🌿 THE BOWL OF INCENSE

By- Ayo Awe-Joseph

Revelation 5:8 
“Now, when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

 What Is Incense?

Incense is any plant-based material that releases fragrant smoke when burned. The word comes from the Latin incendere, meaning "to burn."

It is a blend of resins, barks, roots, flowers, herbs, and oils—carefully shaped into a form that, when lit, releases a sweet aroma.

In Scripture, incense symbolises worship, prayer, surrender, and devotion—the fragrance of a life poured out before God.  

The Apostle John saw this heavenly reality in Revelation: golden bowls full of incense, representing the prayers of the saints. These prayers are not merely words uttered in moments of devotion; they are the summary of lives surrendered to God—lives marked by joy and sorrow, victories and failures, pain and perseverance.

The Making of Incense

The making of incense beautifully mirrors our spiritual journey. Romans 8:28-29

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son..."   Just as incense is carefully prepared, God uses every experience of our lives to shape us into the image of Christ.

1. Pain and Brokenness Become Part of the Fragrance

Resins are often released through cuts in the bark of trees. The wound becomes the source of the fragrance.  Likewise, pain and brokenness release the fragrance of surrender.

David declared:  "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise."
— Psalm 51:17   The wounds we surrender to God become worship before His throne.

2. God Holds Us Together

Incense requires a binder to hold all the ingredients together. Likewise, God's Word, prayer, faith, and His Spirit hold us together through life's uncertainties. "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." — Colossians 1:17  When life feels like it is falling apart, Christ keeps us from falling apart.

3. The Crushing Releases the Fragrance

The ingredients of incense must be crushed before their aroma is released.

God often allows seasons of testing—not to destroy us, but to reveal Christ within us.

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed..." — 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

The crushing is not the end. It is the beginning of the fragrance.

4. God Blends Every Experience for His Glory

The pleasant and painful experiences of life are blended together by God to produce a testimony that glorifies Him.  Joseph was sold into slavery, and very many ugly things. When he became the second in command in Egypt, he said to his brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." — Genesis 50:20. Nothing in your life is wasted in the hands of God.

5. The Fire Produces the Aroma

Incense only releases its fragrance when placed on fire. Trials, persecution, disappointments, and seasons of waiting become the fire that releases worship, faith, and unwavering devotion. "These trials have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith... may result in praise, glory and honour." — 1 Peter 1:6-7 The fire does not consume the true worshipper. It reveals the fragrance within.

The Bowl of Incense

In heaven, John saw the very many experiences of saints of God in a golden golden bowls full of incense—the prayers of the saints. The Bowl of Incense represents the surrendered life. Pain becomes prayer. Sacrifice becomes worship. Obedience becomes fragrance. Every tear.
Every act of devotion. Every sacrifice offered in hardship. All become incense before God.

The Fragrance of Worship

Just as incense is made from various aromatic substances, our lives are made up of different experiences that create the fragrance of worship—joys, relationships, gifts, victories, disappointments, tears, and triumphs.

God uses every part of our journey to create a unique fragrance unto Him.

Our prayers are not just words. They are the blended aroma of our earthly experiences surrendered to God. The sweet moments of joy. The bitter seasons of loss. The victories. The disappointments. All of it rises before His throne as incense.

"Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." — Revelation 5:8

Prayer: Lord, let my life be a burning incense before You. Let the aroma of my worship be pleasing to Your holy throne. Take my joys and my sorrows, my victories and my failures, my tears and my songs, and blend them into a fragrance that honours You. May my life continually rise before You as worship for an Audience of One. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The Audience of One Davidic music and intercession takes place on 2nd-3rd July 2026. 

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