Page 77 - Teach us how to Pray - Book Layout - PDF

Mixed with much incense that was given to the angel the prayers
of the saints went up before the countenance of God (8:4). This is
significant. The prayers of the believers don’t just come before
God. Something has to be added to it. Something God adds, His
gift. The incense.

Our prayers have no power in themselves. The quality of our
prayers is no guarantee that God would answer it. Only by God’s
grace and in His power through the Lord Jesus Christ are our
prayers able to come before God. Only for the sake of Jesus are
our prayers acceptable for God.

After the angel laid the prayers of the saints on the altar and mixed
it with the incense, he took the censer and filled it with the fire of
the altar and threw it to the earth. Peals of thunder and sounds
and flashes of lightning and an earthquake followed.

John makes us see what will happen at the consummation of all
things. Our prayers come on the altar and God’s final judgment
will go out from the altar.

Our prayers have a place in God’s work as He prepares everything
for the final consummation.

It will not happen without our prayers. We wait on the Lord, yes,
but the Lord also waits on the church to fulfill her task.

When we realize this, we also understand why the New Testament
ends with the prayer “Amen, come, Lord Jesus, yes, come quick!”
(Rev. 22:20). With a true faith it is not our own lives and cares who
forms the center of our existence, but God Himself, His kingdom,
and God’s future!

Discuss the following

 What does 1 Corinthians 15:28 say about the end of all
things?
 How important is the expectation of the return of Jesus
Christ for all our prayers?