“«A Psalm of David.» LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee [as] incense; [and] the lifting up of my hands [as] the evening sacrifice.” (Ps 141:1-2 AV)
As a retired altar boy (I got saved, praise God) I know a bit of what incense smells like. It is a fragrance you never forget. Your nose tells you that you shouldn’t like it. Your nose tells your brain that this is a fragrance that should be avoided. You cannot help it. The odor is so captivating. It lingers forever. The only thing that got it out of the hair, skin, and clothes was a good washing. Incense was very serious to the Old Testament tabernacle and temple. God provided the recipe for the incense, and it was not to be duplicated nor improved. When two priests offered their own concoction, God killed them. This recipe was not to be sold in the market. The priests made up the batches, and they were reserved solely for temple worship. If the incense of the altar was commercialized, God would kill those responsible and bring judgment on the nation. This incense was unique. There was nothing else like it. For the writer to ask that his prayers be like the incense of the temple, that was no small thing.
Remember that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. One would think this odd. After all, prayer is a conversation with God. Why would grown men need to learn how to have a conversation. That is for another time, but suffice it to say, they didn’t know how to have one with God. So, Jesus gave us the LORD’s prayer as a pattern to follow. Not a prayer to be repeated. It is an outline. It contains the main ideas of what daily prayer should contain. This shows us that prayer that God appreciates does not come naturally. It must come from God to man then return to God again. Incense that has gone bad does not smell very well. Only a master could concoct a perfect recipe for a memorable fragrance. Jesus showed us how to pray. This brings us to our main thought. How much of our prayer is filled with things that do not please God? Not that He would refuse all prayer unless it were perfect. He listens to us all the time. If we have confessed our sin, then He hears us. What the writer is driving at is purposely offering pray to God which would smell sweet and pure. Free from the contaminates of our own mind or selfishness, these prayers would be offered to honor God first and foremost.
The older I get, the more self-conscience I am becoming when offering prayer to the LORD. It is a battle. No wonder Paul tells us the Holy Spirit must help us pray because we rarely know how to. He assists us in checking our heart and choosing proper words. I don’t know about you, but I want my prayers to be that sweet-smelling incense. May the Holy Spirit help me to empty self from the words that are offered and only give my LORD the best! Pure prayer, free from any self-interest, has to be the sweetest thing God can hear.
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