BUILDING AN ALTAR

John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople (349-407) wrote, “Everywhere, wherever you may find yourself, you can set up an altar to God in your mind by means of prayer.”

We know this is true from our own experiences of finding unusual places to build our altars. Some are built in ten miles per hour traffic on four lanes of commuter traffic (hard place to build). Some are built with a walk in the woods (easy place to build). Some are built gourmet cooking, horseback riding, working in a woodshop, a garden, or training a puppy (hard place to build).

The object is to ‘set up an altar to God in your mind’ because this is exactly where prayer altars are built and used. It matters little where we are or what we are doing if we need to pray we will find a way. Depending on our desperation, desire and dedication, an altar can be built quickly out of almost anything or we may take several days and find much variety in our building materials. It matters little about the altar… it matters much about the prayer.

 “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Jesus