Bible Reading Plan | Devotion for the week of February 21, 2021

Weekly reading: Revelation 8-12
Passages referenced: Revelation 8:3-4

Revelation is a very complex book. One that some people dedicate their entire lives to studying and interpreting. For us, average readers doing a casual reading of the book rather than a dedicated study of it, Revelation can be confusing and frustrating. It’s full of detailed imagery of perplexing things. But that isn’t a reason to avoid it altogether nor dedicate our entire lives to studying it.

So what does that middle ground look like? Well, we need to understand that John’s revelation speaks of things to come, both in his time and ours. But it also includes lessons for us today. Knowing that something is coming is different than knowing there’s something we can do now.

One such lesson is in Revelation 8:3-4. After the seals and before the trumpets, we find a good reminder for us today:

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 God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. – Revelation 8:3-4, NLT

This passage shows us that God hears our prayers. We also see that prayer is part of worship, of praising Him. We often think about prayer as our requests, what we want to happen, and what we want from God. Does He hear those prayers? Yes. Does He answer them? Yes. But prayer is so much more than that. It plays a bigger part in our own spiritual lives. Prayer is pleasing to God because we’re showing dependence on Him, and we’re seeing Him more for who He is.

There’s a lot we don’t know about the future or understand about the book of Revelation. But there is something we do know and should understand: prayer matters. Our prayers are pleasing to God. And prayer is a vital part of our relationship with Him. So remember to pray. And remember to look at prayer correctly, maybe differently than you have before. – Todd Gerst