Men Ought Always to Pray

"Oh, this is wonderful!" I exclaimed as we descended the sloping walkway into the gardens.  The almost-balmy temperatures, the beautiful day, the endless sky and God's creation spread out before us.  I think it was our first visit to the park all winter.

"We should have brought our lunch!" I lamented when we had sat down at an inviting bench and table.  It was almost noon, and we thought about buying a sandwich and bringing it back to eat, but we decided to walk first.  By then we had changed our minds and decided to stop for a pizza on the way to our son Greg's house in the country.

What a good idea that was!  The fresh-baked pizza was incredible eaten in the cheery surroundings of the snack tables and bright interior.  We called Greg to come join us, but he was busy with at home with workmen installing air conditioning.  The pizza was too much for the two of us, so we told him we would bring some to him.

How I love the country!  One seems closer to God there! I thought about that later when we were home and Howard posed a question:  Are the prayers that we pray effective forever?  I knew there was a verse in the Bible that seemed to indicate that prayers are stored up, so we looked up Revelation 8:3-4:

"And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.  (4) And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand."

Revelation 5:8 says, "And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials (bowls) full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints."

Maybe those are the prayers awaiting answers?  We receive the answers to many prayers while we are living, but some are no doubt answered even after we are gone.

David must have believed that God kept record of our tears and distresses, for he writes in Psalm 56:8, "Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?"

Being out in nature that day and contemplating the heavens made me reflect that God is not limited to time and space, as we are.  It is always today with God.  He is "I am."  The same yesterday, today and forever.