Fragrant Incense

“When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints.” [Rev 5:9]


I have been reading and studying in the book of Revelation for the past couple of hours. I was struck with the phrase that the golden bowls filled with incense was the prayers of the saints. I immediately began wondering if this was referring to dead saints or living saints? I have never claimed to be a Bible scholar but I have come to conclusion in my own heart that this is referring to both.
Let me explain. How many millions of prayers have been offered but before they were answered the one who offered them died. Though they ceased to live physically their prayers lingered on in the nostrils of Jesus the Lamb even after the person who had prayed them was gone. I am talking about all kinds of prayers. Prayers for the salvations of loved ones. Prayers for revival and spiritual awakening. Prayers for the over turn of hideous crimes like abortion. Prayers for the advancement of God’s Kingdom on distant shores. I do believe that our prayers can outlive us and that we might even now be reaping the blessings and rewards of prayers prayed for us by our great grand and our grand parents.
Meditating on this has caused me to think about the kind of prayers I pray. If they are going to last forever in the nostrils of God I want them to be pleasing to Him and honoring to Him. I want to pray for things that I know are scented fragrance to Him. Two things immediately come to mind we must include when praying. First, we must learn to pray in the will of God for matters. [I Jn 5:14-15] “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” If our prayers are going to be a fragrant odor before the Lord we must learn to pray for things He wills to happen. He wills for the gospel to be taken to all the nations of the world. [Rev 5:10] [Mark 16:15] He wills for people to be saved. [II Pet 3:9] He wills for holiness among His people. [I Pet 1:15-16] He wills for marriages to be restored and for divorce to stop. [Matt 19:5-9] [Malachi 2:16] There are many things that God reveals in the scriptures He wills to happen. When we pray in this vein we can be assured that our intercessions will be gathered in a bowl before the Lord as a fragrant aroma.
There is another thing that should accompany our praying that I would like to focus on. We must pray in faith. So much of our praying is more like wishing than believing. The Bible is filled with scriptures to back this up. [Mark 11:22-24] “…Have faith in God. Truly I say to you , whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them and they shall be granted to you.” [Jn 16:23] “And in that day you will ask Me no question. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father for anything, he will give it to you.” [Heb 11:1] “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.” [James 5:16-18] Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective pray of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.” [Heb 11:6] “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
If we could learn to pray according to the will of God and with faith our prayers just might outlive us. Think about that truth. Prayers for our children and grandchildren may continue to float before the Lord for generations to come long after we are gone. Think about how our praying might have impact on a community, our churches, or our nation even after we have long been forgotten. I want to pray prayers that outlive me.
I am grateful for that little jaunt through the book of Revelation and the Lord speaking to me through that one little verse. As I pray today I do not want to fumble for words, go through some lifeless ritual, or offer meaningless and vain repetitions. I long to offer a pleasing, desirable, and beautiful fragrant prayer and offer it to the Lord. May they live long in His presence and move Him to intervene.