:18, Genesis 13:7-10, Genesis 14:8-12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In this powerful teaching, Gbile Akanni explores the vital role of personal and family altars in the move of God. Using the example of Abraham and his family, he highlights how individual communion with God is essential for spiritual growth and sustaining God's blessings. The sermon challenges listeners to develop their own personal altars and not rely solely on others within the family for spiritual leadership. Gbile Akanni calls for a renewed commitment to personal prayer and devotion as the foundation for effective participation in God's work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Living Seed Media brings to you God's Word, which is his comprehensive equipment for changing lives. May the Lord impact your heart as you encounter his Word. For further enquiry or counsel, contact Peace House, PO Box 971, Boko, Benue State, Nigeria. Telephone numbers 0703 03636 59 0703 76811 98 Email address lsmedia.livingseed.org Or visit our website at www.livingseed.org Let us sit back and listen as the servant of God brings forth the Word of Life. What the family must do. And you know again the family is made up of individuals. There is a husband, there is a wife, and then plus or minus children. They have a role to play in the move of God. There may be so many roles to play, but for this morning, we'll be looking at the role of alters. Personal and family alters in the move of God. We are talking about the personal communion of the individual members in the family. And then the collective communion of what we call family devotions. Jesus started with prayers and ended with prayers. And I want us to begin with the first family. And that is, no, second family I can say. We want to look at Genesis 12. In Genesis 12, we are looking at the family of a man called Abraham and his wife Sarah. And then they had many, many, many other disciples with them. I think about 318 or so. And then we'll be looking at their communion unto the Lord. Chapter 12 from verse 1. Now unto the Lord that hath said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curse thee. And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him. And the Lord went with him. And Abraham was seventy and five years old. When he departed out of Haran. And Abraham took Sarah his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered. And the souls that they had gotten in Haran. And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. And into the land of Canaan they came. And Abraham passed through the land unto the place of Sikkim. Unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said unto him, Unto thy seed will I give this land. And there builded he an altar unto the Lord. Who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel. And pitched his tent having Bethel on the west. And Hai on the east. And there he builded an altar unto the Lord. And called upon the name of the Lord. Now as I told you. A family is first of all made up of individuals. The husband is one person. The wife is another person. There may be children or no children. But we saw that when the Lord was looking for missionaries. To go and spread out the word of God. God first of all went to a family. God went to a family. And this was the family of Abraham and his wife Sarah. Abraham was already 75. When God began to get him involved in his move at that time. And since then God's plan has never changed. Anytime God wants to move. He will again look for a family. Even after Abraham. There were other moves that God still had to look for families. I hope you remember the family of Manoah and his wife. When the Lord wanted to move. And to do something. In the land of the Philistines. He also visited a family. The family of Manoah. I don't know whether your own family is such that. God can also involve in this move. Should the Lord visit your family. Can he find someone there? Will he find you the husband? Or will he find you the wife? Or what will happen? Now we are going to be looking particularly. On the issue of raising of altars. In the families. In this move. The Bible said. The Lord came. And he met Abraham in verse 4. And he spoke with him. And the response was that. Abraham rose up to obey. But for him to find continuous leading. And to be correct in that move. Verse 6 said. Abraham passed through the land. Unto the place of Sikkim. Unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. The Lord appeared unto Abraham and said unto thy seed. Will I give this land? And they are builded he and altar unto the Lord. Who appeared to him. I want you to take note of the personal pronoun. He not there yet. There is room for family devotion. There is room for family altars. But there is also room. For personal individual altars in the family. Now we are discovering. That this particular altar was raised by one member of the family. And which is Abraham. Say wherever the Lord appeared to him. He raised an altar. And what is the altar? An altar is a place of communion. Abraham raised an altar. He provided a place of communion. Where him and the Lord will continue to talk together. You remember Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18 said. Come let us reason together. The cry of the Lord. In his move. Is to find families. That he can reason together with them. Over this move. That has come to our generation again. So Abraham built an altar. Where they will continue to commune together with the Lord. Apart from the altar. That was raised in Sycam. Verse 8 again said. He moved from there to Bethel and built another one. It was beginning to bother me. That here is the head of a family. Who was showing interest. In raising of altars. In providing points of communion with the Lord. He did it once, he did it again. And I didn't see any other member of the family doing the same. Is there a husband here. Who is so comforted and satisfied. That thank God my wife is a prayerful woman. And then you are just like that. Thank God even when I'm sleeping. Each time I wake up I see my wife raising prayers unto the Lord. And then I go and ease myself and I come back into my bed. Thank God I have children who are prayer warriors. Yes, but what about you? Madam, we praise God for your husband. Who himself is an intercessor for West Africa. But what about you? I saw that the Bible said. The Lord appeared unto Abraham. It did not first of all say he appeared unto the family. The Lord appeared unto Abraham. But you know there is a deceit. The appearance of the Lord to an individual member of the family. Could bring blessings that every other member of the family will enjoy. That doesn't mean that that appearance was to every member. The Lord was there. And several other people were there. Look at the comment about the wife. Verse 5. Abraham took Sarah his wife. And his brother's son. The word there, I mean took in that scripture. Means something different for me. As if Abraham. Because of the appearance of the Lord to him. And his communion with the Lord. Abraham had developed feet. And he began to walk with God. But here is Sarah. Who still needed to be carried. And he took her. And he took Sarah. He also took Lot. And he took the several hundreds of people in his own house. Let me ask you. If Sarah has no feet to walk. And Lot has no feet to walk. And the servant had no feet to walk. What will happen to them when Abraham who carries them from point to point. Is no more. You visit some Christian families. Once the father has traveled. There will be no prayer in that family until he returns. The Lord appeared to Abraham. And Abraham gave the right response. He built an altar. And he built another one. So communion between Abraham and the Lord was regular. But we didn't hear about Sarah building her own altar. We didn't hear about Lot building his own altar. But you know as the blessings were coming. Because God promised I will bless you. And through you all the families of the earth will be blessed. So the Bible said even the flaws of Lot increased. But his spirituality did not improve. Incremental physical things does not mean spirituality. When the Bible said that Abraham built an altar. It means he had personal standing with the Lord. That Abraham could get to the Lord and they would discuss face to face. You remember in chapter 18. Where the angels were going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Because Abraham had correct standing with God. You know he took them on the road. And they talked and talked and talked at the altar. It was from that altar that Lot was rescued. Thank God for the family where you came. Some of you belong to very very good churches. Your pastor is a wonderful man of God. But we are talking about you as an individual member of the family. If we want to be bold we will ask. When last did God speak to you as an individual? You always and only depend on what maybe your husband will say. When he comes he will tell us what God is saying. If your marriage is going to contribute to the move of God. Every person in the family every member should be able to raise personal altar. That whether your husband is in or your wife is in or not in. Communion with the Lord can continue. Now but I saw here. Sarah as at this point didn't have her own feet to commune. They said and Abraham took her. Excuse me how long will you continue to be carried? And Abraham took Sarah his wife. No wonder the day that an announcement came to the family and said you will have a child. She laughed because she was absent. Where divine issues were discussed. When the Lord said to Abraham through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. I wonder whether God can depend on your family to move throughout the whole world. So through this one family the whole earth all the families of the earth will be blessed. And there Abraham built an altar which means his desire was Lord let this communion continue. I want to always keep discussing with you. I want to maintain this fellowship with you. I want a situation where I can keep talking with you and hearing things from heaven. I am eager to stay at the place of instruction. That made him to build yet another altar. But my worry is that no member of the family copied him. The next thing we saw was that there was a Lord who was only eager and would rush at physical things. The Lord was not growing spiritually. But when it came to physical things he was a wonderful man. In chapter 13 and from verse 7 the Bible says he had so much physical things, flux. That there was trouble and strife between him, between his headman and the headman of his uncle Abraham. I wish the Bible also recorded that the Lord also had an altar but instead he had flux and heads. That was his emphasis. One day a pastor asked his family members, the children. He said can you please let each and every one of you speak. Why are you people happy that you belong to the family of a pastor? They all kept quiet for a while. Then one of the children raised up his hand and said I am happy to belong to the family of a pastor. Because people bring gifts to the pastor and we enjoy it. That was another lot isn't it? We never met the Lord at the place of prayer anywhere. We only saw the Lord rushing for lots. I don't know how the number of his head overtook that of his master. But he had so much. To the point that Abraham began to beg him and to say please you know you are my nephew. Your father is late. I don't want it to be heard that me, your uncle, we are fighting because of cows. So choose wherever you want. Do you know that the Lord actually didn't have what it would take for him to be on his own. But he didn't know. He said you take any position, choose any side you like. Verse 10 of chapter 13 said Lord lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan. That it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. And even as the garden of the Lord like the land of Egypt as thou comest unto Zohar. Then the Lord chose him over all the plain of Jordan. Excuse me. This is a man that never had any alter with the Lord. Where did he get the sense to make any choice? His own judgment was just physical. He is a member of the family but he is not interested in the spirituality of the father. He didn't know that all that he was enjoying was because there was a member of the family that was at regular communion with the father. And the Lord became the God of Abraham. So wherever Abraham went, God was ready to go with him. But here was a Lord who would never even come to family altar. When he woke up every morning just to check the well being of his cows. And he would be thinking in heart which direction shall we go today. Until the uncle suggested something dangerous but he didn't know. He said to him, let us separate. If you are going to the left, I go to the right. And if you choose right, I will go to the left. And the boy made a terrible mistake. The Bible says he chose him wherever he wanted. And do you know that before long, chapter 14. Chapter 14, from verse 8. And with Tidal, king of nations. And Amraphel, king of Shina. And Ariok, king of Elasa. Four kings with five. And the vale of Sidon was full of slime pits. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled. And fell there. And they that remained fled to the mountain. And verse 11. And they took all the ghouls of Sodom and Gomorrah. And all their victors and went their way. It didn't stop there, verse 12. And they took Lot, Abraham's brother's son. Who dwelt in Sodom and his ghouls. And departed. Excuse me. Lot only had what can be taken away. Did you hear me? Lot only had what can be taken away. He didn't have the communion that can keep going on and on and on. And it was the desire for these things that made Lot not to have an altar. Yet at the end of it, the Bible is saying that everything was taken. If you come from a good family full of good things of the earth. And that makes you to forget the spiritual. Excuse me. You only have what can be taken away from you. Many times we have widows. Who are really suffering. But their husbands were alive. Because they were men that had altars. Those women even enjoyed the respect that was bigger than them. A bishop wife. All the women were respecting you. All the men were respecting you. And all their responses to the man of God that had the altar. You also were enjoying it. There is a frieze in the house that you don't know the cost. There are vehicles in the house that you don't know the cost. People were responding to the man on the altar. Because this man was at the altar. People were bringing sacrifices. Sacrifices. Sacrifices. And so every member of the family who never even had an altar had the privilege to enjoy all of this. That gave Lot a false confidence. Even when Abraham said, let us separate. He foolishly agreed as if he also has a place of communion. Do you know what has happened to Lot now? He doesn't have God. He doesn't have worldly goods. Everything is finished. Without personal communion, you can only gather things that can be taken away from you any day. It is only what you carry inside that you can go with it anywhere you are going. Now, even when that battle came, and Lot and all that he had was taken away, again he took a man of the altar to go and rescue Lot. I hope you know. It was again Abraham that went to that battle with the Lord. And God gave him victory. And was able to rescue Lot and his wife and his children and his cattle and everything that he had. I want to speak to us as couples. Let me tell you something. The prayer life of your husband is not your prayer. And the prayer life of your wife is not your own prayer life. When at 2am, 4am, your wife woke up and was agonizing in prayer with the Lord. And you turn on your bed and open one eye and look at her. And then you say, praise God for giving me this wife. And then you slept back. When time for separation comes, you will know. In the physical, I had a family that the husband used to refer to his wife as the go-getter. This man was just carelessly moving up and down. But his wife was hard working, very very industrious. The woman was gainfully employed. And at home she was raising a poultry. So this man, any day he would just go out and come back and meet ready food on the table. Then one day the woman died. And when we got to the place of burial. When they called him to come and talk. He referred to his wife as the go-getter. That is, this is the woman that used to go and get. And the go-getter is finished. It didn't take long, the man also died. Excuse me, when you don't have personal communion, when your go-getter goes, you will soon follow. Sometimes I hear somebody say, Kai, I like my church. They are very prayerful and all of that. The prayer life of your church is not your own. You wake up, your partner is fasting. You own his food, food, food, food, food. And yet it was from his own labor on the altar that that food came. When he is gone, you will finish. Lord made a great mistake. Sarah also, ever, ever, ever, they just kept carrying her. And he took her, and he took her, and he took her, and he took her, and he took her. Excuse me, how long will your partner continue to carry you? When will you develop your feet at the altar? How can you be married to a Christian partner? And for so many years, you don't have your own feet, the feet of faith. I have talked about Abraham. Let me also look at a woman, a good woman. I want to look at Hannah in these few minutes. You know the story of Hannah? Hannah was a mate. Two of them married one husband. The other woman's name is Penina. And Penina had children, but there was this Hannah who didn't have. Even though Elkanah would have wished that Hannah also had children, but the pain Elkanah had was not as much as the pain Hannah had. Because whatever it is, wherever the children come from, either from Hannah or from Penina, they are Elkanah's children. Am I right? So when the pain is coming, it will not land on Elkanah too much. Because even if you don't have, I still have somewhere. This thing filled Hannah's heart. That one day, she decided to go beyond her husband. I never saw Elkanah bring that prayer request in the family altar and say, let us pray for my wife Hannah who has no children. No, it was not a serious burden on his heart because Penina had. So something happened. 1 Samuel chapter 1, Now there was a certain man of Ramatime Zophim of Mount Ephraim. And his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zoph and Ephratite. And he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah and the name of the other Penina. And Penina had children, but Hannah had no children. And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Elihu, Hophni and Phinehas, the princes of the Lord, were there. And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Penina, his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions. But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut off her womb. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut off her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her, therefore she wept and did not eat. Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou, and where carest thou not? And why is thy heart grieved? Am not I better to thee than ten sons? So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. And she was in bitterness. Excuse me. Verse 11. Sorry, verse 10. And she was in bitterness also, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, excuse me, did Elkanah join her in this prayer? Aha. Why? Because Elkanah has children. Not from Hannah, but he had children. So the burden of Hannah was not actually the burden of Elkanah. So when everybody ate, she refused to eat. And when everybody slept, she refused to sleep. And when she saw the way her husband was asking her many questions, why is your heart like this? Why is your face like this? She said, she knew that I have to take up this matter by myself. The husband never mentioned this as a point of prayer anywhere. When they went to worship, they would just sacrifice their eat and then they would go. Hannah made up her mind and said, I'm not going to be foolish again. I'm not even going to invite him. If he likes, let him join me. Your family would have been better than what it is now, madam, if your prayer life was alright. Many, many good things would have happened. Even your personal spirituality would have increased. But you always wait for your husband who has no burden. Maybe if Hannah were the only wife, Elkanah would have woken up. But because he had children from another wife, Hannah waited endlessly for his own prayer, so she took it up. I pray that something will happen to you to make you catch personal prayer life. Maybe when you face disappointment from your partner, you will catch a personal prayer life. Whatever God will do to us, as individual members of the family, that will jack us up into personal altar building, we pray that the Lord will do so in this meeting in the name of Jesus Christ. Hannah waited endlessly for her husband to raise this matter. And nothing was coming forth. And she decided, I will take it up. I want us to check the wordings of her prayer, the burden of her heart. Verse 11 said, she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou will indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but will give unto thy handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. Elkanah did not have this kind of prayer body. As far as he is concerned, he has other children with Peninnah. It was barrenness that pushed this woman to the place of altar. Because spiritually your husband could be fruitful, and you are spiritually barren. And this thing has not compelled you. Do you know that as a pastor's wife, you are officially the mother of your church. And any time a woman meeting is holding and they say come and share something, you just go there and mess up because there is nothing. And you hear a woman saying, I don't know why we call this woman mommy, mommy, mommy, which kind of woman that has no breast to give us. But officially you are. I pray that your emptiness spiritually will drive you to God, and jack up your personal prayer life. And you will cry to the Lord and say, pray to the Lord until you do something for me in this meeting. Hannah was worried and disturbed about her barrenness. Madam, how can a woman under your leadership, will come and ask you a question in the scriptures, which she supposed that you would have known, you would have had the answer. And then you said, my husband travel, when he come back we will answer you. Another woman came to ask you, say mommy, they say Jesus turned water into wine somewhere in the Bible. Where is it? And then you rise up and say, if that thing is not in the Old Testament, it must be in the New Testament. But when my husband comes, we will tell you, Abba, I pray that your emptiness, your nakedness will appear to you. And you will say that even if others are eating in this meeting, I am not going to eat until God has done something to my life. Hannah came to that point, he said enough is enough, I am not going to wait for my husband anymore. Lord I am here, you must do something for me. Even when the priest mistook her for drunkenness, he did not bother her. He said I am not drunk, I am looking for something. I am looking for fruitfulness. And you know as I was reading her prayer, she said Lord give me a man child and I will give you back a prophet. Hey! She said just give me an ordinary man child, but I will give you a prophet. That day, something happened. So when she finished her prayer, I returned. Conception took place. Samuel was born. Excuse me, is it Elkanah that prayed for Hannah? Brethren, is it Elkanah that prayed for Hannah? If Hannah had waited for her husband, she would have died barren. If you are waiting for the prayer life of your husband to improve before you will develop your feet, you will die barren. She did not invite him. As I was looking at the Bible, she did not even tell him I am going to the temple. She just disappeared. And by the time she was coming back, heaven had already opened for her. Conception was going to take place. We can say that conception actually took place on the altar. I want to trust God that God will do something to us in this couple's retreat. That as we are returning, every member of the family will carry personal fire. If you are prayerless, you will only be a punishment over the congregation that you are overseeing. I brought those two characters so that we will know that God is not a respecter of persons. When we are looking at Abraham, Abraham's family, he was the one raising altars, raising altars, raising altars, raising altars. We did not hear his wife do anything. Then we came to the family of Elkanah. It is Hannah who is raising altars, raising altars, raising altars. Elkanah only waited for the result to come from the altar. And they heard Samuel. Are you waiting for someone? And have you not waited for too long? I saw another woman, Hannah. Though at this time she had become a widow. But the Bible talks about her Christian life. She stayed in the temple until Jesus was born and brought to the church. This thing we are talking about is not a matter of I am a woman or I am a man. If there is then any reason that you know that is the hindrance to your personal altar building, we will also trust God that you will not live here the same. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24 Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth a prize so wrong that he may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we are incorruptible. I therefore so run not as uncertainly, so fight I not as one that bitteth the air. But, verse 27 I keep under my body and bring it unto subjection. Lest that at any means when I have preached to others I myself will be a castaway. There is something I want to pick in that verse 27. Paul has pointed out something that is the principal hindrance whether in prayer or in preaching or any work of God. He said the way and the reason why I fight and win and why I run and win is because I have done one thing. I put under my body. The flesh is a principal hindrance. And brother Paul said the only way to cultivate and continue personal prayer life is to deal with the flesh. You will notice that sometimes you set alarm on your phone and say let it wake me up at 2am or 3am or 4am or whatever the time may be. Some of you even have special ringing tone for that. At 2am your phone will be saying prayer, prayer, prayer, prayer. You are the one who set it on. The body will not allow you. From sleep you will try to locate the phone. And in anger you quench it. And make a big hiss. Sometimes you will even rise up and look at the time and say 30 more minutes. 20 more minutes. One more hour. That is how to kill your personal altar. And by the time you do that for a long time the Holy Spirit will just abandon you and say this one is not serious. Paul said I put under. My body is under. The flesh is under. Comfort is under. That is why I beat my body. And give it rough treatment. All of this so that it will be able to pray. When they go prayer meeting somebody will forget Bible and carry mattress. You carry mattress you are going for Naiviji. You forgot Bible at home. How will prayer work? Do you think it was a joke? That Jesus will rise so early in the morning long before day break. He will leave his bedroom. He will leave his mattress. He will go into the bush. Jesus maintained personal altar. Don't you hear people's testimonies? They will tell you as I was praying the Lord said. As I was praying the Lord said. The altar is a place of communion. When you miss it you stop hearing God also. Do you have a friend? That is a hindrance to your prayer. Do you have an activity? That is a hindrance to your personal prayer. Do you have any particular program? That is robbing you of raising personal altars. Let me repeat myself. The spirituality of your wife, my brother, is not your own. Thank God she is prayerful. But her prayer life is not your own. And when she is going she will go with it. When Abraham was going he took God away. And the Lord was naked. He never knew. Do you know that when that battle came It took again the man who had the altar to go and rescue that man. Whatever has killed your prayer. Maybe you were even doing well before. But maybe as years rolled by something happened. Your prayer life has just continued to reduce and to reduce and to reduce. Now you only discuss prayer. You never pray. You can sit down and give testimonies of prayer for so long. That is not yet prayer. That you are reading books on prayer is not yet prayer. That you are leading seminars on prayer is not yet prayer. You don't pray until you pray. Hannah got her solution not by fighting Elkanah, not by fighting Peninnah. May your spiritual barrenness appear to you in the name of Jesus Christ. When you see it nobody will tell you that you have to run there. God said I will bless you. Where was that blessing going to be drawn? From the altar. Excuse me. All the promises that God has made to you. You can only draw them down through prayer. If you go back to your diary you will know that in 19 so so so the Lord said to me this. In 80 he said this. In 90 he said this. Like this he said this. He said this. He said this. He said this. We don't doubt that God spoke. But for you to receive those things you have to get to your altar to draw them. And finally on this point. Because we are also looking at the family as a place of the altar. We may not just stop at individuals. 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. From verse 7. Likewise your husbands were with him according to knowledge. Dwell with them. That is dwell with your wives according to knowledge. Giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel. And as being heirs together of the grace of life. That your prayers be not hindered. While we look at the cruciality of the role of prayer. From individual families in this move of God. We realize that there must be family harmony. So that our prayers will not be hindered. If there is disagreement between husband and wife. And then you use all the time arguing your case, arguing your case, arguing your case. At the end of the day you win your case and lose God. Of what profit is that? When I was single and I read this scripture. I almost said there is no need to marry. Because as an individual it was just my personal case with God. If I am alright it is alright. But now that we have married, we have married. Anything that will break down the altar. Needed to be avoided. All quarrels, all accusations, all disagreements. They say we should dwell together in knowledge. Husband dwell with her according to knowledge. And the wife also dwell with him according to knowledge. So that when you offer your prayers. God will give attention to them. Even as we came here. You are just praying. That God will have the ability to hit your wife hard. She is very stubborn, she knows the here word. Even when they force you to sit together, you drew your chair and made a little gap. There is a wide gap in your heart. These things can destroy both your personal altar and the family altar. There are some homes. The way we invite, call a family devotion and say. My wife come out, she is not willing to come out. As far as she is concerned. If you are the one leading prayer, there is nothing there. And then you get angry. That we are calling her and she is not coming. It means if we dig well, there is something that is breaking that altar. You don't leave this meeting with that. I told you at the beginning of my discussion. The theme of the meeting I reminded us. Your marriage and the move of God. Your family is important in what God is going to do now. Your prayer as an individual. And then your prayer as a family unit is important in pushing forward the purpose of God. Anything that you know that can hinder that, we will not go with it. So if you discover anything, there is no need to wait until you go home. Right here. You can call your wife because God recognizes that family as important in what he wants to do. Let no member of the family enjoy being carried. Abraham took Sarah. You should develop your own feet. You should be able to pray on your own. You should be able to raise your own personal altar. Hannah came to a point. I think she also was being carried before. But she saw that this thing is not going to help me. So she decided that I am going to meet God myself. Whether my husband follows me or not, I am going to meet God. And she went and she brought the result. May God do something to push you onto the personal altar in your family. Shall we pray together? Tell the Lord, enough of carrying me about. I want to develop my own feet. I want to be able to come to your presence by myself. Lord, show me my nakedness. Let me see my barrenness. It was when the reality of the barrenness of Hannah came upon her, that she rushed to the temple. When her barrenness appeared to her, she didn't need to invite her husband and say, come let us go and pray. She just went. May the Lord open our eyes. Lord, wake me up from my slumber. Give me victory over sleep. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Is there any hidden thing that is killing your prayer? Marital unfaithfulness? Father, we thank you and bless you. Now we know that it is not right for my prayer life to depend on another person. Not even my wife, not even my husband. I need to come to you personally. I need to develop my own personal prayer life before we talk about family devotion. Lord, when you wanted to help Hannah, you caused her barrenness to appear to her. As soon as she saw that, ah! I am barren. I don't have. She was driven to the place of prayer. And she came back with the result. Whether my husband is prayerful, or whether my wife is prayerful, his own prayer life is not mine. And her own prayer life is not mine. Help me, Lord, to develop my own feet in the name of Jesus Christ. I pray that Lord, in your own power, you will push me to the altar. Lord, as we continue, we pray that the clarity of my involvement as a family unit in the move of God will become much more clear to me. And whatever be the hindrance, Lord, we ask that you will send us help. Thank you for hearing us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. ======================================================================== Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/gbile-akanni/personal-family-altar-in-the-move-of-god/ ========================================================================