6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders… 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.

1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour…. 3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

...your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

(Isaiah 59:2b)

* Unconfessed sin

And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.(Matthew 13:58)

* Unconfessed sin

* Lack of faith

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

(James 4:3)

* Unconfessed sin

* Lack of faith

* Selfish motives

…Since the first day that you set your mind to…humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days.

(Daniel 10:12b,13a)

* Unconfessed sin

* Lack of faith

* Selfish motives

* Spiritual warfare

...and they were told to wait a little longer.

(Revelation 6:11b)

> Keep facing your pain

> Keep seeking God’s presence

> Keep standing on God’s promises

> Keep lifting the incense of prayer

> Keep leaving the incense in the throne room

Robert J. Morgan, Red Sea Rules

...there are no cookie cutters in heaven. God doesn’t have standardized, same-size-fits-all solutions to our various problems. He treats every situation as singular and special, and He designs a unique, tailor-made deliverance to every trial and trouble.”