Revelation 8:3-6 -- On Prayers and the Second Coming

"And 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 saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound."
Revelation 8:3-6


This chapter is talking about the opening of the seventh seal before the Second Coming... and let's just be clear up front... I honestly don't know what this all means. What struck me today was an idea about it though, that maybe the prayers of the saints were the reason for it, and at least part of why it was happening.

I was in Jerusalem for work several years ago, and the CEO of our company took us on a tour of several sites... and I remember while being there I got an overwhelming feeling of waiting and yearning for God's hand to come down and make things right... that it was something that was in people's minds and hearts and prayed for each day.  And I think that we all feel some of that... perhaps not in such a universal way, depending on the situation, but I think there are times when we all yearn for God to come and make things right in a world where so many things are wrong and broken.

God knows the perfect timing of course, but I can't imagine that he doesn't feel those prayers ascending up to him from the abused and the downtrodden and from every one of us when we are suffering... and even though he can't make everything right immediately without destroying the whole purpose of his creations, he *will* come and make things right eventually, and I think that is what these verses, and the whole Second Coming, is about.  It is God answering the prayers of his people in the right place and at the right time, and the destruction spoken of in the rest of the chapter is similar to the destruction in 3rd Nephi... a cleansing and a preparation for a new society forged directly under the hand of God.

Today, let's work to be instruments in God's hands to make things as right as we can now by walking in God's path and serving the people around us... and then let's raise our voices to heaven and pray for God to do what we cannot, in his time... which is part of how Christ taught us to pray in Luke 11:2, to ask for God's kingdom to be established and his will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven. :)  Let's remember that the Second Coming isn't just a scary thing to worry about in the future, but a glorious thing to look forward to, and an answer to all of our prayers.