Do Your Prayers Shake the Earth

“And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel” (Rev. 8:4). God loves to hear His children speak to Him. As the architect of the tabernacle and temple, He designed the altar of incense as an integral part of worship. The burning of incense produced a fragrant aroma that was symbolic of the prayers of His people: “And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Rev. 5:8).

There was a set time of day when the priest would ignite the incense on the altar; it was when the worshipers gathered to pray (Luke 1:10). Through this ritual God’s message is clear: “Your prayers are like a sweet bouquet to Me.”

I am the father of three married children who now live some distance away. When I see one of their phone numbers appear on my caller identification, a joy spontaneously erupts. I love to hear their voices. I am eager to hear their words. My Father is like that with my prayers, with my words to Him. I am saddened that my sinful heart is sometimes not so fervent to speak with Him. Dear Father, move upon my soul and make me as eager to speak to You as You are to hear me.

True prayer positions us in a holy place. The prayers of Revelation 8:1-5 are before God on His throne. These prayers are in the real Holy of Holies. The great angels are there. His court, in its glory and majesty, is the site of our prayers. Prayer is not a casual conversation between peers. Prayer is daring to converse with the Almighty, the Creator of the galaxies, the Lord and Ruler of all that is or ever will be. There is a dearth of reverence in modern evangelical worship. I fear that same drought of holy fear is absent from our times of prayer. The apostle John noted in his vision: “There was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (v.1). The silence was a holy hush as entreaties ascended to Jehovah.

True faith teaches us to wait on the Lord in our prayers. The prayers in these verses were offered on previous occasions by the martyrs (Rev. 6:10). God instructed them to rest for a time in the certainty that their requests would be addressed in the future. My father prayed early in the morning every day. A few years before he died, I expressed my concern that after he went home I would no longer be covered by his daily prayers. He corrected my faulty theology, saying “John, all the prayers I have for you since you were a baby are still before the Lord – and will be long after I am gone.”

God takes the prayers of His children and shakes the earth: “And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightening, and an earthquake” (Rev. 8:4-5). God takes the prayers of His people and throws them to the earth effecting a storm of thunder and lightening and even a fearsome earthquake. Eugene Peterson in his book Reversed Thunder gives a summary picture of the scene: “The prayers which had ascended, unremarked by the journalists of the day, returned with immense force in George Herbert’s phrase, as ‘reversed thunder.’ Prayer reenters history with incalculable effects. Our earth is shaken daily by it.”

There is a picture of this ‘reversed thunder’ in Acts 4. Peter and John were arrested in the very early days of the church after Pentecost. They were taken before the Sanhedrin and faced the same men who plotted the crucifixion of Jesus. Their courage was impressive, but the court strongly threatened them against any further mention of Jesus. When they safely returned to their fellow Christians, the prayer of the congregation was for boldness in response to the world’s power: “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness” (Acts 4:29). How did God answer their prayer? “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (v.31). God replied with an earthquake. He wanted them to know that their prayers could shake the earth. It is as if the incense is changed and thrown back to the world as dynamite.

When I read passages like this I do think we play at praying. We know of John Knox as a preacher. However, it was not his preaching that Mary, Queen of Scotland, feared. She confessed, “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the assembled armies of Europe.” She may not have known the theological foundations of prayer, but she did know the effects of his prayers.

God revealed to a persecuted and suffering church in Revelation: “There is power in prayer – power that can shape history and shake the earth.” Does the world fear our prayers?

-John P. Sartelle

Even though this article was pretty much copy and pasted out of Tabletalk, this came at such  a crucial point for me this past week. It’s funny how God can bring certain things to you at exactly the right time. Impeccable timing. As I reconsider the depth, brevity, and power of my prayers in these recent weeks, I realize that I’ve settled for less. God’s purpose and calling is so much greater than we could even dare to imagine that He needs to constantly remind us of our limited perspective.

The time for Mission Possible has come once again and as we enter our third season, may God grant us the grace that our hearts would be passionate for prayer. Strange thing to ask, to be given the heart for prayer, but even the disciples needed to ask Jesus how to pray. Asking for the desire seems to only be the next sensible step.

Encounter. God.

-Daniel “Dimmy” Im

Pursuit of Righteousness

Honestly, nothing about this post makes sense, not with anything I’ve done with this blog before….Nothing between the title and this post. I don’t even know what this post is, and so with intentionality lost, I’m allowing it to just….be.
Today was bittersweet and I’m not really sure what to make of it.
I woke up and went to the Silo for QT. No one there, but I don’t blame my boys, i missed mine when I was in their shoes.
Studied for my NPB Lab practical.
Went to pay my course materials fee and found that if I’m up to the challenge of hunting down and trekking to three different departments, I might get it waived – $135 is a lot.
Got a bagel at the MU.
I broke my laptop today. I want to blame the girl who cut me off and forced me into a huge billboard… in front of everyone. But then again, maybe I should have just gotten off. I could live with the fact that I was humiliated in front of everyone, as a boarder its an occupational hazard. But why the laptop? Why right before finals? Fortunately, the hard ware is ok. Unfortunately, screens are expensive to replace.
Picked up my cap and gown. Met D.Roh as he left, and Tori came in after me and we chatted for a good hour. Got joined by Samantha and Chloe for a little bit.
Met Oaxaca peeps. Walked with Liz to her bus stop and walked Anna to her class(where we ran into Denise) before heading off to the library where I met Samantha again. Chatted to Olson at which point I went to the library and spent 20 minutes trying to find a seat. (Finals are upon us once again).
Studied for NPB lab practical.
Got dinner with Chris at DC, and had a good talk with a Pre-Me hopeful. Hopefully, he will avoid the errors I made at his age.
Studied for NPB lab practical.
Went to the room where it was announced that since one of the TA’s had given out the answers to one of the test forms, the prof. decided to cancel the practical. Eff. I needed that practical.Now I am debating whether I should take it next week, but worried that I won’t be able to study for it as well as if I had it today.Why did I get stuck with the hard TA?
Went home.
Checked the mail.
Stopped by 35 on an impulse because the tv was on. Chilled, watching So You Think You Can Dance with Anna, Tiff, Michelle, Jean, and Sharon. Thank you for the tea and bread with hummus.
Came home.
Mellow. Its 11 and studying is the furthest thing from my mind. What to doooooo….. well congratulations, at least you just spent 15.5 hours in my shoes.
Well, here’s a passage I have been meditating on for the past week or so:

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD : Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many.
The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
“Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: The law will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.
“Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults. For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.”
Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old.
Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced that monster through?
Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over?
The ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor? The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread.
For I am the LORD your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand— I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”
Isaiah 51:1-16

Sometimes, coming to the end of a day and just being content is enough. I normally sign off with Soli Deo gloria…. but this seemed more appropriate:

Coram Deo