HOW TO MAKE YOUR PRAYERS HEARD

Boy, this sure comes in handy!

I could use a little incense drifting upward to the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth.

From a blog peep (Thanks, Jorgen!) who always seems to have the coolest gems:

You know, I was studying the Old Testament the other day and came across some AWESOME information about how to make our prayers powerful... In the Tabernacle of Moses, there are 2 alters. #1 is the alter of sacrifice, and #2 is the alter of incense. When the incense is lit, it smokes upward. This is symbolic of prayer. Pretty simple concept, right? It gets better... What is the incense ignited with? Not some random match or flame. But rather, the coals from the alter of sacrifice! That's the only way the incense was lit so it ascends upward to God. Without igniting it with the coals from the alter of sacrifice, the prayers were not heard, if you will. So when we want God to hear our prayers... if we want them to be powerful... if we want to know the key to asking and receiving... we must offer sacrifice first. And what did Christ say that we were to offer as a sacrifice? A broken heart and a contrite spirit. Obedience to Him. Sacrificing our time, talents and everything the Lord has given us. The money it costs us to eat at least 2 meals on fast sunday. Without offering sacrifice in this manner, our prayers won't have power. They'll be in vain. This is why people who merely "ask God if the church is true" never get an answer. It's because they didn't offer a sacrifice first. They didn't truly desire to know. They didn't do their part. I LOVE this doctrine... how to ask and receive. If we make our prayers powerful through our own sacrifices (not the shedding of blood, but the personal sacrifices I mentioned earlier), they WILL be heard... AND answered. We all need practice and experience in this department so we can make it through the coming cleansing and crises.