“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. Then the angel took the censor 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.” Revelation 8:3-5 NASB
If we ever doubt the value and effectiveness of our prayers, these are the verses to meditate on!
The censor that the angel is holding carries burning incense which is used in worship. Incense is often equated with prayers in scripture. And by extension, the altar of incense symbolizes the ministry of intercessory prayer.
The fact that the censor is gold indicates that these are the prayers of The King. These are God’s prayers!! What is God praying about? I’m not sure. But there are a lot of them, because “much incense” was given to the angel.
The angel mingles God’s prayers with our prayers. . . or our prayers with His prayers. There seems to be some ambiguity about who initiated those mingled prayers. But what really matters is the sweet communion of becoming ONE in prayer. Intimacy is birthed out of hearts knit together in prayer.
From the beginning, God has desired to walk with the children of His creation – in the garden of intimacy. One day, at the summing up of all things in Christ, we will finally and fully dwell with the Lord our God – in intimacy. Between now and then, we obtain a measure of intimacy with The Lover of our Souls as we knit our hearts with His in prayer. The smoke of those mingled prayers are “before the throne” giving great pleasure to God.
The angel who mingled our prayers with God’s then adds “fire from the altar.” Envision here the tongues of fire over the believers in Acts chapter two. This “fire from the altar” is the power of the Holy Spirit in our mingled prayers. Then the angel takes the censor filled with prayers (God’s and ours), infused with power from on High, and throws it to the earth.
Look at the impact!
The thundering voice of God is heard!
God’s majesty is seen!
Christ’s words go forth!
The Light of the World flashes into action!
The very earth is shaken by the Presence of God!
WOW! The impact of our mingled prayers empowered by the Holy Spirit cannot be exaggerated!!!
We need never doubt the effectiveness of our prayers. We can pray in faith knowing we have touched the very heart of God. . . and our prayers have impact!