Sweet-Smelling Prayer
5/15/25 Bible Thought (Acts 10)
I’m sure there are times that we wonder if our prayers make a difference. We might question whether God hears them at all, or if they matter in the scope of His plan. Yet, the Scriptures show us on countless occasions that they do, as Charles Spurgeon once said, “Prayer moves the hand that moves the world.”
In Acts 10, we are introduced to a Gentile by the name of Cornelius. Although he wasn’t fully a Jewish proselyte, he was a God-fearing Gentile who was incredibly generous and was faithful in prayer.
One day, after who knows how many prayers, the Lord sends an angel in response with the message, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God” (Acts 10:4). In essence, “Cornelius, God has heard your prayers.”
His prayers had ascended as an offering before God. Prayer wasn’t just a meaningless act but came up to Him as worship. As David once prayed,
“Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!” (Ps. 141:2).
Likewise, in Revelation, the prayers of the saints are depicted as incense rising up to the throne of God (Rev. 5:8). This is the nature of our prayers. They ascend to God as an offering of worship, of sacrifice, that is pleasing to Him like incense that was offered in the Tabernacle.
The prayers of Cornelius brought about a great change. For Peter—who was likewise praying—is then given a great vision that brings about the conclusion “What God has made clean, do not call common” (Acts 10:15).
This applied first to the animals in the dream (Acts 10:10-16) and brought about the result that food laws would no longer be a means of uncleanness for Jews. But even greater, now there was going to be the same sense for people. Unclean Gentiles, under the new covenant, are no longer going to be separated—instead, the offer of salvation goes to all peoples. Peter would later conclude, in simple terms, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34).
After the Holy Spirit brings Peter and Cornelius together, the gospel is presented, the Holy Spirit falls on them, Gentiles are filled with the Spirit and baptized, it’s an amazing time! But it all began with the faithful prayers of a Gentile man seeking after God and an apostle who was also seeking God on a rooftop in Joppa.
Prayer is one means that God has chosen to accomplish His ends. We may not know exactly how it factors into His sovereign plan, but we don’t need to know everything about it to know it works. I remember one time listening to a teaching on prayer from R.C. Sproul and he answered the question, “Why pray if God is sovereign and will do what He wants anyways?” with the response, “Why pray if He’s not?”
Somehow, in the mysterious plan of God, prayers are factored into the equation. It’s not something I’ll pretend to fully understand. What I do know though, is that God delights to hear our prayers.
If He was willing to hear and answer the prayer of an unsaved Gentile who was seeking, then surely, He hears the prayers of His children who have Christ as their mediator. Our prayers rise before Him like an offering of incense, and according to story after story in Scripture prayer changes things.