History Moves to the Pulse of Prayer

Golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of God’s people.

Revelation 5:1-8.

Climate change sounds alarm-bells about the end of the world (as we know it); the clock is ticking, the-end-is-nigh placards fashionable, doom-merchants enjoying a field day. The Pandemic, international tensions, economic upheavals and ethical chaos darken our mood; the age of anxiety is back.
 

Even God’s people flirt with despair, yet many join the environmental battle, like the faith-in-action pilgrimage from Cornwall to Glasgow COP26 or our own Songs of Praise LessWasteLaura Young’s testimony to Christian life-style changes.

Enter God’s throne-room; a Scroll is there.  Christ (Lamb that was slain) opens it to unfold and oversee the world’s final history and usher in God’s kingdom. Brought into this drama are golden bowls of incense, the prayers of the saints - two Millennia of Christian prayer conjoined to the prayers of Israel and saints in heaven. A prayer-chain formed in Israel’s history,  perpetual prayer (symbolised as incense)^[1] central to God’s work.  So with our prayers, whether as praise of our Creator-Redeemer, adoration of his Son or intercession in his name for God’s coming kingdom.
 

At God’s throne sovereignty stands supreme over a world where wickedness preens itself on the throne of humanity.  Ultimate power lies with God, who draws our prayers into his victorious activity.  We do not pray helplessly into a black-hole of unanswered prayer; our prayers, mixed with incense to make them acceptable to God, are inextricably linked to his coming kingdom.  Combined with fire, they have mighty impact!^[2] 
 

Torrance asks: What are the real master-powers behind the world and what are the deeper secrets of our destiny? The prayers of the saints and the fire of God. That means that more potent, more powerful than all the dark and mighty powers let loose in the world, more powerful than anything else, is the power of prayer set ablaze by the fire of God and cast upon the earth.….. The real cause of the world-disturbance is the prayer of the Church and the fire of God!^[3] Our prayers are activated in the judgment and the renewal of the world. No wonder Eugene Peterson comments: Prayer re-enters history with incalculable effects.^[4] Such vision energises prayer, lifts our hearts, sweeps away despair, enables participation in God’s kingdom work.
 

I don’t say: ditch your placards, forget about plastic! I do say: our prayers have power, aligned to God’s ultimate purpose. So, Lord, your kingdom come. Yes, and come, Lord Jesus come. Amen.

^[1] Exodus 30:6-8.

^[2] Revelation 8:1-5.

^[3] T.F. Torrance, 1959. The Apocalypse Today.

^[4] In his reflective book on Revelation entitled Reversed Thunder (a phrase of George Herbert).