Prayers and Incense

 

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 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 8:1-5 ESV).

 

Having grown up a Roman Catholic the image of a “golden censer” and “incense” is not foreign to me. I was an altar boy for all of the years of my later childhood and early teens. It was not unusual at all for me to be walking in the processional behind the priests at the beginning of a particularly special mass carrying long candles trailing behind older attendants or priests with their golden brass censers lit and burning with a particularly aromatic scent. The purpose of the practice was to symbolize the very scene we are given in our reading today. It is certainly thought-provoking. John sees an angel offering incense to go with “the prayers of all god’s people” being lifted up to the Lord (v. 3).

 

So often much of the symbolic expressions of worship are lost on our modern culture. The grand hymns, the chants of prayers, the scent of incense and the sight of the steady light from long thick candles are meant to call us to the efficacy of prayer. After all, prayers are a fitting response to the command “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Our prayers are expressions of faith in God’s promise to be “our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

 

The picture here invites us to see that God always hears our prayers. “The prayers of all God’s people” (v. 3) include the prayers of children, of people just learning to pray, and of believers who have prayed for many years. Old and new saints pray for the quick intervention of God in the continuing deterioration of the world situation. However, many times we fail to see the response in the time of our choosing. John’s subtle reminder is that God acts on our prayers, though the timing may not be what we expect. It is a sure reminder that God always answers our prayers!