Incense Reveals the Importance of Prayer

“Every morning when Aaron maintains the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar. And each evening when he lights the lamps, he must again burn incense in the Lord’s presence. This must be done from generation to generation. Do not offer any unholy incense on this altar, or any burnt offerings, grain offerings, or liquid offerings. [Exodus 30.7-9]

Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering. [Psalm 141.2]

And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. [Revelation 5.8]

Incense and prayer are spiritually synonymous. In Exodus, we are introduced to the idea of incense as God instructs Moses about its use in Tabernacle worship. 

Exodus 30.10 says, "...for this [the incense altar] is the Lord’s most holy altar." If then this altar is deemed by God to be the most holy altar, and we have references confirming the relationship between incense and prayer, then we should consider prayer with great importance! Prayer is the most holy, most important, part of our relationship with God!

I never really realized just how many times the word incense was used in the Bible until now. It is a very common word therein with particular usage in reference to its sinful offering to idols. The correlation to "prayers" offered to idols is worth much more attention than this little post can begin to touch on!

I believe there are important lessons to be learned even about the blend of ingredients in the incense with direct correlation to prayer as well. Perhaps also, the ingredients themselves are representative of ingredients necessary to prayer. Again, there is much to be considered!

Father, as I read about incense today, I find overwhelming confirmation about the importance of prayer in the life of a believer. Help me - help us all - to give the attention to prayer that we are shown symbolically in the importance of incense.