Your Prayers

Your prayers do make an eternal difference!

“Another angel … stood at the altar … and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints … And the smoke of the incense ascended … with the prayers of the saints before God.”—Revelation 8:3–4 NASB

In an awe-inspiring moment on God’s eternal timetable, the Lamb (Jesus) “broke the seventh seal.” Suddenly, there was “silence in heaven for about half an hour” (v. 1). An angel stood before the altar of God, holding a golden censer. He was given “much incense … so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints.”

The smoke of that incense, along with the “prayers of the saints,” rose up before God. We can picture waves of prayer—the prayers of men and women, young and old, from every nation.

As this incense rose before God, “the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and hurled it to the earth” (v. 5). This means the prayers of God’s people play a pivotal role in the fulfillment of God’s plan, sending His holy fire to the earth.

We might feel that sometimes our prayers don’t matter. But the Bible reminds us that God hears our prayers—every one of them. And as Revelation reminds us, our prayers make a difference in people’s lives and even in the course of nations.

Join with people throughout the world in spending time in prayer. Pray for your needs, your family, your country, the world, revival, and the Great Commission. Picture your prayers rising before God like sweet-smelling incense, pleasing to Him, changing the world.

Reflection Question: Compose a prayer for revival in our nation this year.