Read Exodus 30, Ecclesiastes 6, and Luke 10.
This devotional is about Exodus 30.
Do you find prayer to be difficult? Is it hard for you to put aside the many distractions of life and just talk to God? Does it feel like work to spend time praising God, confessing your sins, giving thanks to God, and asking for him to work in the lives of others? Is your prayer life mostly about sending quick, one-sentence missives to the throne of grace when you feel overwhelmed, scared, or have a need?
I can relate. Throughout my life as a Christian, I’ve had struggles in the area of prayer. I’ve had times of prayerlessness. I’ve also had times when I was praying consistently, but my mind would wander or I’d get distracted by other things. I’ve had good, fruitful times of prayer, too, don’t get me wrong. But many Christians struggle in the area of prayer.
Believe it or not, Exodus 30 might help you pray. In the context of the book of Exodus, Exodus 30 comes to us in a section God gave to Moses describing how the Tabernacle–Israel’s place of worship–should be made. The instructions God gave Moses span several chapters; this one, Exodus 30, describes how the alar of incense should be made (vv. 1-6) and used (vv. 7-10).
Remember that the tabernacle had three sections. The largest part was the courtyard, where all Israelites could go and where animal sacrifices were made. Within the courtyard was the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (or Holy of Holies). The Holy Place contained the Most Holy Place within it, but the Most Holy Place was off limits except on the Day of Atonement and only for the High Priest. But the Holy Place was to be entered twice a day. According to verses 7-8, a priest would go into the Holy Place every morning and every evening at twilight. He did this to take care of two things: First, he had to make sure the lamp in the Holy Place was always lit (Ex 27:21, 30:8). Second, the priest was to offer incense on the incense altar (again, here in Exodus 30:7-8).
The incense altar was just outside the curtain of the Most Holy Place (v. 6). The Most Holy Place is where the Ark of the Covenant was kept and it symbolized God’s presence with Israel. So, when the priest came and offered incense in the morning and in the evening, he was lighting that incense so that it would burn all day and all night. The smoke and the scent would be going constantly before the presence of the Lord.
What does any of this have to do with your prayer life? Just this: at the end of Exodus 30, in verses 34-38, God gave the formula for making this incense. It was to be compounded by “a perfumer” according to verse 35. Verse 38 forbids anyone from making it for their own use, but in that verse it talks about “enjoying its fragrance.” This all suggests that this incense smelled really good. It would be pleasing to people if we were to smell it.
Here’s where we get to prayer:
In Psalm 141:2, David wrote, “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”
Revelation 5:8 says, “….they [living creatures and elders] were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.”
Revelation 8:3 says, “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.”
These passages suggest pretty clearly that the incense offering described here in Exodus 30 represented the prayers of God’s people. That incense was to burn day and night without stopping because God hears prayers day and night without ceasing.
And, because the incense smells good, we should understand that God is pleased by our prayers. They honor and worship him and bring joy and delight to his heart.
So, you may struggle to pray and to enjoy prayer. But God enjoys it when you pray. Keep that in mind when your prayer life is struggling and feels dry. God is pleased when he hears your prayers–as pleased as you are by the best smelling cologne or perfume or the smell of food on the grill.
No matter how you feel, keep talking to God. Your prayers bring him delight!