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Prayer reaches him and is sweet to him

I had a light-bulb moment regarding prayer. My handy coworker Tom had re-created for me the golden altar of incense, a piece of furniture that used to stand in the temple in Jerusalem. You can Google it to get a visual picture. The priests used it to burn fragrant incense every morning and evening, just like God commanded in Exodus 30:1-10.

As I preached the following Sunday on the power of prayer, I lit a stick of cinnamon incense on the altar. Two things became immediately clear. First, the incense smelled sweet. The scent slowly began to spread through the church, a wonderful aroma that, when breathed in, brought a smile to your face. Second, the smoke of the incense wafted up into the air. Unlike smoke from an average candle, the incense billowed up in beautiful ribbons toward the ceiling that we all could see.

That’s when it hit me. Prayer reaches God and is sweet to him! Why did God want his people to burn incense every morning and night? Because prayer reaches him and is sweet to him. Prayer isn’t pointless; it reaches him like smoke reaches the sky. And prayer isn’t annoying to God; it is sweet to him, like the scent of cinnamon.

Do you struggle to pray? Then meditate on these words: “May my prayer be set before you like incense” (Psalm 141:2). Because of Jesus, your prayer reaches him and is sweet to him.