God Hears Us PraySýnishorn

The Prayers of the Saints

Revelation is a crazy book. This is hardly the place to sort out its complexity or fit it into a theological system. But read Revelation 6:9–11 and 8:1–5 while asking what God thinks about prayer.

For context, the "seals" being opened are unraveling a scroll that, as it's read one broken seal at a time, is revealing God's plan to wrap up the loose ends and recover his world from the forces of evil. 

The fifth seal reveals those people who have been killed for their faithfulness to God, and they are crying out (praying!) for God to work, to vindicate their deaths, to do what finally must be done to end all of the evil that swirls about this broken world.

After the seventh seal is opened, an angel offers incense before God. The smoke of this incense rises up before the Lord, and that incense is mixed with the prayers of the saints. Then world-shattering events begin to take place. 

We need to see that when God acts to fix all the wrong that has tormented his world, the prayers of his people play a vital role. What happens to all of the prayers we send to the Lord? They rise up like smoke before him. They find their intended destination! And this is crucial to his work of rolling back evil and redeeming the world he still loves. 

This is the encouragement we need to keep praying. We don't know how our prayers will ultimately be used, but God has a purpose for these prayers. They're part of his plan to heal and restore. Let your prayers continue to rise, confident that they are valuable to God.

Note: Keep Praying! The Echo Prayer app was created to help remind you to keep praying throughout the day. Check it out as an awesome resource in your prayer life going forward!