Sweet Incense

"And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne,  and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.  Revelation 8: 3,4

I am waiting the results of a PET scan I had this week.  I see my local oncologist next week and hope to make decisions about further treatment based on our visit and those results.  In the meantime, too many long nights have made this blog too long.

Below is a letter and poem written by Samuel Rutherford to Marion M'Naught, born in 1585 in Scotland.  It was said of her, "Above everything else, Marion M'Naught was a woman of prayer, and in her heart there burned a passionate concern for the welfare of Christ's church and for a revival of true religion in the land."  Samuel Rutherford said of her, "Faint not, keep breath, , believe;  howbeit men, and husband, and friends prove weak, yet your strength faileth not...It is your glory to lay hold on your Rock.  O woman greatly beloved!  I testify and avouch it in my Lord, that the prayers ye sent to heaven these many years by gone are come up before the Lord, and shall not be forgotten...The bride will yet sing, as in the days of her youth."

O woman greatly loved,

Your prayers are heard on high;

God reads the language of your tears,

And marks the earnest sigh.

Firm is the Rock to which you cleave,

Faint not, keep breath and still believe.

So shall your bow abide

Unshaken in its strength.

Hold fast in faith, though all prove weak

Or weary grow at length.

The field is lost if you should fail

But well-placed hope must soon prevail.

For prayers that rise to God,

Though many years pass by,

Remembered still, wait near His throne,

Beneath His kindly eye.

The God of glory must fulfill

His faithful promises and will.

And mercy shall come down:

For though the bush may burn,

Yet unconsumed it still remains,

Till Christ in mercy turn,

And by His Spirit's quickening breath

Raise up His bride from dust and death.

And she shall sing once more

As in her youthful days,

High songs of praise to her fair King,

While men in wonder gaze.

Then shall the olive bud again

And all Christ's enemies be slain.

To Marion M'Naught  (Aberdeen, 1637)

What a blessed thing to be said about a person!  I will admit that I somewhat envy what Samuel Rutherford was able to say of this woman, and I hope it is not too late for me to become like her in prayer.  Reading this and knowing of the fervent prayers sent out by others for me, as well as thinking on my own prayer life, has given me the desire to blog about some things I think are important in prayer.    

I hesitate to focus on  intercessory prayer, where my thoughts have been running, as that is such a small part of prayer.  I am reminded of the importance of remembering who you are praying to.  Our God is a holy God who sits on the throne above.  He is able to do far above all we ask or think.  On top of that He will always do what is for our good and His glory (Romans 8:18).  He loves us with a love we cannot begin to comprehend and He has promised to hear us, His lowly creatures.  He has also told us how to pray.  So often our prayers are primarily intercessory, but, as taught in the Lord's Prayer and elsewhere we are to worship and adore Him in prayer and give Him gratitude due to His name.  We are to pray for His name to be made holy and His kingdom to come.  However, when we do intercede there are some things that I think are important.  We need to....

Pray fervently.  One of my favorite parables in the Bible and one frequently recalled to God in my prayers is that of the widow and the judge in Luke 18.  The point is that the judge finally does what the widow asks because she keeps badgering him.  As it says in verse 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? This is Jesus, Himself, encouraging us to pray fervently.  One prayer is not enough. God says our prayers rise as incense to Heaven where the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us (Romans 8: 22 - 27) whether our prayers are words or groans.

Pray patiently.  Never give up on prayer.  I'll admit to a couple times when I gave up after praying for someone for many years.  Amazingly, long after I gave up hope they became totally new persons in Christ.  I was so ashamed that I had quit praying, but delighted that God still answered. For two years my family has daily prayed for a pastor from a country where there is a great deal of persecution after he ended up separated in another country while his family was left behind.  This family had to endure much.  I believe that from the time we found out about the situation that one of the family members or myself never neglected to pray for this pastor and his family on a daily basis.  God did not work in our time (though we did ask...in His will) but two years later is seeing fit to let them be rejoined.  Another man, a friend who had recently married, went to prison on a twelve year sentence for a mistake that would not have been a problem except for felonies from his youth of sin.  For nine years my children have not let family devotions go by without praying for Harvey and for him to be paroled.  God did not answer as we hoped for all those years, but He is answering within the next month as the parole process has started.  In the meantime a reformed Bible study was started weekly in the prison and his testimony has been passed onto many.  God knew the timing was not right until now.

Pray frequently.  Whether morning, noon or night; whether in family devotions, a prayer group or by yourself;  whether on your knees, driving (with your eyes open), or cleaning your toilet, there is no wrong time to pray.  God does not need our prayers in order to answer, but He asks for them and even commands them, so it is a means He uses.  My sister once told me to not worry about the times she woke up in the night, because she figured God wanted her awake to pray.  A good friend just the other day told me that whenever she wakens at night she prays for me.  What a blessing to hear!

Pray for yourself.  Pray especially that you might grow in the knowledge of God.  Pray that you use every moment to His glory.  Pray that He convict you of your sin (that's a hard one you need to mean).  Pray that He use you in the life of others.  Pray that you will always accept His will.   "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need!" Hebrews 4:16.  Pray when you are needy and when you are full.  Always give Him the praise He deserves.  Pray about the sin that so easily besets you.

Pray for individuals.  Pray for your spouse, your children, and the rest of your family daily.  Pray WITH your spouse and your children daily.  It's hard to fight with a spouse you've just prayed for and hard to speak in anger to a child if you've stopped to pray yourself before responding.   When you are pregnant (or before) is none too early to be praying that God might know your child even in your womb and even be praying that He might be preparing a godly spouse for them. Pray for your loved ones who don't know the Lord.  Remember it is not you or what you do that saves them, but the Holy Spirit, and remember that it is never too late to pray until they're in the grave.  Pray for your enemies or those you dislike.  God doesn't tell you to like them, but He does tell you to pray for them and do good to them.  It may be years later that you find that your attitude was what was used to turn them to the Lord. And, maybe you will never know, but God still will have heard those prayers.  Pray for people in the church and friends who are struggling.  Pray for the ones where you don't know of any struggles and pray for their spiritual growth.  But, don't stop with praying with individuals.

Pray for your church body and the church throughout the world.  God works in individuals and cares for individuals without any doubt, but God's goal on this earth is not so much to bring a bunch of separate individuals to Heaven, but to bring a perfected body of Christ.  The lady of prayer in the poem above was known to fervently pray and fast especially for revival and growth in the church as well as the land of Scotland.  Years back several ladies met with me weekly and we interceded for all the needs we knew, but we especially prayed for our local church, for its perfecting, spiritual growth and for the leaders of the church.    We saw many answers and I am ashamed to say I too often neglect that today.  I find out about problems in the church and have to ask myself when the last time I prayed about that issue.  Pray for the marriages, the homes, the jobs, the spiritual life, the children growing into adults, the parents struggling to raise children.  Pray that God would give your leaders wisdom, courage, boldness and soundness of doctrine.  Pray that they might be given the time they need to be with their families as they often sacrifice much, but also pray that God would give their families the grace and patience to uplift and assist them in what God has called them to do.  Pray that they might see what needs to be done to make the church one that is pleasing to God, as is said of the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 2, and have the courage to initiate that.  Pray for your pastor as he prepares his messages and as he leads his flock.  Pray that your church doors might be filled with those who desire to worship God as He is and then that you would have to figure out how to afford a bigger church.  Pray for churches you don't know that pastors might not lead their flock astray, but might know God and His word more and more every day.  Pray for your missionaries who carry out your work.  Pray for the persecuted church and the church throughout the world.  But, don't stop with praying for the church.

Pray for your nation and the world.  My son read Psalm 119 verse 136 the other night, "136 My eyes shed streams of tears,  because people do not keep your law."   As he read, I wondered when the last time was that I had streams of tears, because of Christians and non-Christians profaning and sinning against the holy God.  Again I was ashamed that my prayers do not daily go to praying about the sin in my nation; the things that I know are an affront to my Holy God.  The things that have become so common that they get pushed back where I can't, or rather won't,  see them.  How often do I pray that God would work in the hearts of our leaders?  More especially, how often do I pray that God would turn the hearts of His people back to Himself where Christianity is more than a tag to wear and more than a one-day-a-week profession as we know that restoration will come when God's people are pleasing to the Lord?

Pray in His will.  Does God always answer our prayers?  Yes.  Is it always in the time we think? No, and I daresay, not usually.  Is it always the answer we want?  No, but I know it is the best answer because that is what He has promised. The point is He only knows what is absolutely best for us and His glory.  When my children pray in family devotions for my healing, I silently add "your will be done."  Is it because I don't want to be healed?  Oh my, NO.  I would give great glory to God for that miracle.  However, do I think God commonly works in healing miracles today?  No, I don't.  I do however know that I am safe in praying that if God wills He heal me, but above all else that whether He heal, prolong my life or take me shortly to my eternal home that it will be all to His glory.  Who am I to try to determine His will? 

Continue earnestly in prayer  (James Smith, "The Pastor's Evening Visit")

"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." Colossians 4:2

Prayer is always necessary, and it is always profitable. In prayer . . .

  we do homage to the perfections of God,

  we exercise faith on His omnipresence,

  we express our dependence on Him for our supplies,

  we evince the sincerity of our profession,

  we acknowledge our poverty and weakness,

  we unburden the mind of our secret trials,

  we give vent to our feelings of joy and sorrow, of gratitude and grief,

  we give utterance to our desires, and spread our case before the Lord,

  we . . .

    confess our sins,

    acknowledge our backslidings,

    and obtain pardon and restoring grace.

Prayer is the medium of communication between God and our souls:

   We communicate our thoughts, feelings, fears, and desires.

   He communicates light, strength, comfort, and grace to us.

Prayer is a very important duty; it is a great privilege.

Prayer should be  constant,   fervent,   believing,   hopeful, and   incessant.

God loves it, Satan hates it, and every true Christian values it.

We should be always in a praying frame--though we cannot be always in a praying posture.

True prayer is always  necessary,  profitable and  acceptable to God.