What happens when I pray?

"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!

Just some guy named Joe...

    Joe was a good man and a generous man. He was well thought of by his church. Joe’s church was rapidly expanding and in serious need of funds. So he, like many others, sold his property and gave the money to the church.    

    Joe was wise. A young hot-headed preacher came to Joe’s town. This man had been giving the church a lot of trouble and had suddenly been converted. Many in the church weren’t convinced, but Joe brought him into fellowship with the believers.

    Joe was a man full of the Holy Ghost and faith. Joe’s church had some deep seated racial prejudices.  When evangelists began preaching to those the church had ignored, it was Joe who was sent to investigate. Joe was able to convince his church to cross the racial divide with the gospel.

    Joe was a man who would seek out young ministers and shepherd them through the early stages of their ministry.  He was a man others would trust with large offerings. He was a man of character and humility. He was calm and persuasive.

    Joe was preacher, yet his student did more preaching than he. Joe never wrote a book to bear his name, but those he mentored wrote many books.  Eventually the young men he helped eclipsed him in the mind of the church. 

    Joe is generally forgotten now, and when he is remembered, it is most often for the disagreement he had with one of his protégés who was outgrowing his mentor.

    Without Joe however, the church would have been seriously handicapped. Joe was in fact the Apostle Joe although he seldom makes anyone’s list of great apostles.

    The need for ministry like Joe’s is still very relevant, and yet, still very unappreciated. You see we don’t know Joe by his given name. The leaders of his church made up a name for him. They called him “Joe Encouragement”, or if you please Joses Barnabas. Barnabas, as he is called in the Bible, is the man who mentored both the Apostle Paul and John Mark.

    Great men do not become great men without encouragement along the way. On at least one occasion John Mark called it quits and went to the house.  Barnabas brought him back and made him profitable to the ministry once again. Paul suffered many things from within and without the church, yet he had Barnabas by his side.

    You may not be called to have your name in lights on the marquis. You may never preach to thousands. Your name may never be a household name like that of the Rev. Billy Graham. You may spend your life as the backdrop to great ministry. Don’t be discouraged! God needs people to carry the Barnabas load.
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1. God does not call us to be great. He calls us to be obedient.

Mat 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, [thou] good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

2. God is fair in his reward for faithfulness.

1Sa 30:24 For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part [is] that goeth down to the battle, so [shall] his part [be] that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.

3. Twice God instructed Moses to encourage Joshua.

Deu 1:38 [But] Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

Deu 3:28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

4. King David needed encouragement, and had to encourage himself.
 1Sa 30:6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

5. Hezekiah encouraged the Levites and the Priests.

 2Ch 31:4 Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD.

2Ch 35:2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD,

6. God is an encourager to Israel.

Isa 41:10 Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.


We are not called to be great. We are called to be faithful, and we are called to infuse one another with courage. Dear God, let me be like Joe!