Prayer can take many forms:
1. Worship, praise, or adoration. This is one of the highest forms of prayer. Just loving God and telling Him of your love for Him. Like the psalmist said, "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth." David said, "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together."; "Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; [for] he is holy."
2. Then there is petition. This is probably the most common form of prayer, where we are seeking the help and guidance of God for our lives. There is nothing wrong with petition. I have real difficulty with those who have such a self righteous spirit, that they say, "I don't ever ask anything for myself." On the other hand many people think of prayer only as petition.
3. Intercession. This involves praying for the needs of others, praying for those in authority over us, praying for our nation and praying for the missionaries.
In the model prayer that the Lord gave to the disciples, we see how prayer begins with worship and goes into intercession then into petition, and closes again with worship.
SWEET SMELLING INCENSE WAS USED AS A SYMBOL FOR PRAYER OF THE SAINTS
This is how our prayers are to God, they are as a sweet fragrance.
These are the instructions for the high priest when he went into the very presence of God in the most holy place that one day of the year:
*Leviticus 16:12* And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of *sweet incense beaten small, and bring [it] within the veil:*
*Leviticus 16:13* And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, *that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that [is] upon the ark of the covenant,* that he die not:
The earthly tabernacle was a model of heaven. In the book of Hebrews we are told that it served as an example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he made the tabernacle: See, saith he, [that] you make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
That great cloud of fragrant incense that filled the most holy place as the high priest dropped the powered incense on the hot coals. David prayed in *Psalm 141:2*, Let my prayer be set forth before thee *[as] incense;* [and] the lifting up of my hands [as] the evening sacrifice.
The first time that the prayers of the saints were associated with incense rising up before the Lord in the book of Revelation is in chapter 5 as Jesus the Lamb of God takes the scroll out of the right hand of Him who is sitting on the throne: *Revelations 5:8*, When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and *golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints.*
For almost two thousand years the saints have been praying, *"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven."* In Revelation 5 as the time had come for those prayers to be answered those prayers rise as *sweet incense before the Father. These golden censers full of odours are the prayers of the saints.*
The second time that the prayers of the saints were associated with incense rising up before the Lord in the book of Revelation is in chapter 8:3&4:
*8:3* 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 saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.*
*8:4* And the *smoke of the incense, [which came] with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.*
If prayer was that important part of the Christian faith here now present as we lift up those Holy Hands onto God in prayer and hereafter in heaven then why our reluctance to spend time with God in prayer? If we have spare time, we usually do not think of spending it with God. We will pick up a book or turn on T.V. and spend our time in something that is unprofitable, and sometimes worse, things that tear us down and fill our minds with junk. Another thing is that people think of prayer only as petition, so the only time they come to God is when they have some desperate need. Additionally, some Christians often think of prayer only as a last resort so the saying; *If everything else fails, try prayer.*
If we would learn to make prayer our first resort, you would never come to the last resort. The writer of the song says: *"Oh what peace we often forfeit, Oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer."*
Jesus spoke a parable to His disciples in Luke's gospel 18 to the intent, that *men ought always to pray and not to faint.*
A new term has been coined that is used for relationships. *It is quality time.* They have started talking about the time spent together with our spouses or our children, and they refer to it as quality time. It describes meaningful time spent with another person. I wonder how long has it been since you have spent quality time with the Lord in prayer?
Join us every day at 4am as we lift up those Holy Hands onto God in prayer for family, church and country.
Bro Ritchie Edukwesi WOANYA