Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of the harps and gold vials full of odors which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 8: 3-4 Another angel with gold incense came and stood at the altar. And a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people, to be offered on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of the saints, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.
I wonder if the prayers of the saints come out as one big puzzle - like a puzzle box spilled out, or whether they are spilled out one person at a time...the prayers of each person exposed to all the onlookers.
That line, incense given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people - I wonder if some of the prayers need help to make them palatable to God - the demanding ones, the prescriptive ones where we tell God what He should do, the selfish ones...words hammering on God's door as if there was no one else on the porch. I wonder how much incense must be added to my prayers to make them a worthwhile offering.
Consider then, that somehow our prayers are preserved, because this says they are, and made into something beautiful. I wonder if that thing of beauty, my offering, which my prayers will make looks unfinished, like the afghan where the creator ran out of yarn, and the corner or the center is missing.
It is the time of giving, shopping and wrapping, presents , to pile up beneath the Christmas tree, offerings for our loved ones. It all makes me think about what kind of offerings I have wrapped up for God.
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