Incense before the Lord

Reading: Jeremiah 13-14, Psalm 141, and Acts 24

Scripture: Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

Thoughts: When the Tabernacle was first introduced, Israel was commanded to keep incense always burning, and the regular evening sacrifices. As I read this and thought about it this is a call to have constant prayer in our lives. I know in Western culture, we were encouraged to busy ourselves to the point that things like prayer get left behind. Like the Steven Curtis Chapman song says, “Let us pray, like breathing out and breathing in, when we finish start again, let us pray.” Prayer should not be something we just do at meals and in the mornings and nights, it needs to be a part of everything we do, it is an ongoing conversation with God at all times. This is one of my biggest challenges, I struggle with keeping God at the forefront of my mind and letting my work and daily worries get in the way of seeking and worshipping God all day. Let my prayer be like the incense of the temple always before God.

Prayer: Lord God, you are worthy of all my praise and all my affection. You are the great I AM you own the cattle on a thousand hills. I thank you that you remind me of where I was and where you are calling me to. That there are progress and growth. I thank you for all your provisions and blessings. I ask that you continue to guide me so that I may steward those things that you have placed in my care. I place my family and finances in your hands.