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 8:3–5
Oh, there’s so much powerful imagery here, but don’t miss the point. All of this happened, peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, an earthquake, God moving in this part of redemptive history, in this event in Revelation, and it all comes about, verse three, in response to the prayers of God’s people that are rising like incense before him.
Revelation 8:3–5 reminds us that when we pray, God acts.
Whoa, what a powerful picture and reality for you and me. Right now, we’re about to pray. This passage in Revelation 8 is a powerful reminder to you and me that when we pray, God acts. God moves in response to our prayers, that our prayers are a part of God’s plan for all that he’s doing in the world, and what he will ultimately do in the world. Just think about how Jesus taught us to pray.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Not one prayer for the kingdom of God to come is wasted. Every time you pray for that, it’s like they’re being stored up in heaven. And one day, the last prayer for God’s kingdom to come is going to be offered and God’s going to answer in power, and this, that’s going to happen. All these things that we read about in Revelation are happening.
Revelation 8 says, in response to the prayers of God’s people that are rising like incense before him. Now, obviously, yes, there are times when we pray for things and God doesn’t do what we’re asking him to do, but that’s where, oh, we trust God is all powerful and all wise and all loving. So, praise God. He filters our prayers through his wisdom, his love, and his big-picture plans.
Revelation 8:3–5 teaches God has chosen to bring about his plans through our prayers.
At the same time, don’t stop asking. Don’t think, “Well, God’s already got it planned, so it doesn’t matter if I pray.” Yes, it matters if you pray. God has chosen your prayers. I feel this. God has chosen your prayers to bring about the accomplishment of his plans and his purposes. So, pray with faith and with confidence and with expectation and anticipation of what God will do. Oh God, we praise you for the privilege of prayer.
One, just for the privilege of communion with you, just to be able to talk to you and know that you are listening to us right now. Even as I’m speaking these words and others are joining their hearts with mine, and we’re saying this together to you in our minds and our hearts, that you’re hearing us right now, that we’re communing with you. This is awesome beyond words. And then, that you act according to our words, even the places in the Old Testament where we read that, like in Moses’s life when you did according to Moses’s word, that you do according to our words, this whole podcast is built around this promise from you. That when we remain in you and your words remain in us, when we ask for things according to your word, that it’ll be given to us.
So God, teach us to pray with confidence, with boldness, with humble boldness… Knowing that our prayers, even right now, are rising like incense before your throne. And our prayers lead you, and a very real sense according to your sovereignty, to act according to your good, wise, loving purposes. Oh God, the wonder of prayer.
Prayer for the Socotran People
Thank you for this privilege and help us, help us to experience it to the full, to pray all the time. Definitely not just for a couple minutes here, but all the time throughout today, to pray for people around us, pray for things in our lives and pray for people in the world. God, we pray right now for the Socotran people of Yemen, 143,000 of them, no known followers of Jesus. God cause that to change. We’re asking you to do that.
Move heaven and earth. Send laborers. Do whatever it takes so the Socotran people of Yemen are reached with the good news of your love. We’re asking you to do that and we believe. We know. We know you died. We’ve prayed about this according to Revelation 5, to purchase Socotran people from you. We know Revelation 7–10, they’re going to be around your throne one day. So, we’re asking, bring your salvation to them. Soon, god, we pray. And use our prayers right now, rising like incense before you, to act based upon them and cause the gospel to spread to the Socotran people of Yemen.
And help us to pray like this, in our own lives, for things in our own lives, for people around us all day today, is to pray with faith and ultimately with confidence. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. We want your kingdom to come. We’re praying that right now. Come Lord Jesus, just come quickly. We look forward to the day when that prayer is fully and finally answered. Ah, we pray all this according to your word in Revelation 8:3–5. In Jesus name, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
