Prayers of the Saints
Merry Monday by Parris Bailey
“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. 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. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.”
Rev.8:1-5
I love the scripture where Jesus, when talking about prayer, tells us to shut the door and the Father who sees us in secret will reward us openly. Years ago I guess you could say I saw a vision of myself standing outside this huge library. In the vision I realized that I had been standing outside the door for far too long. When I opened the door and stepped inside I was in a large dark paneled wood room and at the table sat the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They beckoned me to sit down with them. When I sat down I noticed that they were looking at these large scrolls. (Which represented my life) Like I said I had spent so much time outside the door of the library when all along I could have gone in the room and sat down and had fellowship with the Trinity. The presence was overwhelming as I sat at the table looking over the scrolls (my life) with them. At times the conversation grew serious at certain points looking at the scroll, then peace would come again. The vision ended with the four of us bowing our heads together in fellowship.
As I look back at that vision, I recognize that Christ prays through me all my days as a Christian. In the book of Revealation it speaks of our prayers as a vial that is filling up.
A.B. Simpson puts it this way, “We look at a still grander vision. There is silence in heaven. The voice of God has hushed every angelic song, for the prayers of the saints are being brought in. They have been long accumulating, they have been treasured up in vials. God sends for them to be presented at His throne, and as He breathes in their sweetness, mingled with the incense of the great High Priest Himself, no sound is permitted to disturb the sacred hour. But this is not all. The command is next given to take these prayers and pour them out upon the earth again, and as they are emptied back upon the world from which they came, lo, there are voices and thunderings and a great earthquake, and the mighty angels of the coming advent begin to sound the trumpets that proclaim that the consummation of the age has come.”
I will close with Matthew Henry stating that,
“No prayers, thus recommended, was ever denied hearing and acceptance. These prayers, thus accepted in heaven, produced great changes upon earth. The Christian worship and religion, pure and heavenly in its origin and nature, when sent down to earth and conflicting with the passions and worldly projects of sinful men, produced remarkable tumults.”
Your prayer is never wasted, evaporated, not heard or given a deaf ear when He prays through you. Go ahead and shut your door, you will just never know when that 7th seal will open.