WORRY, ANGER, ANXIETY, FEAR, DISSAPPOINTMENT are feelings many Christians long to disown in God’s presence.  They are emotions that perhaps evoke shame or bring us to a place of feeling distant or unworthy before God. 

What if these feelings were not ignored and suppressed but embraced, accepted and laid out vulnerably before our Father God?  It could possibly be the most transparent and sincere prayer one has prayed in a very long time.

These feelings can be intense…hot as fire! 

And fire is what is needed to IGNITE incense.

“…..there before me was a door standing open in heaven.  And the voice I first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here………there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.……Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and elders……(who) fell down before the Lamb.

Each one had a harp and they were holding

golden bowls full of incense,

which are the prayers of the saints.” - Revelation 4:1 -5:8

I’m not promoting irreverence but sincerity and authenticity of the heart.  Try talking to God just as you would share your feelings with a good friend, with respect and gratitude that they love enough to listen.  And then, as any good friend, listen in return.  He talks through His Word.  The Bible is His love letter to His children.

Don’t suppress those feelings.  Ignite some incense.  I believe He knows your scent and even welcomes it, perhaps longs for it.

Lynn Jackson

Thrive Leadership Foundation

Thrivelead.life 

Suggested reading: A Praying Life by Paul Miller