04/12/2018
Our prayers don’t just fade from the memory of God, they have substance, and can be held in the hand, placed in a bowl, and offered up with incense to Jesus, and God. Have you ever thought of that simple prayer you spoke as being worthy of saving? How about the ones you prayed in anger, or heartbreak, remorse, praise, or Thanksgiving? They are all borne in the hands of angels before the throne of God, and He values each one... they are your life, and they are the heart of your relationship with Him.
“And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”
Revelation 5:8 ESV
Every so often Ann and I will look at photographs of our children that were taken long ago. Although our kids are men and women now, we like to get those pictures out, and relive in our minds those days when we were young, and our relationship with them was one of holding babies, or laughing with small children. Our old pictures are treasures, and tangible evidence of a time that we cherish. By looking at them we are revisiting a moment in our lives together that is priceless.
Our prayers are snapshots of our relationship with God. These are our photographs in the hands of angels. These are our dreams, and desires, as uttered in prayer and placed in golden bowls, surrounded by the sweet smell of incense; each one precious to God, and much more that vapor, or the fading light of day that is here, and then gone...
“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.”
Revelation 8:3-5 ESV
There is great power in prayer. The very same bowl that contains them can also contain fire, and the awesome power of God heaped upon them. Just as sobbing prayers of heartbreak are most assuredly met with His comfort, our prayers for the return of Jesus Christ will be joined with flashes of lightning, and ground rattling booms of thunder. God’s power, whether in gentleness, or fearsomeness, accompanies the answer to our prayers, our supplication.
Have you ever been going through old boxes as you cleaned out a storage area in your house and stumbled across a folded card that one of your children drew in crayon for you? Did it contain stick figure drawings of your family and some barely decipherable, and phonetically spelled words like Happy Mother’s Day, or I Love You Dad? I have some like that in one of my drawers, and every couple of years I see them again as I go through each item looking to throw away old things that are no longer of use, or value ... those memories go back into the drawer with a sigh to accompany them. They are precious to me, not because of the valuable art work, or the incredibly crafted phrases, but just because they remind me of a time, and a hug, that was our life at that moment. Old memories, old songs, old smells, and shared emotions from long ago that are made new again.
Our prayers are more than a flash before the throne. Our words are not empty, or return to us void. Every prayer we pray has substance, and is held in the hand of angels; every prayer lasts an eternity. The prayers you raced through at your bedside as a child, the one you cried on the night before your own child’s first day of school, the one you let roll down your face just before you walked your daughter down the aisle at her wedding, the one you offered in great joy at the birth of your grandchild, the one you lifted up in fear the day you retired from work, and the one you prayed for your spouse as you faced aging and pain together. Not a single prayer in our life is trivial to God, and they are all precious before the throne. You, and your prayers are a pearl of great price.
“"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Matthew 13:45-46 ESV
This scripture speaks of heaven, but it also speaks of God, and you. Why else would He have sent His only begotten Son to the cross for us? Why would Jesus have endured suffering and death while bound to our sin? These things were done to buy back our lives, and to make all of those prayers come alive again.
“And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."”
Revelation 5:9-10 ESV
So we are born, we grow up, we grow old, and every prayer, that is our life, lives on before God. He cherishes us, and entrusts our prayers to the golden bowls in the hands of his angels... not one goes unnoticed, unanswered, or discounted.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the value you place in my prayers, and the real substance they have in the hands of your angels. One day Father we can go through those prayerful memories together, and relive the life they represent. On that day we can laugh, and cry, and I will thank you for the hard times, and the suffering, as well as the pleasant times, and the good that you created out of the bad that I often made you endure. I pray now that on that day you will reveal to me that all the heartache I caused you during our journey together was worth holding me in your arms now. I thank you for never closing my prayer closet door, and denying me access to you. I thank you for always listening, and speaking with me as I placed yet another prayer in the golden bowl, and I thank you for the sweet smell of the incense that masks the odor of those times when my sin was ripe and bursting. You heard me father in my contrition, and you separated me from my sin... these prayers I value most Lord because in them I was washed clean in the blood of Christ, and lavished in your grace like a fragrant oil. Hear now this prayer, and know that today I have placed my gratitude and love for you in the golden bowl, and look forward to the day when we will relive it together for eternity. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God.
Rich Forbes