Hello fellow lovers of God’s Word!
Hope you have had an awesome week so far?
For me?
I’m just glad that we can have our study together again. I can’t explain just how much this space calms my heart and gives me so much revelation in God’s Word.
It is a privilege for the Word to be our pleasure and delight. So many people haven’t gotten the “rhema” yet. I pray that God will open more and more eyes and hearts to the truth in His Word.
And I guess that our title has already prepared you for today’s Bible Study yes? But sit tight still, the revelation on here will have you holding on tightly to your prayer time with God.
So I love writing Bible study on stuff that God is personally teaching me and I stumbled around for a bit before I found out that yes, this is it for this week.
Something happened on saturday that had me screaming in my head “Lord, if it takes you 14 years to bring my answer to physical manifestation, I will still pray”
Something that had been on my prayer and confession list since last year came to fruition.
Terrible news came in and in the midst of almost being agitated, peace came in and I thanked God (Peace was last week’s Bible study, see how Bible studies here help me? I almost always go through whatever I have written here)
Not too long afterwards, the great news flowed in and I was just simply overwhelmed with thanksgiving to our Daddy.
You see, so many of us are praying for ourselves and family members and it just seems like heaven is closed to our cries but is that the reality or just our feeling?
Hopefully today’s Bible study will open our eyes to the truth… The truth that no prayer from our lips ever fall to the ground empty.
How do I know this?
Yep! The Word to the rescue.
Revelation 8:3-4
“Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of Godâs people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of Godâs holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.”
Now pause there…
I first saw this verse when I was in Law School last year and it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I wrote in my journal and was just screaming hallelujah!
Now, these proceedings happened in heaven and John was privileged to have been shown them.
Go to Revelation 1:1
“This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John”
And Revelation 1:10
“It was the Lordâs Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. (we can’t pause here to explore worshiping in the spirit can we? All we can just know is that great things happen when we worship in spirit and in truth)
Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. It said, âWrite in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.â
So John was given this revelation by Christ Jesus and was shown events that will happen in heaven and the one in Revelation 8 is one event in heaven where the Lamb-Jesus had broken the 7th seal and when He did so, an angel came and mixed the prayers of God’s holy people and the prayers ascended to God from the altar where the angel poured them out(refer to above scripture again)
Now, before we deal with prayers as offerings, let’s deal with the first question this verse presents…
Who are God’s holy people?
1Peter 2:9-10
“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, A HOLY NATION, Godâs very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. âOnce you had no identity as a people;now you are Godâs people.Once you received no mercy;now you have received Godâs mercy.â
Now again, stop at you are God’s people who have received God’s mercy…
What did God’s mercy do here?
Ephesians 2:4 to the rescue…
“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by Godâs grace that you have been saved!)”
So from those verses, all who have accepted and walk in the salvation that God in His mercy have given to us, are God’s holy people.
So none of us who are born again should start feeling like our prayers are not from a holy person. We have to clarify this because satan works terribly with the thoughts in our mind.
So that said…
Let’s go back to our main discourse for today…
The prayers of God’s holy people was offered up as an incense to God in heaven.
Now, as Christians, we walk by faith and not by feelings. We walk in accordance with God’s Word.
So we may feel like our prayers are bouncing off the ceiling – that we are getting no response from God (emphasis on FEEL LIKE) but no, Revelation 5:8 is what actually happens in heaven when God’s holy people pray.
Their prayers are offered up to God as an offering.
I’m just thinking…
Aside from our getting an answer from God for what we ask for, our prayers work for more than that in the grand scheme of things.
They are offerings unto God.
Again, see Revelation 5:8
” And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of Godâs people.”
This is another event in heaven when Jesus took the scroll from God’s hands.
The 24 elders and the four living beings took the bowls filled with incense which are the prayers of God’s people and offered it to God.
Now, what is incense?
Dictionary says it’s a perfume often used in the rites of various religions.
Don’t perfumes give off a sweet smell?
So aside from God answering our prayers for what we ask for, our prayers are actually sweet smelling perfumes to Him.
So there we go, our prayers do not bounce off the ceiling, no matter what we may feel happens, they go up to God in heaven and actually go to Him as an offering.
So then 1John 5:13 says…
“And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”
Note, we can be confident… why?
Because our prayers surely ascend to God in heaven.
If it’s a sweet smelling incense, then of course, God hears us when we pray.
Now, let’s come down from heaven and come down to earth for evidence that prayers ascend to where they should go – to God.
Acts 10:4
“Cornelius stared at him in terror. âWhat is it, sir?â he asked the angel.And the angel replied, âYour prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering!”
See it again?
Just like our verses in Revelation?
Cornelius prayers as an offering moved God to send an angel on Cornelius behalf.
So aside from what Cornelius prayed for, God received his prayers and sent Him a greater gift of salvation.
Oh, can we still say after all this that our prayers bounce off the ceiling?
Even if we don’t feel like God hears us, our feelings can never be the gauge of truth.
Let the Word be the truth in our lives like it should be.
The Word says that our prayers are incenses offered to God and so it is.
They smell sweetly to His nostrils and ascend to His throne.
What other proof do we need to tell us that God is working whether we see the manifestation or not?
1John 5:13 says we already have the confidence that He hears us when we ask for anything.
So what I am even learning now, is to not just pray for my needs to be met, but to pray just because I even know that God loves my prayers which smell sweetly to Him.
Oh, that should excite us.
That means that it gives our Father pleasure when we pray to Him.
What else do we need to set our prayer life on fire?
And I don’t mean just the “die, die, die” prayers, I mean communicating with God even as we go about our daily lives.
Romans 12:1 (msg version says)
“So hereâs what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary lifeâyour sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around lifeâand place it before God as an offering.”
So as we go about our daily lives, we should talk and smile with God knowing that He loves these offerings of ours.
That’s what prayer is – communicating with God.
Tell Him you love Him, tell Him about the guy you just met, ask for strength to do the task given to you at work, ask for Him to help you when you feel like you are loosing it.
God so loves our communication with Him.
Make prayers to God a part of your life – they ascend as sweet smelling offerings to God.
If we can understand this knowledge about prayer and let in sink in, our relationship with God won’t be boring.
Because we would know that our communication(prayers) gives pleasure to God and what thrills Him will also thrill us to no end.
Your prayers don’t bounce off the ceiling…
They ascend to God as sweet smelling offering… no less.
Prayer – Lord grant us grace to live our everyday life in you.
Help us to pray and communicate with you as we should.
And let what thrills you thrill us to no end also.
Thank you Father for this confidence that our prayers are heard by you.
Thank you Jesus….
As always blog family, I love hearing from you all on wednesdays.
Did you get any insight as you read? (I hope you did)…then please hit us with your thoughts at the comment section below.
Are there any other verses that have helped you out of the funk of a dry prayer life? Do share with us below, I will love to learn from you 🙂
Till our next Bible Study,
Much love,
Frances.
13 Comments
Mobolaji Olorisade
March 18, 2015 at 7:32 amGood morning Frances! When i saw the title for today’s word, I just smiled and said “Oh, Frances!”
I woke this morning not “feeling” like praying. It just “felt” like I could not immediately feel God’s presence as I woke, so it was like my prayer was bouncing off the ceiling. I had just prayed to Him that it’s not about my feelings and that I still stand in awe of Him. Sometimes, when I don’t even know what to say I just smile and wait in His presence gisting Him in my head.
Prayers should not become so complicated. It can simply be gisting God about the latest in our lives and the fears and problems we go through. Though, it can sometimes seem that our prayers are going nowhere but we serve a God who knows the number of hair! He loves when we pray about everything because it shows our trust. As you said, prayers always bring me peace about situations and whether it ‘feels’ like my prayers bounce or not, I will pray!
It’s no longer about what I feel or don’t feel.
Thanks sweetheart! God bless you.
Frances Okoro
March 18, 2015 at 8:27 pmOh Mobolaji..let me not tell stories about how my quiet time was this morning..started somehow..ended greatly!
Why? Because I thank God for grace to know that the marriage we have isn’t run by feelings, it’s run by a decision to believe in what He says..in His Word.
He is always with us and hears us..thats what we will believe!
And I really love your sharing with us how you smile and just bask in God’s presence!
It’s awesome! The peace and joy just flows…I thank God for all we enjoy in Him.
Much love babes!
mateyscott
March 18, 2015 at 1:17 pmI have been kind of here, but I haven’t really been here like I want to be. But I made up my mind to really be here today, no matter how busy I am and I am so glad I am here. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or just God working, but what I am planning on posting today is also on prayer. You can imagine my excitement when I saw the tittle of your blog post.
Prayer, like you said is communication with God. Just like our relationships with humans get better as we communicate more, so does our relationship with God. Your prayers never bounce off the wall because God is such a merciful God that will give you even what you don’t deserve. God is happy to hear our prayers because that means we are communicating with him and when your communication is glorifying Him, there is just no way He won’t answer your requests.
Another way you can confidently be sure your prayers are not bouncing off the wall is if you have faith. Enough faith to stand on His word, knowing He will bring to pass that which he has promised you. Afterall, He is a God that honours His word above His name. Also, enough faith to know that sometimes you don’t get what you want because it is not what God wants for you. And if you pray for His will to be done in your life, you should know that some prayers won’t be answered because it is not His will for your life. He answers new prayers that you did not think to ask for because He is a God that works everything out for your good. So the unanswered prayers give way to answered prayers that will lead you in the way He wants you to go.
Thank you for this Frances.
http://www.mateyscott.com
Frances Okoro
March 18, 2015 at 8:34 pmI’ve read your post on prayer and it was enlightening Mayowa.
I listened to a msg on prayer today(and no its not a coincidence, God is really getting the message on prayers to me today)
The msg talked about same thing you mentioned here about some unanswered prayers actually blessings in disguise.
We will actually look back one day and thank God that He didn’t answer them.
And your angle of God even answering what we didn’t pray for is awesome.
Cuz whether we know it or not, sometimes we ask amiss, but in His mercy, He sees what we need and grants us that.
Oh, thank God for this knowledge!
Thank you for making up your mind to be here today and sharing this with us. I appreciate it..i’m all for learning from others on the Word. Thanks babes
N.K.
March 18, 2015 at 3:59 pmThank you so much for sharing this! I always love reading what you wrote and learned, and (if this makes sense, haha) having my bag filled with goodies. Thank you again, Miss Frances! : )
Frances Okoro
March 18, 2015 at 8:38 pmHugs and hugs N.K…. I’m filling my bag with the goodies here too so fill free to fill up as God gives us His Word here.
God bless you 🙂
maryj01
March 19, 2015 at 7:54 am1John 5 vs 14-15 just stood out for me… thank you for blessing me with this post…
Frances Okoro
March 19, 2015 at 11:28 amI’m glad you were blessed MaryJane…the Word always comes in with life
Vicky
March 20, 2015 at 11:18 pmam i really holy? i know I’ve given my life over to him and don’t plan to ever retract but sometimes i miss my quiet time, i lie on the bed and sleep off in the midst of devotion out of tiredness….Wen i fail like that, am i really holy? maybe that’s why.
when you pray for something for ten years and more you’ll definitely feel like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling but thank God for this great great revelation, i pray to remember it when that down and out feeling come. Thank God for you, really
Frances Okoro
March 22, 2015 at 6:39 pmOh Vicky…the next Bible Study will address this question of “am I holy?”
I realize that that’s one way through which satan has a hold over us..a terrible hold.
The truth is there in God’s Word..we are not holy by works, He made us holy…for His own sake even, not ours.
Next Bible Study…
And I did pray for 14 years for an issue, almost gave up and even when it happened, I still had to pray for it to be perfected but God is a God of His Word.
He always hears us and when our knees feel weakened, I pray we(you) always remember this truth.
God bless you babes!
vicky
March 30, 2015 at 8:56 pmthat’s quite encouraging. thanks,
Chidinma
August 17, 2016 at 3:06 pmI recently stumbled upon your blog posts and wow! I bless God for your life. I know this isn’t a recent post but for me, it’s most timely.. I can totally relate with feeling like my prayers sometimes are bouncing off the ceiling. God’s been teaching me about being patient, persistent, unwavering and not casting away my confidence and just as if to spur me on, I read this… God bless you real good!
Frances Okoro
August 17, 2016 at 10:42 pmThank God Chidinma… thank God.
I just believe that it is important to always have the word in front of us anytime we are praying, it gives us deep confidence on the power of our prayers… so when satan comes with “what are you even praying about sef”, you have the Word ready to pull down the thoughts…
We keep holding on to God’s word, entertaining no lies, knowing that God hears us and cares about us..
*Love
And welcome to the blog!!