Last week we focused on the Lord’s Prayer and the importance for each of us to daily pray and put on the whole armor of God. God tells us to come boldly into His presence. He grants us the privilege to come before Him with authority because of our position in Christ Jesus. We are to be bold in our faith that God will do what He desires to do and what He says He will do. The New Testament tells us, “We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore we can draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4: 15-16) Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 28: 18-20 that the Father has given Him all authority in heaven and earth and as believers we are commissioned to act under His authority with His presence promised to us always until the end of the age. Believers possess spiritual authority granted by God through our union with Christ, enabling us to fulfill the Great Commission, resist Satan, exercise spiritual gifts, and pray effectively. Paul states that God “raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the Heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2: 6) Believers are united with Christ spiritually and share in His victory, authority and triumph over spiritual forces of darkness. There is power in the name of Jesus connected to the work of Christ on the cross and His resurrection, which established the new covenant and granted believers access to God the Father. Praying in Jesus’ name means praying with His authority, in alignment with His character and will, and with faith in His finished work. Jesus said, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you…I will pray to the Father for you.” (John 16: 25-26) We have the Father’s invitation to pray and we have Jesus’ authority to pray. We have the invitation—will we accept?
We as believers must acknowledge that we are under God’s authority. “God is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords.” (1 Timothy 6:15) And our Lord Jesus reminds us, “You also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” (Luke 17:10) The believer’s life is one of total dependence on God, as modeled by the Son of Man. In all things, we remember that Christ is the Lord. “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (2 Cor. 10:17) God is omnipresent—everywhere at once—and is capable of hearing every prayer in the world. (Ps. 139: 7-12) Also, God is the only one with the power to answer prayer. God is omnipotent—all powerful. (Reve. 19:6) God is omniscient—He knows everything. (Ps. 147: 4-5) Even before we pray, God knows our genuine needs and knows them better than we do. Not only does He know our needs, but He answers our prayers according to His perfect will. Our prayers are directed to the Father, in the Name of the Son as God has provided His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the mediator between man and God. (1 Tim. 2:5) There is no other mediator—no dead saint as we come boldly to the Throne of God.
The “prayers of the saints” are significant in scripture, particularly as depicted in the Book of Revelation 5:8 that describes a vision of heaven where the twenty-four elders hold golden bowls full of incense, which are identified as “the prayers of the saints.” This imagery draws upon the Old Testament practice of offering incense in the Temple, symbolizing prayers rising to God. David prays in Psalm 141: 2 “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” Prayers are portrayed as a sweet aroma pleasing to God, representing the collective prayers of believers throughout the ages. Revelations 8:3-5 again mentions the “prayers of the saints” as there is a pause in heaven before the trumpet judgments as the Lamb in His office as High Priest opened the seventh seal and there was silence in heaven. An angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden incense burner. He was given much incense to offer up along with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne and rose up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the incense burner and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth causing thunder, lightning, and an earthquake. The fact that the “prayers of the saints” in Revelation are not identified by type or in detail—and that they are together in an incense bowl—indicates that we should consider them collectively. God considers prayer-at-large as incense—a sweet aroma to Him. The “prayers of the saints” are seen as a catalyst for God’s justice and the establishment of His kingdom on earth, aligning with the petition “Let Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This gives new meaning to the words of the Lord’s Prayer! The prayers are understood as a powerful spiritual force, a sweet fragrance before God, and a key element in the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan!
The fact that the prayers of all the ages are stored in heaven indicates that God hears the prayers of His people. He is the God who answers prayer. (Psalm 65:2) Our Lord “hears the prayer of the righteous.” (Prov. 15: 29) which is another way of saying that He listens to the prayers of the saints. The “saints” are not an elite class of people who are more holy than the rest; they are not mediators of our prayers. (1 Tim. 2:5) The term “saint” in Scripture is defined as believers in Jesus, living or dead, saved by grace through faith. The Church is “loved by God and called to be saints.” (Rom. 1:7) When we pray, it’s as if a golden bowl of incense is being carried to the very throne of God in heaven!
In Revelation 5, God’s plan is near to being accomplished. The judgment of the wicked world is about to commence, and the ultimate redemption of God’s people is about to be realized. The living creatures and elders sing a hymn of praise to the Lamb; “With Your blood You purchased for God/persons from every tribe and language and people and nation/and they will reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5: 9-10) God’s kingdom will come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The golden vessels full of incense are offered to God, whose word will stand, whose will is accomplished, and who will pronounce the final “Amen!” to the” prayers of the saints!”
Through these examples in scripture, we can see clearly that our sincere prayers are valuable to God. They don’t have to be perfect, we don’t have to be perfect, we just need to come humbly and surrender before the Savior. Elliot’s Commentary notes says, “These prayers of God’s people, weak and imperfect as they are, are yet invincible weapons in the hands of Christ’s soldiers.” We are in the midst of a great spiritual battle that is not for the faint of heart. David prayed in Psalm 55: 1-8 “Give ear to my prayer, O God; And do not hide Yourself from my supplication. Give heed to me and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted, Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the pressure of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me. And in anger they bear a grudge against me. My heart is in anguish within me. And the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me. I said, ‘Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. Behold, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten to my place of refuge from the stormy wind and tempest.” Selah means “Stop and think about this.” I believe that each of us for one reason or another has shared David’s feelings! When the walls close in and the floor gives way, we often wish we could be anywhere but where God has put us. Trusting the Lord, however, means looking beyond what we can see to what He sees. Our view of God must remain correct and biblically informed. We know Him as the “God who hears” and the “God who loves us” who wants us to approach the Throne of grace boldly. James instructs us in 4: 7-8 “Submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” God extends His invitation to draw near to Him and seek Him with all our body, soul and spirit in the Name and Authority of Jesus our Lord. God demands and deserves our exclusive loyalty and love. He made us for Himself, and we have no higher calling than to draw near to Him.
Prayers that are powerful and effective come from righteous people: “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (I Peter 3: 12) Successful prayer comes from believers who passionately desire to see God’s will worked out in their lives and in those around them. Paul said in Romans 15:30 “Join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.” As we live for Jesus, we’ll face adversaries in the physical and spiritual realms. God promises to be with us and fight on our behalf, however, we must stand together…always ready to pray! We as believers are familiar with the spiritual armor in Ephesians 6: 10-18 but prayer is often overlooked in verse 18. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (Eph. 6:18) We should clothe ourselves daily in the spiritual armor of God, but we must not fail to include the protective power of prayer! “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.” (William Cowper)
Satan is fighting to maintain his authority over the world. God has marked us for this generation—Generation Z—the final generation! We must stand against evil and its patterns and get bold in faith—raising the standard of God’s Word and praying! God is our absolute authority: not those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5: 20) Paul reveals in 1 Corinthians 15: 23-28 the pattern of God’s Divine line of authority. Christ is seated in heaven with the Father praying for us and ready to return for His Bride—the Church in the Rapture; then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet—the last enemy abolished is death. “For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.” (27-28) Let us ask the Lord to make our life a glory to Him, a menace to the devil, a strength to our church, and a witness to the world. (Frederick P. Wood)
God is calling us to “Come now and let us reason together.” (Isaiah 1:18) Genuine prayer has all of the qualities and characteristics of a deeply meaningful conversation between two people. This image of God and man sitting down together for a good talk is our best image of prayer. If we get right with the Father, He will answer our prayers and avenge the adversaries—He will avenge Himself on His foes. (Isa. 1: 24) God is calling the Church at such a time as this as He brings this age of grace to a close to, “Come, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.” (Isa. 2:5) Jesus gives this warning in John 9: 4-5, “We must do the work of the One who sent Me, so long as it is day! Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Jesus in Matthew 5:13 commands His followers to be salt and light—a reflection of Christ who is the true source of both salt and light. Paul reminds believers that we are sons of light and sons of day so we must keep watch and pray. (1 Thess. 5: 1-6) PRAYER IS NOT A BACK-UP PLAN! PRAYER IS THE BATTLE PLAN! PRAYER IS A WEAPON! Saints, it is time to pray!