Chapter 78—Prayers Like Fragrant Incense
Another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer;
and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it
with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was
before the throne.
Revelation 8:3
.
True prayer takes hold upon Omnipotence and gives us the victory. Upon
his knees the Christian obtains strength to resist temptation.... The silent,
fervent prayer of the soul will rise like holy incense to the throne of grace
and will be as acceptable to God as if offered in the sanctuary. To all who
thus seek Him, Christ becomes a present help in time of need. They will be
strong in the day of trial.
It is a wonderful favor for any man in this life to be commended of God
as was Cornelius. And what was the ground of this approval?—“Thy prayers
and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God” (
Acts 10:4
).
Neither prayer nor almsgiving has any virtue in itself to recommend the
sinner to God; the grace of Christ, through His atoning sacrifice, can alone
renew the heart and make our service acceptable to God. This grace had
moved upon the heart of Cornelius. The Spirit of Christ had spoken to his
soul; Jesus had drawn him, and he had yielded to the drawing. His prayers
and alms were not urged or extorted from him; they were not a price he was
seeking to pay in order to secure heaven; but they were the fruit of love and
gratitude to God.
Such prayer from a sincere heart ascends as incense before the Lord; and
offerings to His cause and gifts to the needy and suffering are a sacrifice well
pleasing to Him....
Prayer and almsgiving are closely linked together—the expression of
love to God and to our fellow men. They are the outworking of the two
great principles of the divine law,“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength”; and, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (
Mark 12:30, 31
).
Thus while our gifts cannot recommend us to God or earn His favor, they are
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