December 25, 2010: Revelation 7-9
“Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.” (Revelation 8:3-4)
Prayer is a vital part of our spiritual health and growth. When we don’t pray, it is as though we are choosing not to breathe. It is that important and that necessary. Further, one incentive for prayer is the knowledge that our prayers are heard by God. The imagery from the verses above certainly show this. If you’ve ever burned incense before, you will probably know that when it burns, the entire room fills with that aroma as it burns. The idea that our prayers rise like incense before God– where the aroma from our prayers fill his nostrils is quite cool.
I have so much respect for many of the people I have known throughout my life who are what I call “prayer warriors.” The people who pray for hours every day, who frequently pray all night, and have dedicated their lives to prayer. But sometimes, I think I tend to give myself an excuse to not pray by saying that I can’t pray like those prayer warriors, so why bother. However, I have been rebuked and corrected about this so many times in my life– to never ever give into the thought that the only good prayers are long prayers, and thus if I don’t plan to pray for long, or if I can’t pray for long, it may not be worth it to pray at all because it may not be effective. Those thoughts are from the enemy, and they prevent our spirits from doing what it needs to survive.
Whether it is for just a few minutes or all through the night, our prayers go before God as incense. I know I need to work harder at this, but I pray that we all would make conscious efforts every day to pray to the Lord, for He really is listening to every one of our prayers, and seeks to hear from us.
