Prayer IV: Incense

 What is something aromatic that you particularly enjoy? A scented candle, soap, shampoo? How about the smell of a campfire or a charcoal grill? Do smells remind you of your childhood or an enjoyable moment? If any of those things are true about you, what about for God? What smells does He enjoy and what is our role in that? 

 Continuing on with our theme of prayer, let's look at aromatic sacrifices to God beginning in Genesis 8. Noah offers a sacrifice to God as the first thing he does after getting off of the ark. He doesn't build a house, but rather sacrifices animals from the ark. He just spent a good portion of time (a century) building the ark, stockpiling it, and caring for these animals on their voyage, yet he sacrifices one of each of the clean animals. He sacrifices something that was dear to him. But he builds an altar there, burns a sacrifice to God the Father, not the Holy Spirit, or God the Son, but rather the Father Himself. 

The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; (Genesis 8:21)

 This sacrifice was a soothing aroma to Him. Let's continue onto Exodus 30. In this chapter for the first nine verses, God explains how to offer incense before Him upon the altar. The sacrifice is a sacrifice to the Father of incense. This incense was offered directly before the veil to the Mercy Seat itself. As you may know, the Mercy Seat was were God chose to dwell upon the earth. It was the symbol of His presence built in the exact proportion to mimic that which was in Heaven. In the Old Testament the veil kept sinners from their righteous God, except once a year, on Yom Kippur when the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and offer a sacrifice directly to God. In our new covenant, however, the veil was torn by Jesus' death and He reigns as our High Priest, offering Himself as both sacrifice and mediator to God the Father. This passage illustrates how things were, so we can better understand how things are.
 Verse 9, God specifically lays down things He doesn't not want, things His priest should not offer. Only priests could offer sacrifices in the Old Testament, and the same is true in the New, only all believers are priests, having not been born into the Tribe of Levi under the Order of Aaron, but rather born again into the Tribe of Christ in the Order of Melchizedek. This verse shows just how particular God is about His sacrifices though and we need to take extra caution that we aren't adding anything that He has not commanded or anything He specifically commanded against.
 In Leviticus chapter 2, the grain offerings made by the priest are outlined. Everything about this sacrifice tells us something about Christ from the oil for His anointing to the grain of the Word. Specifically we're looking at the frankincense offered and that the whole sacrifice was a soothing aroma to God. It was offered by priests, upon an altar, to God the Father. In verse 11 God says again that which He doesn't not want sacrificed to Him. No leaven, which we know is sin, and more specifically the sin of pride. Remember, knowledge puffs up, like leaven or yeast, but the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What, then, is the incense, what does it symbolize and mean for us specifically, and how does this correlate to what's going on in Heaven?
 Before we can answer that we need to look a little further at how devastating the leaven and unauthorized sacrifices are. Isaiah 1:1-16 is a great example of this. The southern kingdom of Judah was serving other Gods, worshiping on the high places, and not doing what God had asked. He was just another god, not THE God. In verse 11 God says He has had enough of burnt offerings and in verse 13 He says that incense is an abomination to Him. This is because of their treachery and apostasy. There is hope, however, in verse 16. Though are sins are like scarlet, they will be made white as snow.
 Revelation 8:1-5 gives us our answer. Incense is the prayer of the saints. It is eternally before God. Your prayer will outlast your earthly bodies! This incense, prayer, is a soothing aroma, pleasing to God. It has to be true though. It has to be authorized. If it comes with leaven, it is an abomination. Remember the Exodus example, there was a veil between the altar and the Mercy Seat. When Christ died, He took that altar and tore it in two, so that sinful man would be able to be in the presence of a Holy God. When we sin or pray in an unauthorized, leavened, or strange manner, we are, in effect, putting the veil back up. Strive to keep your prayers true and holy!
 But God is faithful! He'll watch out for you and keep your prayers as they are sacred. Do not consider your prayer time lightly! Rather, strive for holiness and do not sacrifice from that which is leavened. Dear brothers and sisters you, as priests of the Most High, offer yourselves as a sacrifice upon the altar of your own cross daily to God the Father. See that it is full of incense, and therefore a soothing aroma to God.

Prayer III: Redundancy in Prayer

 The old Christian adage of how often should one pray is often responded by the correct, if ambiguous answer, more. The inevitable follow-up questions revolve around what we should be praying more for and how often we should pray for the same thing. Thankfully, Jesus, through St. Luke illustrates this for us in Luke 18:1-8.
 The previous verses for this passage are talking about eschatological things and this passage is a continuation of that. However, Luke through the Holy Spirit, tells us the meaning behind this parable is specifically to pray and not to lose heart, this is particularly beneficial as parables are often difficult to understand and in many cases have multiple meanings.
 The parable is about a widow who presumably has no son who could protect her, obviously no husband as she is a widow, and also no father who she could return to as she has to find a judge to defend her by herself. She is also asking for legal protection from her opponent; the cause of the opposition is not provided yet it could possibly be over land rights as she has no son or husband and someone from the tribe of her husband may be seeking to gain her land. This is all speculation of course, but it seems viable, if not probable.
 The judge though, a wicked character in this parable responds that

"Even though I do not fear God, nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out." 18:4-5. 

 It is not for her correctness in this matter, but rather her stubbornness that clings to the only person who can save her. The Lord then makes his point clear when He says that if this unrighteous judge responds favorably, how much more will a God who is righteous, who does love you, respond if you pray day and night, clinging to the only one who can save you, both from the wrath to come, but also in and through your present afflictions.
 Jesus also says that God will bring about justice quickly. Well how quickly is quickly? Do we get a response the same night that we pray? How about that same week? When do we stop? Well, the answer is a little more nebulous than some would like. The answer is, obviously, in the Lord's time. We don't know how soon He will respond, how He will respond, and what our role in that is.
 So when is quickly? A few examples of quickness are when St. Paul prayed for the thorn to be taken from his side. He only had to pray three times to get a response, and then not the one he was expecting, but still the one he desired, that God's will should be done in his life for His glory. So then is the answer that we need to pray only three times? No, but rather until we receive a response. If God responds in a way that is clearly answering the prayer, either favorably, or in the moment what seems unfavorably, we know the prayer has been answered.
 Next quickly could be that God begins to bring about His justice and though your prayer may be lacking, the Holy Spirit also makes prayers with you, inward groaning for what your truly need. Also Jesus, our great Mediator, makes intercession for us in the heavenly realms, adding His potency to our prayer. Every prayer you make is added to, increased, and made proper before God. Therefore quickly may mean that it is expediently made into and prayed for as it ought to be.
 The final explanation for quickly that we'll look at brings us to Daniel 10 where Daniel prayed fervently for 21 days before Gabriel came to him. Now, Gabriel had begun coming to answer the prayer immediately as Daniel began, but the principality of Persia slowed his arrival, until Michael came to help. This could mean that our prayers are begun to be answered immediately, but it takes some time for them to be answered because of the influence of the world, Satan, and his minions. That is not to say this isn't in God's will, as it must be, but rather an explanation for our present enigma.
 Jesus concludes by going back to the original context, asking if He will find faith when he returns. Remember, the context is eschatological and so the question is when He returns will He find faith. If the purpose of the parable is to remind us to pray continually and not to lose heart and He questions whether He'll find faith, then man's natural tendency must steer him away from faith. This puts the onus on us to continually strive for the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints.
 So what should our response be? To pray and not lose faith! Pray, pray, and pray some more. Pray for the same thing continually, provided it aligns with God's Word. Check the Bible daily to see whether your prayers are so. Do not lose heart! If you find yourself becoming discouraged remember this parable. The woman's petition wasn't answered at the onset by the wicked judge, yet she held onto hope. We who have an honest, righteous judge should hold onto the even greater hope we have in Him. Dear brothers and sisters, pray, and do not lose heart.

Prayer II: Pray to God, For God, Through God

 When people pray in groups there is often a temptation to correct the theology of the previous prayer "God our Father and our Mother..." followed by "God we know all the pronouns of you in the Bible are male and that you are always referred to as Father and never as mother...". There is also a temptation to pray for others benefit or to not pray because of your fear of others or because others have prayed for what you have already prayed for. But there is also a group of people who use prayer as a means to show-off, to gossip, or for their own self-righteous intent.
 Our passage this week, Luke 18:9-14 deals with two people praying in public, in front of others. This parable is immediately proceeded by the parable of the unrighteous judge, which we will look at next week. This passage, however, continues that theme on prayer. The first man, the Pharisee was someone who was supposed to be a model in the community. Pharisees knew the law better than most and tried to practice it the most. They were often used by the scribes and lawyers as the examples of the best of men, and the example of good people. The tax collectors, by contrast, were viewed with contempt. These were usually Jews who worked for Rome, collecting taxes on Rome's behalf. Often times, these tax collectors would garnish their own wages by raising the taxes of individuals, collecting all the profit from these raised taxes. They were considered traitors in this regard, as they sought their own material gain, exploited their fellow Jews, and worked with Rome.
 Jesus puts these stereotypes on their head as He makes the tax collector into the humble man seeking righteousness, and the pharisee as a man praying to himself for his own gain. The Pharisee stood off by himself, elevating himself to a position above others, thanked God that he was not like others, and then sought to justify himself through his works of fasting and tithing. This was not a prayer to God asking for anything, or even exalting God, but rather exalting the Pharisee. In fact Luke says that the Pharisee was praying to himself! (18:11)
 The tax collector, by contrast, doesn't raise his countenance, doesn't consider himself worthy of being separate, apart, or holy, but stands off beating his breast asking for forgiveness. The tax collector is the one acknowledging himself as a sinner, and thus in need of a savior. The Pharisee, remember, thought to make himself righteous through his actions of tithing and fasting.
 So what does this passage mean in the context of prayer? Well first and foremost, exactly what Luke tells us it means, not to view yourself as righteous and not to view others with contempt. This is especially true when we pray in groups. If you are too caught up on others' prayers and not focused on God, you will begin fault-finding and consider yourself righteous. Or at least you will view others with contempt. This is not to say we should accept all people with terrible theology, but our prayer to God should not be focused on correcting that. Instead we should ask for wisdom and confront them after.
 Also we should have no concern over what others think while we pray. Our prayers are for God alone and if we pray multiple times in a group, so be it! Don't multiply your words, but if the Holy Spirit is leading you to pray, then pray! If you are not lead to pray, then remain silent, as God is the one to Whom you should pray, and praying out of obligation to men is not an acceptable prayer to God. Last week we looked at asking for wisdom, well perhaps we need to ask for wisdom on when to pray.
 Remember that we are strengthened when we come together as the body. But don't let anyone or one member, especially yourself, become elevated within the body. Instead seek, with humility, to come before God in the group to praise Him, thank Him for the gifts He has given, not what you have done, to confess that we are sinners in need of a savior, and lastly that His will might be done through us, and in our lives.

Prayer I: What are you praying for? (Seek wisdom)

 There's a joke I always enjoyed that goes something like this: There was a politician, a pilot, and a mariner stranded on an island for a few days. While out exploring, the politician comes across a golden lamp. Upon rubbing it, a genie appears offering three wishes. Not wishing to do the wrong thing and wishing to poll his constituents, he finds the pilot and the mariner and asks them what to wish for. They both exclaim "I know what to wish for!" The pilot wishes for a plane so he can take off and leave the wretched island. His wish was fulfilled. The mariner wished for a boat so he could take the boat off of the island. His wish was also fulfilled. The politician, though, couldn't come with anything. For hours he couldn't think of anything he could do to get off of the island. Out of frustration he exclaimed "I wish my two friends were back here so they could help me!" His wish was fulfilled.
 One of the common misconceptions about prayer is that it is a wish factory. If you wish for something and pray about it, it will be so. This is (hopefully) obviously false. Some people have unfortunately decided that God must not be real then, if their wishes aren't fulfilled through prayer and since Christians aren't winning the lottery, God must not be real. Some people would respond that these people just aren't being sincere enough, and if you were truly sincere, you would get what you wished/prayed for, adding to the trouble, misinformation, and complication, not to mention being a horrible witness to non-believers.
 What about us though? As true believers, what do we pray for? What are our deepest utterances and hopes towards? Should we wish through God as unbelievers might wish at 11:11 on the clock, or through wishing wells, upon a shooting star, or New Year's festivals? Absolutely not. What then, should we wish/hope/pray for, if we could ask for anything and receive it? How should the yearnings of our heart look, and to whom should we present them? Let's look at someone who actually had this opportunity. Let's look at Solomon in II Chronicles 1.
 God appeared before Solomon and told him to ask what God should give him. Solomon did not wish for money, honor, long life or the death of his enemies, but rather wisdom to rule God's people. He did not wish for something on his behalf such as money or long life. He did not ask for something that would have benefit the people such as the death of Israel's enemies. Instead he asked for something that would benefit God, wisdom. Solomon said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom, it is with the wisdom of God he penned those words, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
 Now let's consider our prayers. Are we praying for things for ourselves or others? Would our prayers please God? We don't need to be perfect, in this same chapter we read that Solomon did as king what God strictly forbid kings to do. Nevertheless, knowing fully what Solomon would do, God granted wisdom. How much more should we, as priests of the Most High God and members of His body the church, seek wisdom. Not wisdom for the gain of money or long-life, but the wisdom of God that can only come from God. All of our prayers need to stem from this thought: May God grant me the wisdom to do what He wills me to do. Remember, Solomon didn't ask for himself or for others but for God Himself; let us pray likewise.