"The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended." Psalm 72:20
Now there's an odd verse.
King David was dying, and Psalm 72 is his prayer for his son Solomon the new king. As the author recorded the final prayer of the great king he or she concluded the psalm by stating that David's prayers "are ended", and so they were, from an earthly vantage point.
But that doesn't mean they were gone.
If we go to the Book of Revelation chapter 5 the scene is set in heaven. Around the throne of God we find "...golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." (vs.8) Then, in chapter 8:3-4 we read,
"And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel." [Revelation 8:3-4 ESV]
Did you see that? "...the prayers of ALL the saints...rose before God..."
Here's the thing: if you are a child of God, your prayers don't go away once they "are ended". They linger before the Lord long after you have quit praying. I am convinced that many spiritual successes we see are the fulfillment of prayers long forgotten by men.
For instance:
- An old man bows before the Lord in repentance, and the prayer of his long dead mother is answered.
- A mission work suddenly begins to blossom, fulfilling the vision and prayers of missionaries who died long ago.
- A church flourishes with evangelism and discipleship, bearing fruit from the seeds of prayer sown by a pastor and congregation decades before.
How can this be? Acts 10 gives us a little window into the way prayer works. In this passage a man named Cornelius has been praying and an angel appears to him telling him, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God."
That's right, God memorializes our prayers. So keep praying even if it seems that there is no answer. There is an entire side of this thing that you and I cannot see. It turns out that God keeps our prayers, and they are continually before him.
Keep praying, my friends. Keep praying!
