Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given 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, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. (Revelation 8:3-4)
If I told you I have the answer to every problem in your life, wouldn’t you like to know what it is? Well, it’s prayer! That’s because, without a good prayer life, we are powerless.
If you are praying and not getting answers, examine your prayer life. If you just drop in on God once a week, it’s not going to work. Only effective, fervent prayer will change things (see James 5:16). Elijah’s prayers brought the widow’s son back to life (1 Kings 17:23), proclaimed a drought (1 Kings 17:1), and then three years later, called an end to the drought (1 Kings 18:41).
Prayer will give you purpose. When your pray, your heart touches God’s heart, and you begin to pray God’s purpose. God looks for somebody who will get in unity with Him. It’s easy for us to tell Him everything that’s wrong with our government, church or family. God’s not looking for gap finders—He has plenty of them! He looking for gap-standers: people who will stand in the gap with Him and pray His will. Moses’s compassion for the people prompted him to stand in the gap for the Israelites when God threatened to wipe them out. In fact, he said, “God, if you blot them out, then blot me out, too.” He prayed, and God spared them.
Our prayers are precious to God. Look at Revelation 8:3-4:
Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.
He was given 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, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God
from the angel’s hand.
Prayers rise with the incense on the golden altar before the throne of God! When we pray, it is sweet, smells good, and it goes up! Our prayers activate God’s angels, and they move because we pray God’s Word. God thinks our prayers are so important. He puts them on a golden altar and says, “Mm, they smell good.”
When you pray God’s purpose, you will pray His provision to meet the need. This is intercession, and intercession means “to come between.” We can all intercede—we can pray and change things. There are great examples of intercession in Nehemiah 2-4. Nehemiah saved Jerusalem with his prayers. Abigail interceded for her cruel husband and saved his life (1 Samuel 25). Conversely, Isaiah 59:16 says that God looked and looked but found not one person to intercede. God is looking for people who will stand in the gap. What about you? Can you stand in the gap for others so that God doesn’t have to look any further?
One last secret to an effective prayer life is P.U.S.H.—pray until something happens! Don’t give up! God doesn’t always work in our timing. Sometimes it may seem He’s never going to answer. That’s when the devil wants you to give up. That’s when you have to P.U.S.H.! What’s going to rescue you or your family? Pay your overdue bills? Heal you or your loved one? Your stubborn prayers! Prayer that never ceases changes things. So P.U.S.H.!