Prayers That Return with Fire

Prayers That Return with Fire

Sunday, January 18, 2026

Year Theme: Watchmen on the Walls — Intercession for Israel, the Nations & the Peace of Jerusalem

Month Theme: Foundations of Intercession — Standing in God’s Covenant Purposes

Week Theme: Intercession as Incense Before God

Scriptures: 2 Chronicles 7:1–3 | Zechariah 10:1 | Psalm 18 | Revelation 8:3–5

When Solomon finished praying at the dedication of the temple, heaven responded decisively. Fire fell from above, consuming the offering, and the glory of the Lord filled the house (2 Chronicles 7:1). The sequence is striking: prayer ascended first, then fire descended. God’s response was not symbolic alone—it was overwhelming, unmistakable, and public. Intercession had returned transformed. As Andrew Murray wrote, “Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue; God’s answer is as real as man’s request.”¹

This pattern echoes across Scripture. Zechariah exhorts God’s people to “ask the Lord for rain” at the appointed time (Zechariah 10:1). Prayer aligns timing with promise. It does not force God’s hand; it positions the people of God under His purposes. Psalm 18 portrays divine response with dramatic imagery—earth shaking, heavens bending, God moving in power on behalf of those who cry out. Such language reminds us that intercession participates in realities larger than our immediate perception.

The New Testament completes the picture. In John’s vision, incense rises from the altar before God, mingled with the prayers of the saints. Then fire is taken from the altar and hurled to the earth, producing thunder, lightning, and earthquake (Revelation 8:3–5). The order matters. Prayers ascend; answers descend. Eugene H. Peterson observed that prayer often appears “inefficient” because it works on God’s timeline, not ours—but it is never ineffective.² Heaven responds in ways that reshape history rather than simply soothe urgency.

For the Church praying today—for missions, for Israel, and for the nations—this truth sustains endurance. Intercession is not merely comfort; it is preparation for divine action. Fire in Scripture often signifies purification, empowerment, and decisive intervention. When prayer returns with fire, complacency is shaken, courage is restored, and witness is renewed. Lesslie Newbigin insisted that the Church’s confidence in mission rests not in strategy, but in the conviction that “God acts in history in response to faithful prayer.”³

This invites careful reflection. Do we measure prayer only by immediate outcomes, or by faithfulness over time? Have we grown weary because answers seem delayed, forgetting that God stores prayer before He releases power? Intercession teaches patience without passivity. It anchors hope when visible change lags behind spiritual movement.

As the week concludes, incense and fire remain joined. God receives prayer, transforms it, and releases His response in His time. Our calling is to keep praying—faithfully, humbly, and expectantly. Dallas Willard reminds us that prayer is the place where we learn to “cooperate with God in the unfolding of His purposes.”⁴ That cooperation shapes the Church, strengthens mission, and upholds Israel and the nations before God.

Prayer

Mighty God, we thank You that no prayer offered in faith is lost. Receive our intercession for Your Church, for missions, for Israel, and for the nations as incense before You. In Your time, release Your purifying and empowering fire. Shake what must be shaken, strengthen what must endure, and align the earth with Your redemptive will. Teach us to pray with perseverance and hope until Your glory is revealed. Amen.

Endnotes

1. Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1885), esp. ch. 1–3, on prayer as communion and divine response.

2. Eugene H. Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 41–55, on prayer’s hidden but decisive effectiveness.

3. Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 227–240, on prayer, mission, and God’s action in history.

4. Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy (San Francisco: HarperOne, 1998), 240–256, on prayer as participation in God’s kingdom purposes.