Do you ever wonder what happens to our prayers? We know from Psalm 56:8 what happens with our tears ~ “You put my tears into Your bottle. Are they not in Your Book?”
But what happens to our prayers? Malachi 3:16 gives a clue. “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.” Could this be the same book of remembrace that records all our tears? Whether it is or not, we are reminded that God hears the cries and the pleas of His children and works on our behalf for His glory.
Of course God does not need a “book” to jog His memory ~ He has infinite knowledge, infinite wisdom, and infinite memory. He has to ~ He is God who knows the end from the beginning and everything in between.
What about the prayers that sometimes do not seem to get past the ceiling? Could it be because of some sin in our lives? The writer of Psalm 66 has this to say in verse 18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear.” So we know, ongoing sin in a believer’s heart can block our prayers.
One does not have to read very far into the New Testament to see how often Jesus would slip away to a lonely place early in the morning to pray to the Heavenly Father. Do you ever wonder how Jesus prayed? Here’s a glimpse of how He prayed for Himself, for His disciples, and for you and me: John 17:4-5 “Father, I have finished the work which you have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.”
John 17:9-I7 “I pray for them (disciples). I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours…that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves…keep them from the evil one…sanctify them by Your truth.”
John 17:24-26 “I do not pray for these (disciples) alone, but for all those (you and me and all believers) who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one …that they may be made perfect in one…Father, I desire that they whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me…that the love with which You love Me may be in them, and I in them.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to “Pray without ceasing.” That does not mean we are to pray constantly, but to be persistent and consistent in prayer. How? In John 14:13 we are exhorted to pray in Jesus name. “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” Naturally we cannot ask to be made millionaires in Jesus’ name, and poof, we’re millionaires. That would be ludicrous and something that would not glorify the Father. Prayers are to be said from a humble heart in reverance to the most holy God who hears the cries of His children. Where is the Father? He reigns from heaven on high. So, if God reigns from heaven, and He hears our prayers, the proper conclusion is that our prayers go directly to heaven where the Father sits on His throne and Jesus at His right hand ~ the place of honor and power.
One of the most intriguing descriptions of what happens to our prayers is found in Revelation 8:3-5. “Then another angel, having a golden censer came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, asended before God from the angel’s hand.”
I cannot comprehend the magnitude of that passage of Scripture, but I do know that our prayers go directly to the throne room in God’s heavenly kingdom. Christians are invited to an intimate relationship with God through prayer. We can pray with confidence and assurance our prayers are heard and will be answered. How do we know this? Because God is God, and when we pray, He listens.