February 13

Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God. — Acts 10:4 BSB

What a beautiful phrase the angel used to Cornelius: “Your prayers have come up as a memorial.” It seems as though years of prayer had accumulated before the throne and then finally burst forth in blessings upon Cornelius, just as months of evaporating moisture eventually pour down as floods of rain on parched ground. God is pictured as storing the prayers of His saints in vials, like sweet-smelling incense. These prayers are kept in remembrance before Him and are eventually poured out on the earth, leading to voices, thunderings, and great movements that fulfill God’s purposes for His kingdom.

We are called the Lord’s remembrancers and are commanded to give Him no rest day or night, to crowd the heavens with our petitions, knowing that in due time, the answer will come with accumulated blessings.

No breath of true prayer is lost. The longer it waits, the larger it becomes.