Prayer

‘And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne’ And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand’ Rev.8:4 [KJV].

God perceives our prayers as incense before Him. Erroneously some people think that means we should burn incense before God. Not at all! Your prayers ascend to God as a sweet smelling savor of incense before the throne of God and that is what the altar of incense represents. Over the next few days we will be looking at prayer and learning how to pray from none other than Jesus Himself.

‘One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”  He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name your kingdom come’ Luke 11:1-2[NIV]. Jesus was praying in a certain place and His disciples said to Him, “…teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” From this conversation, the first thing that stands out is that you can be taught how to pray. You can learn how to pray. Jesus taught His disciples, so you can learn how to pray. Secondly, note that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray because they saw Him praying. Don’t learn how to pray from people that don’t pray. Some people can preach about prayer but they don’t pray. Some people can write books about prayer but they don’t pray. Don’t learn from such people. The disciples saw Jesus pray and they asked Him to teach them how to pray. And Jesus said you want to know how to pray then listen, “When you pray, say”. In other words, when you pray open your mouth and speak. Jesus did not say when you pray imagine, or when you pray think. Of course you should think before you speak. Jesus did not say when you pray whisper or mutter or murmur. He said, “When you pray, say”. Your voice needs to be heard in heaven. When we lift up our voices in prayer, it is not because we are crazy or about being Pentecostals. It is about praying according to what the Bible says. Jesus said when you pray say. Speak! David said, ‘Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice’ Ps.55:17. David didn’t say hear my thoughts; of course God knows your thoughts even from a distance. He didn’t say hear my imaginations. He said, ‘he shall hear my voice’.

Prayer: Father, today by faith I take off everything limiting me from vocalizing my prayers, in Jesus Name.