Revelation 8:3-4
“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.”
Reflection
“I can’t wait to grow up!” Perhaps, these words are no longer true for you. You might have thought them some time ago, but not today. God, in His Word, encourages you to take up this wish again: eagerly desire to grow upward in prayer! Christian, look at this text and see what God thinks about your prayers when you lift them up before Him. He does not sort through them with sighing and exhaustion as a tired worker before a stack of letters as tall as a building. When you lift up your prayers to God, because your sins are so perfectly forgiven and you are covered in the very righteousness of Jesus Christ, God says that your prayer to Him is like a pleasant aroma, a rich offering carried to Him in a golden censer. Your prayer is announced in the throne room of God and delivered with this great fanfare by the angels, saying, “Here, O Lord, is the prayer lifted up to you by your beloved!” Though you do not know how to pray in a way that is worthy of such attention from God almighty, the Holy Spirit helps you to pray, guiding you to craft your words and your desires so that they appear before the throne of God as a worthy gift. If you awake and find yourself unexcited about the day, then read Revelation 8:3-4 again. Today, you have the opportunity to offer such momentous prayers before God Himself! Take up that wish of old again. Let today be a day when you say once more, “I can’t wait to grow up!”
In Christ,
Pastor Yonkman
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