How's Your Prayer Life?

So many tangible things must be done in the Christian life, so we think. But, it is the visible activity that so often chokes out the invisible activity of prayer. There are also many questions we have about prayer which make it extremely difficult for some.

For years, a lady kept her “daily appointment with God.“ Then a car hit her 10 year old son. After hanging on for two weeks, he died. This lady then began to say, “What’s the use of praying? I prayed harder in those two weeks than in my whole life, But my boy still died!“

This individual knew how to pray, but now she doesn’t believe prayer does any good.

Another individual wonders if praying is really worth it. “After all, I have enjoyed my life so far. How could spending time every day praying, make my life any better?“ For individuals like this person, there is no perceived benefit to them self.

For others, their mantra is “I don’t have enough time.“ Sleep becomes more important. Work and family schedules simply don’t permit the time. Plus, there is always that need for recreation. Thus, they find no benefit to themselves in praying. So they don’t.

For some Christians, one or several of these thoughts may become part of our thinking. So why should we pray?

Praying is hard work and is pleasing to God.

The Sounds of Silence

Revelation 8:1–2 (NASB95)

When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

As we begin chapter 8, we are brought back to the reality of the seal judgments. We have not yet finished them, so here we begin to see the seventh seal unveiled. The seventh seal is used to reveal the next phase of God’s judgments. We need to understand that this will take place over a period of time. But it is all within the last 3 1/2 years of the Great Tribulation. To help understand a bit better, it might be useful to realize that the seventh seal contains all of the trumpet judgments and bowl judgments.

The incredible thing about this seal is not the fireworks or devastation that is normally associated with judgment, at least, not at first. What we find amazing is that when the seventh seal is open, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. It is what we might describe as the calm before the storm. It is a suspenseful, awestruck silence.

No longer is there nonstop praise and glorifying of the Lamb and the One who sits on the throne. No longer is there a loud celebration. When this seventh seal is opened, John says that silence goes on for about 1/2 hour. Unimaginable judgments are about to unfold. Imagine how deafening that silence could be. John did not know what would be next. Who would speak first? Is this all there is for the judgments? Will it get worse?

Sometimes in the chaos and turmoil all around us, we carry the idea that the busier and louder we are, the quicker we can resolve a problem. There is the thought that if we produce more activity, we will have more successful results. Maybe, we need to remember the words of the Psalmist, be still and know that I am God. That is probably one of the toughest verses in all of the Bible to practice.

Next, John saw the seven angels being given seven trumpets. They are said to be stand[ing] before God. It is entirely possible that Gabriel may have been among them, since he has been described in the Bible as Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God.

Trumpets, throughout the Bible are used for a variety of events. Two of those events, would be to sound an alarm in a time of battle or war; plus to announce the Day of the Lord. Even in the New Testament, a trumpet announces the rapture. These seven trumpets, we will discover later, are the next seven judgments which will increase in severity and intensity. The judgments progress so that the trumpet judgments end up surpassing the seal judgments. The seal judgments were bad, but the trumpet judgments will be even worse. And following that, we will see that the bowl judgments are worse yet.

The Scent of Saints

Revelation 8:3–4 (NASB95)

Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.

The scene changes a bit, as another angel comes on the scene. This angel had a golden censer. Now this censer is not the same thing which beeps when we pass by going into the store. It is not the sensor eye which senses when it is dark and turns the light on. This censer was a container that held live charcoal which was used for burning incense.

This angel was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints. We see this as a pleasant aroma to the Lord. Together, this went up before God.

In the Old Testament, it was quite common for incense to be offered up before the Lord as a sacrifice of praise. In fact, in the Holy Place, according to the Old Testament, there were three objects: a table, a lampstand, and an altar. It was on the altar in which the priests would offer the incense. The incense was considered sacred and was not allowed to be used for any other purpose than worship. Exodus 30:34-38 provides a formula to make the incense and forbids any personal use. It was to be used only for worship.

Now the question comes as to whether the incense is symbolic of the prayers of the saints. This idea comes from Revelation 5:8, which describes the 24 elders holding golden balls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Yet, here and Revelation 8:3, there is that pesky English proposition with as seen in the NIV. The NASB translates more accurately regarding the incense, that he might add it to the prayers of all the Saints… My personal feeling is that it is part of the overall worship and supplication to the Lord.

What are these prayers of all the saints? The Bible seems to be silent on this. Earlier, in the fifth seal judgment, we find many who had been murdered that were requesting that justice be given to those who were against the Lord and His children. It is possible that there is a cry for justice here. Maybe there is a plea for relief from the horrible tribulation that is upon those on earth. Maybe it is incredible thanksgiving for the salvation that is theirs and the freedom from the eternal punishment that belongs to those who reject Christ. We simply don’t know.

In fact, I’m not convinced the issue revolves around the symbolism of the incense or the contents of the prayers. John is merely reporting the facts as inspired by the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, if I were to focus on one issue, it would be the issue of prayer. There was a great deal of prayer being offered to the Lord. The Bible also reminds us no matter what the situation on this little planet, our wonderful Lord hears our prayers; for they go up before Him unhindered. Even though we may be going through a horrific time now, our prayers continue to appear before the one true God who can answer them.

The Censer of Sentence

Revelation 8:5 (NASB95)

Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Then, as if in vindication, the angel fills the censer with some live coals from the fire of the altar and throws it toward the earth. The silence is now broken. From the wording of the verse, it appears as if this releases the trumpet judgments to come. The answer to the question, How long? from the earlier prayers of the saints is being answered at this point. There are peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.“ All these are reminders of the Lord‘s divine intervention into the affairs of humanity. Now, there is a lot of noise in contrast to the silence. It is a lot of noise and activity in comparison to the throne room scene of praise and worship.

This is the same censer used to offer up the incense, together with the prayers of all the saints. I do not wish to read more into this passage than what it is saying, but I wonder if there is a hint that there is a direct correlation between our prayers and the answers to them. Remember earlier, the plea for justice against those who are defiant and hurtful to God’s people and the Lord himself. Now we see this censer, which is a part of the tools of warship, being used to cast fire upon the earth, in preparation for the upcoming judgments. We see fire throughout the Scriptures as a means of judgment and purification. We also see throughout the Scriptures that when God brings judgment, the people would often respond in worship because of the holiness of God.

Conclusion

When we are still and silent, we find ourselves better able to hear God‘s voice. No longer, during our crisis times, does the knocking of our knees, nor the fretful voices of panic, drown out God’s comforting words or wise counsel. God‘s Word reminds us of the apostles’ response to a crisis in the Book of Acts. They reminded the people of their calling to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. It could become difficult to do this when there is all kinds of administration, activity, and analyzing that screams for our attention. It is the tyranny of the urgent that destroys the calmness of prayer. It is the shouts of the obvious that drowns out the silence of the holy. My friends, you and I know that Satan loves our extreme activity, which we label as Christian service. I am not denying the need for obedient activity. What I am suggesting, is that as long as we look at the outward activity only, we will sinfully neglect the inward strengthening which comes through quiet times with our Lord.

Prayer is hard work! Often—in fact, most of the time, we do not understand how prayer works. We often don’t even feel as if God hears our prayers. One reason might be that in the moment of crisis or high need, the crisis continues even though we have prayed diligently. We find ourselves asking questions. Where is God? Why doesn’t He answer as we think?

More times than not, we need to go back to Psalm 46:10, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Bible tells us to pray continually. Throughout Scripture, the writers tell us to pray and the Bible tells us God hears our prayers. It also tells us that He will meet our needs according to His glorious riches which are in Christ Jesus. More often than not, we must simply resign ourselves to not understanding and trust God for the outcome.

Maybe that means making a time of silence before the Lord; waiting upon Him to move our hearts. Sometimes, that will involve pouring out our hearts so that our prayers seem to rise heavenward just like the smoke from a prairie fire. Sometimes, we must rest in the fact that God will make things right in His perfect time and does not have to fit into our time schedule.

We know one thing for certain. We must be about the work of prayer. In particular, we need to be praying for those who are not yet surrendered to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We must be praying for our own lives to be such that we are bringing glory to Jesus.

We cannot look at this as drudgery, though sometimes it may seem like it. In reality, this is a privilege and a blessing.