The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
Revelation 5:8
Having described the five altars of prayer, I want to offer a final encouragement. We cannot allow these altars to become another church program. A prayer ministry is not an organizational flow chart. It is not an item on your church’s to-do list. These altars have their full effect only when they facilitate genuine prayers of faith. We cannot delegate prayer, and we cannot allow it to become routine. Prayer must build our faith, and faith must move us to more and deeper prayer.
In my experience, the greatest threat to genuine prayer is time. We struggle to make time for prayer, or as time passes, our faith wanes and we lose hope. We grow weary and give up. We are tempted to believe prayer doesn’t work, and we gradually lose interest and momentum. If you and your church are going to sustain prayer, if you are going to experience its full effect, you’re going to have to pray with endurance. To do that, you need to better understand how our prayers fit into the plans and timing of God. With the right perspective, you’ll recognize how passing time doesn’t reduce your prayers but allows them to accumulate into something even more powerful.
When God gave me a vision of His throne room, one of the realizations I received that had the most impact was how our prayers exist beyond time. We tend to think of prayers as abstract things. They do not exist in physical space; therefore, we’re tempted to think they aren’t real. The moment we speak them, they seem gone. But that is not how prayer works in heaven. Before the throne, our prayers accumulate. Our prayers continue to exist after we have prayed them. Our prayers outlive us. They rise to heaven and exist before God until the time of His choosing. When you understand this, it changes the way you pray. It builds your endurance to continue praying.
It is easy to feel as if our prayers aren’t being heard. It is easy to feel as if we are tossing wishes up to heaven and hoping something about them will finally move God. When God does not immediately respond, we can feel as if our time praying may have been wasted. I want to challenge you to see your prayers not as wasted but as accumulating. Every prayer you pray rises to the throne room and continues to exist. God collects those prayers. None of them are ignored or ever wasted. God carefully collects the prayers of His people and, in time, they have their cumulative effect.
God’s patience is often hard for us to comprehend. He does not always work within the timelines we imagine. That is true not only of His divine actions but also with His patient endurance of sin. The apostle Paul made this point when he wrote to the church at Rome. They wrongfully imagined that God’s patience with wickedness was a sign of His indifference to it. They were stubborn and unrepentant, and worse, they thought the wicked were getting away with it. Where was God’s judgment?
You might have felt that way, too. Sometimes it feels as if it pays to break the rules and cut corners. But Paul warned that the wicked were storing up God’s wrath against them. That wrath would one day be revealed. God does not turn a blind eye to evil. He knows every wrong ever committed. He has record of all the righteous and unrighteous deeds. As Paul went on to explain, God “will repay each person according to what they have done” (Romans 2:6).
No one gets away with anything. God recognizes both the evil and goodness that the world overlooks. But God is patient. Paul described His patience as having a goal. “Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).
Some in Rome assumed that since lightening didn’t strike the wicked the moment they sinned, God must not really care. But that wasn’t at all what was happening. God was patient. He was at work in ways larger than they could fully comprehend. But He wasn’t distant or indifferent.
In the Old Testament, God explained to Israel that their defeat of the Canaanites was not based on their holiness but on the accumulated sin of the Canaanite people. Even as far back as Genesis, God promised Abraham the land, but told him that his possession of it would take time. God explained, “For the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” (Genesis 15:16). The sin of the Canaanites accumulated, and in time it had its full effect; it moved God to act. God had a plan, and His timing was good for His will to be carried out. No sin went unaccounted for.
That is also true of our prayers. No prayer goes unnoticed. No prayer is unaccounted for. Our prayers accumulate, and in God’s timing, they also have their full effect. God’s patience is always working for that greater good. It is especially true of the way He collects our prayers. John offered a powerful image of these accumulated prayers in the book of Revelation. It is one of the most moving scenes of John’s vision of heaven.
John saw a scroll brought forward before God’s throne. A voice called out, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” (Revelation 5:2). But no one could break the seals. John began to weep. The scroll contained the plans of God, the plans that had been drawn since before the foundations of the earth, but no one was worthy to open it, nor could anyone understand it. John wept realizing how unworthy he and all creation were.
What John experienced was the same confusion and hopelessness we all experience. God’s ways are higher than our ways, and so often we are left confused and perplexed. We struggle to understand the plans and timing of heaven. But one of the elders spoke to John. “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” (verse 5).
John saw the Lamb of God, Jesus, come forward and take up the scroll. As He did, all of heaven fell at His feet. John records, “And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people” (verse 8). The elders held massive golden bowls full of our prayers.
How much of human history has built toward that moment when Christ will finally unseal the scroll of God? For all of human history, it has been coming, but it often feels so far off. As the psalmist often prayed, “How long, O LORD?” (Psalm 13:1 ESV). But none of that longing or hoping or praying has been done in vain. As the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders bowed before Jesus, each held a massive golden bowl full of the prayers of God’s people. Every prayer for peace, every prayer for justice, every prayer for Christ’s return has been accumulating in those bowls. God has collected them all.
Even now, the prayers you pray are placed in those bowls. They are cared for by the stewards of heaven. They are collected and are awaiting that day when they will have their full effect. Your prayers are more than just words, more than abstract wishes. Your prayers are the incense of heaven. They are never wasted. You are never wasting time when you pray them. No, you are filling heaven with them. Sometimes those prayers are answered in our lifetime, but sometimes they outlive us. Sometimes they reside in heaven even after our time on earth. Each prayer has its appointed day in which it will have its full effect. Our prayers move heaven far beyond the moments we pray them.
This is how we remain faithful in prayer. It’s how we sustain a ministry of prayer. It’s what motivates us to return again and again to the altars of prayer. No prayer is ever wasted. Each prayer we pray is accumulating for that day when God will act upon them. Our prayers fill the golden bowls of heaven. Each day we add more to them. They are the incense of heaven.
I’ve often turned to the example of Daniel’s prayer life. I am continually struck by his courage and faithfulness in prayer. No law could keep him from it. No risk or threat could make him stop praying. But Daniel must have been tempted at times to give up. So much of what he prayed for never seemed to materialize.
Daniel was stuck in exile, surrounded by pagan idolatry and far from God’s Promised Land. He longed to see Israel restored, to see his people return to their land, and to experience worship in God’s temple. He prayed for it. Each day, he knelt in his window facing Jerusalem and petitioned God to return them to the land. Daniel was relentless. He explained, “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes” (Daniel 9:3).
Daniel recorded the words of his prayers. They are remarkable. Daniel prayed:
Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.
Daniel 9:17–19
Daniel did not live to see that prayer fulfilled. God would do it, but Daniel did not live long enough to see it in his own time. Still, his faithful prayers were not wasted. Daniel’s prayer was already moving heaven. God gave Daniel a vision of the heavenly war being waged. He was a participant by prayer, but his prayers would not have their full effect until after his life had ended.
Struggling to understand, Daniel prayed for a clearer explanation. God’s answer was simple. “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. . . . You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance” (Daniel 12:9, 13).
It is a hard truth, but if you pay close attention it comes with a remarkable promise. We will not live to see all our prayers fulfilled by God. But the good news is that our prayers outlive us. They continue to work even after we’ve ceased praying them. Our prayers continue to do their work even after we are gone. What joy we will have when we are with Christ and see those prayers we once long ago prayed still on His mind and fulfilled in their right time. We pray because no prayer is ever wasted. The question is, What would have happened if Daniel had not prayed it through? And what will not happen in the generations to come if we do not pray it through?
When I speak or write about the accumulation of prayer, I can’t help but think about my grandmother and great-grandmother. My great-grandmother was a godly woman who believed deeply in prayer and longed to see her children come to know the Lord. She carried that burden for decades. My great-grandmother was the first to come to faith, and she took up that work of prayer. When I think of her, I always think of her at prayer.
As a child, my father spent a lot of time at my great-grandmother’s house. Every memory he shared with me about her is filled with prayer. He spoke of remembering walking up to the screen door of her house and hearing her praying inside. She was crying out to God, naming all her kids and grandkids. She was petitioning God for our salvation. She did that for years. She prayed and prayed and prayed. Every time he went there, she was praying. She was the most prayerful woman that he and I ever knew. When she died, most of her prayers had not been answered. Most of her family still did not know the Lord. But that had never stopped her from praying.
Years later, as our family gathered to celebrate Christmas, one of my wildest and most lost great-uncles announced to the family that he had given his life to Jesus. We were all shocked—even more so when he explained he had joined a church and was volunteering as a greeter. His decision marked the beginning of a season in our family in which every one of my great-grandmother’s children came to know Christ.
My great-grandmother didn’t live to see it, but there is no doubt in my mind that our lives were changed because of her prayers. Her prayers worked. They accumulated, and at the right time, when sin had had its full effect, God moved. Our lives were forever changed. My great-grandmother might not have seen all those miracles from earth, but I know she witnessed them in heaven. I believe God spoke to her and said, “Now is the time. All your prayers have been heard. Join Me and watch as they are answered.” She watched as each of her kids knelt before the Lord and received Jesus. She knew then that none of that time in prayer had been in vain.
I know there are probably things you’ve been praying about for a long time. You have your own prodigals you name before the throne. You have promises you’re still waiting to see fulfilled. Don’t stop praying. Keep going. Your prayers are accumulating in heaven. God is collecting them for just the right movement. Your prayers change heaven, they move God. Keep praying with faith. No prayer is ever wasted.
For a long time now, I have been praying for revival in America. I have been praying but still haven’t seen it. We need it. Like you, I’ve witnessed the decline of faith in America and the collapse of moral values. I’ve watched people walk away from the Church and from Christ. I’ve seen spiritual apathy setting in amongst congregations, and I’ve seen our fervor for evangelism grow cold. We need a fresh move of God. We need a fresh outpouring of His Spirit. We need revival. I’ve been praying about it. I hope you are, too. I won’t stop until it is fulfilled or until my time on earth comes to an end.
I do believe revival is coming, but it takes time. God, by His wisdom, is preparing the ground for that harvest. There is specific work that must first be done. Prayer not only helps us usher in that coming revival, but it helps us prepare for it. Why would God bring a revival when the Church is not ready to harvest? Why would God ripen the fruit if the Church doesn’t have workers ready to take it from the vine? Before God can answer our prayer for revival, He must prepare us. He must get His Church ready to receive the lost and disciple them toward Christ. I believe that work is already underway. Prayer is at the center of it.
Before revival can come, God must also do a work in our nation. He must bring about enough brokenness and humility to allow people’s eyes to be open to their need. Do you remember the scene of Elijah on Mount Carmel? (see 1 Kings 18:25–29). The prophets of Baal had their own way of calling on their God. Elijah gave them time to demonstrate it, to put their worship and prayer on full display. They cried out to their god who didn’t answer. Their prayers grew louder and then longer. Elijah allowed it to play out. He even made suggestions. Perhaps they needed to pray louder still. Perhaps their god was preoccupied or away. The prophets of Baal grew more desperate. They prayed louder and danced harder and eventually turned to cutting themselves. All four hundred prophets gave everything they had. Elijah let them go on from morning until late in the afternoon. Still, Baal did not answer.
For the onlooking Israelites who had long been tempted into Baal worship, the image was clear. Baal couldn’t answer. Elijah was wise enough to let the visual sink in. This is what following Baal led to: desperation, exhaustion, mutilation. It didn’t work. It never would. Elijah allowed time and space for the consequences to sink in. Finally, it couldn’t be ignored.
When the time was right, Elijah stepped forward and prayed a very simple prayer to his God. He didn’t need to emulate their desperation. He prepared his altar by restacking the stones and dousing the wood with water. Then he prayed:
LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.
1 Kings 18:36–37
Immediately, fire fell from heaven and consumed the sacrifice and the altar. When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and cried out, “The LORD—he is God!” (verse 39). They had witnessed the desperation of the world’s worship. They had seen its hopelessness. They recognized that Baal would only lead to self-destruction. Their hearts and minds had been prepared to encounter the real, living God. They were prepared for a revival.
I believe we are seeing the same desperate false worship in our world today. Everywhere people are working themselves up, desperate to be healed and restored and to find peace. But they are searching for it by the gods of this age. It isn’t working. Every day the self-destruction of the world is made clearer. Every day the hopelessness of this world’s idols is put on display. A day is coming when they will not be able to deny the hopelessness, and their hearts will be fully prepared for an encounter with the living God. Even now, God is preparing our nation for that coming revival. Our prayers continue to build it.
We must sustain prayer for revival though this season. We must stay faithful. It is accumulating, and a time is coming when God will say, Yes! Now is the time. But like Daniel’s faithfulness, like my great-grandmother’s, we must continue to pray. We must allow our prayers to accumulate. We must keep petitioning heaven, every prayer being collected. And even if we should not live to see its fullness of time, our prayers are still participating. Our prayers outlive us. And one day, we will witness their fulfilment. Our prayers are building. Our prayers are accumulating.
Keep praying. Pray without ceasing. Do it by faith. Do it for those you love. Do it for this lost world. Do it so that revival might come again. Do it knowing that in the fullness of time, every righteous prayer will be fulfilled.