Word of Encouragement (08/17/2022)

And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations. (Ex. 30:7-8)

In this arrangement, we also learn that the incense offering was to be burned every morning and every evening at twilight. This symbolized that we should pray regularly rather than haphazardly or occasionally. Paul even said, “…pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). He probably didn’t mean that we must stay in our prayer closet and pray 24/7. God has given us other callings, which we must faithfully carry out in obedience. By this, he probably meant that God’s people should pray regularly (while we remain prayerful at all times as we go through the day and, at times, offer up “shot-gun” prayers when we face difficult challenges and unexpected dangers). We hear of Daniel not stopping his practice of praying three times a day even when an imperial decree was issued to pray only to the statue of Darius (Dan. 6:10)

We can see why the incense offering was burned in the morning and in the evening at twilight. For us, the day begins right after midnight and ends at midnight. For the Jews, the day began in the evening and ended in the evening. (This is because of the Genesis 1 account of the creation, in which each day’s creation ends with the refrain, “And there was evening and there was morning, the Xth day.”) Regardless, the morning signifies the beginning of our work, and the evening signifies the end of our work.

We can see why it is only appropriate that we pray at least these two times a day. As we begin our work, we should ask for the Lord’s guidance, protection, and blessing. We can put a lot of effort into carrying out our duties, but all will be in vain unless the Lord helps us to bring about the desired results. But more importantly, we must remember that God is not there to help us accomplish our agenda. He is the Lord and we are His servants. God does not exist for us; we exist for Him. It is His will we ought to seek, not our will. As we go about the day, there will be unexpected interruptions. Instead of getting frustrated and angry, we should try to discern where God wants to direct our attention. We should be organized, but our schedule should not be our idol.

As we bring our work to a close, we should take time to reflect on the day. We should not forget to give thanks to God for all that the Lord has done for us throughout the day. Something special might have happened to make you smile or refresh your soul or inspire you to do something important or gain a new insight that excited you. Let us not forget to remember such things and give thanks to the Lord. We should not forget to confess our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness if we had not done so already when they happened. How many important lessons are forgotten and wasted because we do not reflect on our lives!

As you can see, we should pray regularly also because God is the sovereign Lord of all situations and seasons. Different things happen throughout the day, but the Lord is in control of all, and He is able to accomplish His purpose and do us good in all circumstances. We should give thanks to God when things go well. We should ask for God’s help and deliverance when things go badly. When we feel confused, we should ask for God’s direction and wisdom. When we feel discouraged and weak, we should ask for His strength.

How regular is your prayer life? What are you going through right now? How is God using it to draw you to pray and pray more regularly?

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