“Reversed Thunder”
“An 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, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake” (Revelation 8:3-5).
I’ve heard it said—indeed, I’ve said it myself—that those of us who are backbenchers can at least pray, as though prayer is something we can do if we can do very little, a consolation for the elderly and the ungifted, an award for participation.
No, John’s vision tells us that prayer is much more: It is “reversed thunder” to use poet George Herbert’s luminous phrase—an action here on earth that resounds in Heaven and brings down the “woes” and repeated blows that shatter the proud City of Man and usher in the City of God (Revelation 8:7-9:21).
Prayer is not just something we can do if we can do nothing better, but a titanic force by which we, in concert with Almighty God, can move the course of human history to its denouement. Thus Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”
Perhaps this is what Peter meant when he insisted that we can “hasten the coming of the Day of God” (2 Peter 3:12).
David Roper
6.7.20
