Prayer is an incredible gift. As followers of Christ, we have the amazing privilege of personal conversation with the King of creation. The Bible contains many truths about prayer and three of them I was recently reminded of.

These two you probably know already:

• Christ as Mediator/High Priest – Hebrews 4:14-16 describes Jesus as our High Priest, interceding on our behalf to God the Father. He knows what we’re facing and can relate to the pressures, difficulties, hurts and needs of life. He is compassionate and verse 16 instructs us to come boldly to the throne of grace.
• The Holy Spirit as Enabler – Romans 8:26-28 describes the Person of the Holy Spirit as “groaning on our behalf with words that can’t be uttered”. When words fail and we are at the complete end of our ability to formulate expressions, He steps in and takes over. He searches our hearts and communicates between our limited capacity and God’s unlimited nature.

This one you may have never heard about:

• Our prayers are held for a special moment – Revelation 5 describes when Jesus will step forward to take the Seven Seal Scroll from the Father. Once that happens, grand and powerful events will be set into motion. The heavenly gathering will worship and the Elders will bring forward golden bowls of incense. However, it’ll not be just any incense, verse 8 describes the contents as the “prayers of the saints”…wow!

I’m learning that our prayers are NEVER in vain. Think about it. Every moment spent in prayer is held in reserve to be poured out as incense before the throne of God at just the right time. Our struggles, our pain, our petitions and our praise-all poured out as a fragrant offering. Jesus describes our Father as one who desires to hear from His children (Luke 11:9-13), so even if the answers aren’t clear yet, we can know our Father greatly values the time.

“Rejoice always! Pray constantly! Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
– 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 HCSB