Prayer: Foundation

Culture of the Kingdom
Today’s Topic: Prayer: Foundation
Scripture: Revelation 5:6-8; Revelation 8:2-4

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Prayer is the fourth and final element of the culture of the Kingdom. Prayer seems to be simple to understand but there is a lack of understanding to the purpose and practice of prayer amongst the saints. Normally I would describe the type and shadow first but with this topic I will start with the reality of what happens in the Heavenly and then we will show the type and shadow. It will be a little easier to understand so let's look at these two scriptures for a foundation:

Revelation 5:6-8: And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the Earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne. And when He had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odours (incense), which are the prayers of the saints.

Revelation 8:2-5: And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar and cast it into the Earth: And there were voices, and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake.

Now, what is the common theme about prayer in both of these scriptures? Prayer is consistently linked to incense being burned up to God. In both scriptures we see that the incense is the prayers of the saints. However in the Revelation 8 scripture we see a little bit more and I want you to see this. As the incense burns to God the angel takes the censer filled with fire from the altar (from where the incense is burning) and cast it to the Earth were it resulted in voices, thunderings, and lightnings and an earthquake. What does this symbolize? Here is a hint and we will later reveal it. Here you have the prayers of the saints going to God as incense then the angel is commanded to throw something in the Earth. Think about it. In the next message we will look at the type and shadow of this to understand how prayer was understood and performed by the Patriarchs and Priests of the Old Testament.

At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.