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. (8)
These golden bowls are a fascinating image of the importance of prayer. It is hard to know, in Revelation, what will literally be found in heaven and what is symbolic. I believe that much of Revelation should be understood literally and those things that are clearly symbolic are often followed by an explanation of their symbolism. For instance, in chapter 12 a red dragon is introduced, but John goes on in verse 8 to explain that the dragon is symbolic of Satan. We don’t know if these golden bowls are literally in heaven or just something symbolic in John’s vision, but thankfully he does let us know that the incense in those golden bowls represents the prayers of God’s people.
Prayer is something unseen on earth, and I am not sure that it is literally being collected in golden bowls in heaven. However, I do believe this imagery teaches us that our prayers matter. God notices our prayers, prayed in faith and in the name of Jesus. Praying is not a waste of time. You can also see that prayer has a cumulative effect and it does matter how much you pray. The prayers of many saints (people of God) were collected in the same bowl demonstrating that God takes into account the prayers of His children and that it means something when we pray often and pray together. The very fact that prayers were being collected seems to speak to the power and preciousness of prayer to our Lord. Prayer is like an offering or sacrifice; a sweet-smelling aroma to God.
Sometimes you might feel as if your prayers are simply bouncing off the ceiling but you can know from this text that they do reach heaven. Not only does God hear your prayers, but He also treasures them and He never forgets them. Whether literally or figuratively, He stores them and they are a constant reminder of our dependence on Him, our relationship with Him, and our worship of Him. If, like John, you could get a glimpse into heaven and see a physical representation of your prayers to God, how full would your bowl be? Would it be overflowing with incense or would it be dry and dusty? In the big scheme of things your prayer life really does matter.
