Tour of Revelation Pt. 8

Monty Python and the Holy Grail should be in everyone’s top 100 comedies of all time. When faced with a rabbit that can slaughter men helplessly, King Arthur and his men must employ the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. By chucking the holy ornament and counting to three, the grenade eliminates the rabbit threat with a giant explosion.

What if I told you that God had a grenade like this?

Revelation 7 describes the Seventh Seal that Jesus unlocks, which takes the form of a golden censer. The incense contained within the censer symbolizes the prayers of God’s people. How does God utilize this aromatic offering? He casts it on the earth, causing earthquakes and lightning.

This striking image is not just inspiration for a Christian metal band; it represents how seriously God takes our prayers. When we pray for change, justice, retribution, and repayment, the Lord does not keep the prayer in a jar to sit idly. We often think that God waiting to answer a prayer proves he couldn’t care less about what we say, but Jesus tells the story of the persistent widow. She had an urgent request, and she continuously asked the judge to fix it. The judge eventually granted her request, but only when he was ready. We must use our faith to pray for the impossible until we see a result from God.

If you give up praying for the impossible, you miss out on God packing your request into a solution he will use to fix a major problem.

FIGURE IT OUT:

3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Revelation 8:3-5

  1. Read the verses above and circle any words or phrases that are significant to you. Why did you pick those ones?
  2. Why is prayer depicted as a violent projectile? What does that say about the nature of our prayers?
  3. How should we pray, knowing God takes our prayers this seriously?
  4. What big things have you been praying to God?