Silence in Heaven

"When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.  The smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God, out of the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there were voices, thunder, flashes of lightening and an earthquake." 

Revelation 8:1-5

Silence in heaven. That's a crazy thought. Heaven is filled with songs and worship of the Lord Jesus... and then suddenly, this silence.
Why is it there? Some say it's a dramatic pause before the final show down between good and evil. Maybe so, but look at what the eighth angel is doing.

In the silence, this angel carries a golden bowl, filled with the prayers of Christ followers, and places it on the altar fire. The smoke and the prayers rise before the Lord.

This may sound cryptic, but it's a beautiful example of God's love for his people. This insight into heaven gives me hope and comfort.

The altar. When God first instructed Moses to build altars, He said they must be set apart, holy, and "whatever touches it will be holy"(Exodus 29:37, 30:10). Anything placed on the altar is made clean, holy, pure.

This passage is full of rich theology, and I don't want to belabor it. Just ponder that the altar was a place of sacrifice for sin; an animal was substituted for the guilty person and died in his place.  Then Jesus came, the perfect Lamb of God, and substituted Himself for us, satisfying sin's death penalty once and for all (and conquering death!). He is the last sacrifice on this altar. The prayers are bathed in the fire of His sacrifice.

That still sounds foreign, but when I think about my prayers: ugly motives mixed with sincere petitions, the desire to sound eloquent underlying spoken prayers, imperfect pleas for my will instead of His will be done, it's no wonder that my prayers need a bath. All my corrupted thoughts and motives burn away in this purifying fire, and my prayers are presented to God as holy and blameless.

I wonder if the silence in heaven is for the purpose of listening to these rising prayers. I know God can listen regardless, but He calls for silence.  Perhaps the silent solemnity of the moment is for the benefit of all who witness it.  When we speak to Him, He wants us to know He is listening and that our prayers are important to Him, so important that He would silence the worship He so rightfully deserves, to allow our puny prayers to be heard.

Not only does He listen, He answers. After the smoke of these prayers rises up before Jesus, the angel takes the fire of these purified entreaties from the altar, and hurls them back down to the earth with power. Thunder, lightening, voices, earthquake...

He takes our helpless pleadings, and by His almighty sacrifice, our prayers are given power to change the world. He condescends to lift us up, to let us be a part of His plan for this earth.

Prayer. We often go to it as a last resort. We think we are just talking to the air, that it is a waste of time, and wouldn't it be better to do something?  We have all kinds of excuses why we don't pray: no time, don't know how, there are too many needs, it's a personal thing-- secondary to caring for people...

Revelation 8 tells me something different,  something reiterated throughout the Bible. Look to Jesus, Paul, James, Daniel, Nehemiah, David all praying;  not in meditation or contemplation (not saying these things are bad), but in direct conversation with God. The prayer examples of the Bible are simple, direct, humble, and for the most part, they are petitions. We must ask God to meet all needs: to pray for ourselves and on behalf of others, on behalf of the world. When we don't know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, pleading on our behalf (Romans 8:26).

Be comforted, and pray, pray, pray. Pray alone and with others. Pray even when it feels foolish or hopeless.  Our prayers are so important that God silences heaven to hear them. He cleans them, listens to them, and infuses them with power from the conquering cross. Then he hurls them back to the earth and changes the world.