Date: August 3rd, 2008
Speaker: Kevin Snyder
Title: The Last Word on Prayer
Series: Revelation
Introduction
I want to start this message with a confession. My confession is “I don’t prayer enough. I am much too casual about this whole matter of prayer.”
Oswald Sanders once wrote: “If I wish to humble a man one must only ask him about his prayer life.’
And so true….at least with me.
In fact, I felt that humility a couple of weeks ago.
I met with Brian Rushton of World Serve. He works with underground church in China.
He was telling me that people training as pastors in underground church are woken up at 5 am. Pray for 2 hours until 7. Eat. Taught during the day. Evening worship. Then from 9 – 11 pm – pray gain.
No wonder the church is growing. He told me of a young man that by time he was 16 years old had planted and is overseeing 250 house churches.
I was humbled when I saw the pittance of time I spend in prayer.
One of the reasons I think is I have a Low view of prayer.
Meaning: I have grown to think God needs my work more than my prayers. I think I can accomplish more for God’s kingdom by my effort than by my prayers. It is almost like I have silently duped myself into believing I can build the kingdom with my effort.
Quote: “When we work, we work, but when we pray, God works.”
And I know that my effectiveness as a Christian , and as a leader would be greater if I prayed and relied more on inspiration than perspiration.
But I don’t ….I draw back…
Why?
One reason is I think I have a low view of prayer.
I’m not alone either. When I visit many elderly saints who can no longer “work & serve” Christ physically anymore they feel they have outlasted their usefulness. We value work, not prayer in the North American church.
b. A 2nd reason is I think it is because prayer seems so weak.
Times feel like words spoken into the thin air. It is so unremarkable, so small, wonder does God really take note.
Confessions of a fellow struggler on the road of prayer.
John’s Predicament
I wonder if John faced those temptations?
Here he was an apostle. One of the 12. A key influencer. Now banished and isolated on Patmos.
What good was he to the kingdom there?
No one to proclaim the gospel to. No church to organize and lead. Only one thing he could do – pray.
I wonder too if his, and the church’s perspective, ever got skewed. I mean it looks like all the “real” power was in the hands of the Devil. It appeared the seat of power resided in Rome. Love, faith, perseverance, the blood of the martyrs seemed so weak and ineffectual against the swords and spears and brutality of Rome.
And in such a place and time, it would be tempting to give up on prevailing prayer. I mean “world-changing prayer….kingdom-advance prayer. It would be easy to slip into babbling a few innocuous words and asking God to bless me, help me, care for me, ….and forget praying for change.
And God gives John a powerful insight of the cosmos-moving power of real kingdom prayer. Most powerful picture in Scripture. Hold on to your hat for you are about to discover that what we have been playing with like a toy is really dynamite. And that what we have held casually can move the arm of God and shake the world.
Revelator’s Portrayal of Prayer
Rev. 8:1 – 4
When the Lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll,?*? there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. 2 I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.
3 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. 4 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. 5 Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake.
Graphic: Picture: p.573 Zondervan dictionary – tabernacle floor plan
This picture is a floor plan of the OT tabernacle & later Temple. It is from Rev. a replica of the temple in heaven
The altar of incense was inside the Temple just in front of the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was where God resided. Depicted in OT with the ark of the covenant…symbol of God’s presence.
The altar of incense was where the priest would light incense twice a day. It was the symbol of our prayers. Brought to the God the Father through the mediator, the priest. Here an angel.
Ps. 141: 2 – “May my prayer be set before you like incense, may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”
Some see the altar of incense as a shadow of the role of Christ…..interceding before the Father in heaven on our behalf
And an angel comes forward with a golden bowl and he offers the incense and prayers of all the saints.
And when he does we discover…
4 things about prayer:
a. God Listens to Our Prayers
Rev 8: 1 - “…there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour.”
All the worship of ch. 4,& 5 are stopped. The elders, 4 living beings, 10,000x 10,000 angels, and the vast multitude are brought to absolute silence….Why?
Prayer is being offered.
And God stops all the activity of heaven for ½ hour to hear the prayers of his people. We have his rapt attention.
You are given an undisturbed audience with the King to bring your petitions.
Wow….God listens!
b.God Cherishes our Prayers
Many mothers have these keepsake boxes of their kids. My mom had sample of my baby locks of hair, little toys, pictures, …
Keep things that are meaningful.
Note: These prayers are brought in a golden bowl. They’ve been collected….held….kept…cherished in a golden bowl.
What is this thing that God calls prayer that he would keep it in golden bowls?
Your prayers are not gone and forgotten. They are held. They accumulate. They fill the bowl.
Often we pray once and if don’t see action , let it go. But God collects it and says: “Oh my child desires this so badly….look at the accumulation.’ God cherishes your prayers.
c. God purifies our prayers
The angel mixes those prayers with the incense to make this wonderful aroma. It picturesquely speaks of how the Holy Spirit takes our groaning and interprets them and intercedes for us before the Father. Our prayers don’t come alone like a private members bill. They come, when in God’s will, wrapped in Jesus intercession and the Spirit’s words….they come purified and packed with punch.
And then we are given a glimpse of what those little, weak, unnoticed bedroom prayers do when they hit heaven and the impact when they hit earth.
Rev. 8: 5 – “Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake”
The earth is shaken by these prayers because …
d. God responds To Our Prayers
God responds in 3 ways
- Plagues (Rev. 8,9)
- Messengers (Witnesses) (Rev. 10,11)
- Opening Door (Rev. 11:19)
1. Plagues
The framework of the response comes with 7 angels and 7 trumpets.
Biblical Significance of Trumpets
a. Joshua 6: 3 – 5 Defeat of Jericho
“March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”
Here trumpets are used to announce God’s conquering. They simply participated in God’s conquering action as they blew the trumpets.
b. Summoning of the camp in the wilderness
Numbers 10: 1 – 2
The Lord said to Moses: 2 “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out.
c. Call to Battle
Numbers 10:9
When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies.
d. Signal to Worship
Numbers 10:10
Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”
e. N.T. - Associated with Christ’s 2nd coming
1 Thess. 4:16
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Matt. 24: 31
And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Point:
The trumpets proclaim God’s action (reponse to their prayers) of conquering, announcing, and proclaiming his final coming. They are participating in God’s action.
And the first 6 trumpets that sound in succession announce plagues
This is a point where many people jump to the newpaper and history books because these plagues sound so much like global warming, China’s armies, nuclear holocausts, asteroids, etc
And may be. But for our purposes I want us to focus in on the spiritual message. Also basic rule of biblical interpretation is let Scripture interpret Scripture. (i.e Trumpets, plagues)
We are given the key to interpreting this in Rev. 9: 20
“But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God.”
- Where else have we heard the term “plagues” in Scripture?
- Where else was there a succession of plagues?
Answer: Exodus event
God sent plagues to cause Pharoah & the Eqyptians to repent.
When the Hebrew people were in captivity in Egypt we read they cried out to God in their misery. God heard them and answered their prayers for deliverance in 2 ways:
- He sent the plagues to soften the heart of Pharoah to let the people go.
- He sent a messenger Moses to lead the people.
This passage alludes in content and structure to that greatest event in history in the Jewish mind.
Here in Revelation these early Christians find themselves in a similar situation.
- They are are suffering and dying under persecution, and war, and famine, and pestilence.
- They are feeling captive to Rome and the spiritual forces of evil.
- The martyrs are crying out in ch 6 – “How long until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
God uses the imagery and content of a previous deliverance to remind them he has heard their prayers, and his deliverance is forthcoming.
Rev. 8:6 – 9:21
The First Four Trumpets
Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts.
The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned.
Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood, 9 one-third of all things living in the sea died, and one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.
Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star was Bitterness. It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died from drinking the bitter water.
Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark, and also one-third of the night.
Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, “Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.”
The Fifth Trumpet Brings the First Terror
Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.
Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!
The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people. Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer.
The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!
The Sixth Trumpet Brings the Second Terror
Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.” Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth. I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.
And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.
But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Parallels to Exodus Event:
a. 5 of the plagues are similar – hail, water turning to blood, darkness, locusts (except locusts here torment people instead of property), and death.
There is also an allusion to the wilderness when they came to bitter waters and were made sweet by a stick Moses thru in. Here they are made bitter.
In Jeremiah 23:15 we read how God made the water bitter because of some false prophets
b. People’s response is akin to Pharoahs
But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Even after all these plagues they didn’t repent. They exhibit a persistent stubbornness of heart. God’s desire was that this would break their stubbornness and it doesn’t they just get harder.
And we are left with the question:
“What will it take to bring these people to their knees? (to repent)
2 witnesses (Messengers)
At the end of these 6 plagues there is an interlude before the 7th and final trumpet sounds. God’s final act of deliverance.
And in this interlude we read about a “little scroll” and 2 witnesses.
What do they mean?
Rev. 10: 1 – 10
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.
When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.”
Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward heaven. He swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, “There will be no more delay. When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets.”
Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again: “Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. “Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. “It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!” So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach.
Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
a. Little Scroll = God’s word
- Unsealed – Jesus has broken seal and revealed it.
- Little – refers to the fact that we can’t eat it all. We get a portion of it. As individuals we don’t grasp it all or contain it all, but just a portion, a small scroll.
- Passage parallels Ezekiel 2: 1 – 3:7, 14 which refers to the calling of the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel. He is told to eat a little scroll and to go and preach it’s contents to a people who are rebellious and won’t repent. And he says when he eats it it is sweet to his taste. The Word of God is good. It is sweet to us.
But when he goes to preach it to these rebellious, obstinate people he goes in bitterness and anger. It pains him to see their response.
And so you have a parallel to the time of Ezekiel. They don’t listen to the plagues like Pharoah, and they don’t listen to the Word of God like Ezekiel’s time.
b. 2 witnesses (ch 11)
Who are they?
1. Unnamed
2. They are powerful
- v.6 – given power to shut up the sky (Prophet who did that in Scripture was Elijah
James 5:17 - 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!
- v. 6 – have power to turn waters into blood
Sounds like Moses
3. God protects them
Read the story of Moses and Elijah and see how God protected them from opposition. God dealt with their opponents pretty harshly
Could it be that the writer is referring to these 2 great leaders as representatives of the 2 major parts of God’s Word. – the Law & the Prophets.
- Moses = Law
- Elijah = Prophets
These are the 2 who meet with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. These are in the people’s minds the 2 great rep of the Law & the Prophets.
Summary
- And so, not only do these people not listen to the plagues like Pharoah
- Not listen to your testimony like the people of Ezekiel’s time
- But neither do they listen to the LAW & the Prophets.
They reject God’s expectations of them as given in the law.
And they reject God’s personal word to them in their specific context.
- In fact, these messengers are rejected, and hated, and people would like to either avoid or do away with them.
Application:
God is not ignoring your cries for a changed world. He is responding:
- He sends plagues hoping that pain and misery would break our stubborn hearts and cause us to turn to him.
- He sends messengers like you and me with the word of their testimony.
- He send his powerful Word
But man is stubborn and resistant , and yet a few respond.
However, some do repent and listen (Rev. 11:13)
“At the same time there was a terrible earthquake that destroyed a tenth of the city. Seven thousand people died in that earthquake, and everyone else was terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
And then we are taken back by the blast of the 7th and final
Trumpet
Rev. 11: 15 -18
“ Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven:
“The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign forever and ever.”
The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell with their faces to the ground and worshiped him. And they said,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty,
the one who is and who always was,
for now you have assumed your great power
and have begun to reign.
The nations were filled with wrath,
but now the time of your wrath has come.
It is time to judge the dead
and reward your servants the prophets,
as well as your holy people,
and all who fear your name,
from the least to the greatest.
It is time to destroy
all who have caused destruction on the earth.”
In this 7th trumpet we see the longed for outcome of their prayers.
The faithful who have prayed: “Thy Kingdom come, they will be done” now learn that “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,”
- God has avenged the martyrs.
- The consummation of his kingdom has come and the full deliverance of his people.
- The final trumpet of his coming has sounded.
- The question of “How long…” and “When” has been answered.
The 4 word about prayer…
- God draws us near
Just before we wrap this up I want to draw your attention to one last word about prayer.
We have learned …
- God listens intently
- He cherishes our prayers
- He purifies our pleas
- He responds
- He responds with actions aimed to soften the rebellious hearts of man
- He speaks through our individual testimonies
- He speaks through his Word
- He puts all enemies under his feet and reigns over all
And lastly he draws us near in prayer.
The results of prayer are not just one “them”, but something happens in us.
Rev 11:19
The doors of God’s Temple in Heaven flew open, and the Ark of his Covenant was clearly seen surrounded by flashes of lightning, loud shouts, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a fierce hailstorm.(The Message)
At the beginning of chapter 8, we stood before and watched the altar of incense.
Here something happens. The doors to the Holy Place….the doors to where God was symbolised to be present are flung open. We can see and move into the very presence of God , the holy Place.
Point:
Included in the activity of & answer to prayer is a movement in us. Prayer draws us closer into the very presence of God. Closer to his heart.
Not only does God respond to our prayers with his activity in the world, but he responds to our prayers by drawing us closer to his presence and power.
Application/Conclusion
From our perspective our prayers look weak, small, unnoticed, and often with out effect.
And yet there is another reality that we see revealed here.
- The church is critical.
- Worship is important.
- Prayers are world-changing
- That’s the message so far.
You see, when you see prayer from heaven’s side you are awed:
- God brings silence to all of heaven to listen to your prayers.
- He collects your petitions for change in this world in bowls. They are not lost. They are held on to.
- Those prayers tinted by ignorance, and selfishness are purified by God’s spirit and interpreted by the Spirit to the Father. The weight of Christ and the H.S. are added to them.
- And then God answers.
And those weak, innocuous, little prayers hit the earth with “reverse thunder’ They rock the world.
Impact on Us
And so how ought this speak to us?
- Prayer is the most powerful weapon we have to change the world.
Work is good, but when we work, we work, but when we pray God works. Remember Jesus said “Apart from me you can do nothing.”
- We need a higher view of prayer in our lives and in our church. I’m glad for Eileen and the Wed. night prayer group that met through the year that lead the way.
And so I want us to conclude this service in a time of prayer:
- Pray for God to break the persistent stubbornness in our spirit and city. Pray that we would be a people who turn to god.
- Pray for God’s Word to not be avoided and done away with but received.
- Pray for us to be courageous witnesses of God’s Word.
- Pray – because the very act not only moves the world , but us.