GOD'S GOLDEN BOWLS

Brent E. Pollard

In Luke 18: 1-8, Jesus gave the parable of the persistent widow to teach us not to lose heart and to continue praying. In Luke 18:8, however, Jesus concludes the parable with a sobering question: "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (ESV) In other words, despite His admonition to pray, will His followers lack the faith to pray, as they ought?

Admittedly, sometimes it is hard to pray. Perhaps guilt prevents us from praying. We feel too sinful to pray. That, friends, is a scheme successfully employed by the devil to take away one of our most powerful weapons! As he confronted Jesus in the wilderness with the perversion of Scripture (cf. Matthew 4:6; Luke 4:10, 11), so, too, does he confront us with such twisted interpretations of Isaiah 59:1 and 2 John 9:31. In other words, he convinces us that God is not going to listen to us because there is sin in our life. The question that immediately comes to mind, though, is, "When is there not sin in our life?" (cf. Romans 3:23) No, friends, God's face becomes "hidden" to us so that He does not hear only when we habitually sin and fail to repent, as we should. That is the meaning of Isaiah 59:1 and 2 John 9:31. The Israelites were steeped in idolatry. They refused to repent. Thus, God was letting them know that until they repented He would no longer hear their prayers nor offer them His Providence and Protection. 2 John 9:31, on the other hand, was spoken by an uninspired man regarding the general belief of those of his day. Notice he said, "We know (emphasis mine-BP) that God does not listen to sinners." To who does this, "we" refer? The former blind man is speaking of the adherents of the Jewish faith. The first century Jews commonly believed that God did not listen to sinners. If God does not hear such prayers, however, He would have never heard the prayers of the alien sinner, Cornelius (cf. Acts 10:4). If you are not praying because you feel too guilty to do so, humbly bow before the throne of God today and reclaim the privilege that is yours because of your adoption as a child of God (cf. Romans 8:15). In so doing, receive the forgiveness you seek and reclaim your power over the devil (cf. James 4:7).

At other times, it becomes difficult to pray because we are so discouraged. With such a mindset, we may ask, "Does God even hear my prayers?" We do so only because we do not see an apparent answer to the prayers we have already lifted up. Such must have been the case amongst those Christians with whom John was a partner in the tribulation (Revelation 1:9). As they were dying for their faith, they were asking, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:10 ESV) As such, John was trying to reassure them that their faithfulness unto death meant eternal life (cf. Revelation 2:10). John had been called up into heaven in the Spirit (cf. Revelation 4:1-2). Therefore, he was able to give the suffering first century Christians the vantage point of Heaven. In addition, in Heaven, John found that the prayers of the saints were offered as libation to God in "golden bowls" (cf. Revelation 5:8). As such, none of them were lost. Indeed, they were all collected to be presented in a most regal manner to the Sovereign of the Universe. It is with this thought that I would like us to spend the majority of our time.

The context in which we find these "golden bowls" is the very throne room of God (cf. Revelation 4-5). It harkens the reality of which the holy of holies was but a "copy and shadow" (cf. Hebrews 8:5). Remember that it was in the holy of holies that God met with the high priest to secure an annual reprieve for the people's sins. Furthermore, that God's presence dwelt in the holy of holies indicated intimacy with His people. For the holy of holies, incense was prepared of stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense (cf. Exodus 30:34-38). That God refers to it, as "perfume" seems to indicate that this incense was liquid in its final, prepared form. The altar upon which this incense was offered was a wooden altar of acacia wood overlain with gold (cf. Exodus 30:1-10). It had horns and most likely looked something like this:

Aaron or subsequent high priests would pour the incense out upon the altar where it would be ignited and release its sweet smelling savor heavenward.

The psalmist seems to be the first inspired author to connect prayer as somehow analogous to this sacred incense offered continuously to God. Note his words in Psalm 141:2: "Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!" (ESV) Following this comparison, praise and personal sacrifice were likewise equated to such incense (cf. Malachi 1:11; Ephesians 5:2). In other words, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:15-16, it soon became apparent that the very life of the one that had been set apart for God's holy service was to be lived in such a way as to be an acceptable offering to God. Thus, it behooves all of us to pray continuously (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:17), offer continuous praise from our lips (cf. Hebrews 13:15), and live daily in service to the Lord (cf. Romans 12:1-2). When such is the case, the Christian can say as Paul, "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering." (2 Timothy 4:6a ESV). We are to become the very libation that God seeks.

Therefore, when it comes to our prayers, does it not become apparent that God cannot be glorified without them? Regardless of how we may feel in regards to whether or not they have been answered, it becomes selfish for us to withhold them because we simply feel discouraged. Whatever the situation we face in life, we note that God IS the answer. To allow the setbacks for which God is not responsible to cause us to punish Him by depriving Him of our devotion is a mark of immaturity in our Christian walk. As Jesus stated in Luke 18, it is a lack of faith. Since faith is founded upon evidence (cf. Hebrews 11:1), the Bible seeks to assure us that God is listening to us just as He was listening to the saints that were literally dying because of their faith.

When we pray, our prayers are collected, as it were, in one of the various golden bowls that resides in the throne room of God. This word, rendered as "vial" in certain English translations, actually denotes a broad, shallow saucer used for offering incense or "drink offerings" (i.e., libations) to God. That is why the word is better translated as "bowl." The book of Revelation contains the only usage of this particular word. Even so, how are our prayers "collected"? We understand that Biblical prayer is addressed to God through Christ (cf. John 16:23). It is offered in faith (cf. James 1:6). Moreover, executed properly, this prayer will always be accompanied with thanksgiving (cf. Philippians 4:6-7). When we follow this simple prescription for prayer, we are assured that they have made their way to the throne room of God and are awaiting His acceptance and response.

Sometimes, though, we do not know exactly how to pray, as we should. When such is the case, the Spirit serves to assist us in our prayers (cf. Romans 8:26). This is not to say that the Spirit serves as the intercessor for us in place of Christ as some rejecting the clear implication of the work of the Spirit in our lives as taught by this verse suggest. Rather, the Greek word employed here by Paul shows that upon these difficult occasions we "meet" with the Spirit as with a consultant so that He might assist us in finding articulation for our prayers. (See Vincent's Word Studies entry for Romans 8:26 and Thayer's definition for the word "entugchano.") Such a meeting with the Spirit requires no miraculous or supernatural intervention or involvement. After all, do we not also meet with the Spirit in our study of the Word? Paul is teaching us that sometimes we do not know what to say and that sometimes we do not understand the enormity of our need. It may be on those occasions that our words fail us because of our ignorance of the situation or due to grief. As such, we do not want to "tie" the hands of God by needlessly limiting Him to what we think He may desire to do on our behalf or on behalf of the work of the church. Nor do we want to limit Him to responding in only one way consistent with our thoughts and notions. Therefore, we are actively seeking guidance in regards to the word selection of our prayers. Moreover, this is an act of guidance that the Spirit has been tasked to provide. Could it not be that I might find articulation for my prayers by "consulting" the Spirit in passages like Acts 4:24ff or Luke 11:2-4? We must take an active role in such situations to ensure that our prayers make it to the throne room of God. What the Spirit does in Heaven on our behalf in regards to this consultation may be nothing more than providing us with the support we need until we can find the strength to make such requests on our own. In other words, He may simply bolster us in our times of need. (As such, we need not fear this verse).

Those prayers, then, whether offered up singularly, collectively as the church (cf. Matthew 18:19-20), or with the aid of the Spirit collect as incense in one of the golden bowls without a single "drop" being lost. Perhaps it would be helpful to visualize the act of condensation as the means whereby our prayers "make it to heaven." (Although we know that the means of transmission would not be so crude.) As such, we might liken our prayers to vapors that rise up from earth to the throne room of God where the "ambient temperature" causes it to return to its liquid state and enables it to be ignited once more in the golden libation bowls of God. Then, as He sits upon His throne, the aroma of our words fills His nostrils while His ears ring with the praise of the heavenly host: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13 ESV) It is truly a glorious thought to think of our Sovereign in such a manner. It also gives us the encouragement to continue offering up our prayers because it reminds us that He is still ruling from His eternal throne.

Whenever you feel so discouraged that you think that praying will not help or that your prayers have gone unnoticed, remember God's golden bowls. He created us for His glory (cf. Isaiah 43:7). He created us to declare His praise (cf. Isaiah 43:21). He created us for His pleasure (or by His Will-cf. Revelation 4:11). This means that He desires our prayers as much to assist us as He does to receive that which is due His Holy Name.

"Ere You Left Your Room This Morning"

(a.k.a "Did You Think To Pray?")

M.A. Kidder

Ere you left your room this morning,

Did you think to pray?

In the name of Christ our Savior,

Did you sue for loving favor,

As a shield today?

When you met with great temptation,

Did you think to pray?

By His dying love and merit,

Did you claim the Holy Spirit

As your guide and stay?

When your heart was filled with anger,

Did you think to pray?

Did you plead for grace, my brother,

That you might forgive another

Who had crossed your way?

When sore trials came upon you,

Did you think to pray?

When your soul was bowed in sorrow,

Balm of Gilead did you borrow

At the gates of day?

O how praying rests the weary!

Prayer will change the night to day;

So when life seems dark and dreary,

Don't forget to pray.