Storm Season - The Storm of Prayer
- Paul Downie
- Nov 12
- 16 min read
Revelation 8:3-5 NIV
[3] Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. [4] The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. [5] Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.8.3-5.NIV)
The Polish scientist and researcher Marie Curie is known for her work in the discovery of radium and polonium. These discoveries triggered the creation of many inventions we use today, such as x-rays. However, both her and her husband did not fully understand the power of what they were working with. Both died from conditions related to radiation poisoning.
It seems to me that often Christians are like the Curies. We have something very potent. We experiment with it. We toy with it. We don’t realise its many curative applications. However, unlike the Curies, this element does not poison us. Instead, our lack of use of it makes us spiritually anaemic and weak.
I'm talking, of course, about prayer.
In my experience, and in the experience, I am sure, of many millions of believers all across the globe, prayer is especially vital during the storms of life. I am writing this study during a year which had seen more storms in our life than most: bereavement, illness, medical procedures, typhoons, an earthquake, all within the same year. As a family, we haven’t seen a year with this many trials since at least the Covid Pandemic five years ago.
Through it all, I can tell you that prayer has sustained me. But not in the ways that many people from outside Christianity might think.
In this study, we are looking at a glorious, and at first glance, somewhat esoteric picture of prayer. These are not verses that you hear being preached often from the pulpit. But to me they are tremendously encouraging and empowering.
Let’s firstly take a look at prayer in a rather unusual role as The Source of the Storm.
The Source of the Storm
Revelation 8:3-5 NIV
[3] Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. [4] The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. [5] Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.8.3-5.NIV)
Perhaps you are a little confused by that picture. We think of prayer as something that gets us through the storms of life, as it if was some form of therapeutic coping mechanism. While prayer can and does help us cope in times of extreme stress, it is not presented in the Bible as just a Jewish version of meditation.
There is far more to it than that.
Let me give you an illustration.
Monday 13th October 2025 was an extraordinarily stressful day for our family. From talking to a retired medical professional in our church, a miracle took place on this date.
Three days previously, my wife’s younger brother, just 42 years old, had been taken to hospital with breathing difficulties. The hospital diagnosed him has having a blood clot between his lungs and his heart. This clot had triggered a heart attack. They kept him alive and stabilised him, but did not have the equipment to fit a stent.
For that he would have to sail for three hours to the island of Cebu (which had experienced an earthquake and aftershocks a week previously), jump into a taxi and go to a specialist heart unit.
So on Monday 13th October, that’s what he did.
I don’t mind telling you that we were very, very nervous about that. We were so happy when we received confirmation that he had arrived at the hospital.
But more drama was to follow. During his angiogram, the doctors informed him that they had to fit the stent immediately as he was in the early stages of a heart attack.
God answered our prayers. Not only did he keep my brother-in-law safe during a three-hour ferry journey with a weak heart, he also arranged for the doctors to spot he was having a problem and for the procedure to be carried out a time when there were no more tremors.
My friend is right. That is a miracle.
Prayer is the source of the storm. But not just any prayer or prayer to anyone. Look how the psalmist mocks those who pray to the wrong god:
Psalms 115:3-8 NIV
[3] Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. [4] But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. [5] They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. [6] They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. [7] They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. [8] Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.115.3-8.NIV)
I am writing this study on a mobile phone. Prayer is like a phone charger wire. Just plugging the wire into the phone will not charge it. The wire has to be plugged into a power source.
Prayer is like that cable; God is the power source.
There are so many instances in the Bible when God answered prayer – some of them quite spectacularly.
James, as we saw in a previous study, highlighted one of them:
James 5:17-18 NIV
[17] Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. [18] Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.5.17-18.NIV)
King Hezekiah experienced another, when God took care of an invading force that greatly outstripped the army of Judah (2 Kings 18 and 19).
Nehemiah experienced another – and then some (Nehemiah 1 and 2).
These are just a few examples why Jesus taught this:
Matthew 7:8-11 NIV
[8] For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. [9] “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? [11] If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.7.8-11.NIV)
This is why we see prayer in these verses that starts a storm – not because of the prayer or the pray-er, but because of the God who hears the prayer.
He takes the prayer and He causes the storm.
But apart from the source of the storm, we also see The Scent of the Storm.
The Scent of the Storm
Revelation 8:3-4 NIV
[3] Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. [4] The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.8.3-4.NIV)
We love living in a neighbourhood that’s on the edge of town and close to the countryside. We get all the amenities from being close to the centre of town and the fresh air and wildlife visitors in our garden from being close to the countryside.
But we sometimes also get the smells. When the farmers fertilise their fields, a certain smell wafts across the stream on the edge of our neighbourhood. It assaults your olfactory cells as soon as you open a door or window. It absolutely beats pollution any day, but it still smells a little... ripe.
That’s the price you pay for living close to where your food is made.
Revelation is all about sights and sounds. Here, in these verses, it’s also all about smells.
These verses are all about incense, which Moses was told should burn regularly in the sanctuary (Exodus 30:7-8). It was also part of their sacrifices (Leviticus 2:1-2, 14-16, 24:5-7). Offering it was an act of worship, designed to create a sweet aroma for God. Even it’s very formula was holy (Exodus 30:34-38).
This was very special stuff.
And then we come to our prayers.
Anyone who has been through one of life’s storms will know that prayer can be tough. It's as if you’ve been asked to sing a solo in public but you've forgotten the words. You feel pressured and exposed, as if you need some form of words or magic formula but you just can’t get it right.
I am relieved to tell you that the Bible doesn’t teach anything like that at all.
Jesus taught this – and I want you to really hear it:
Matthew 6:7-8 NIV
[7] And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. [8] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.6.7-8.NIV)
Do you see it? You must do, because I marked it in bold to make sure you didn’t miss it.
You don’t need to babble or to use fancy language because God already knows what you need!
Now take a look at this:
Romans 8:22-27 NIV
[22] We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. [23] Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. [24] For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? [25] But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. [26] In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. [27] And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.8.22-27.NIV)
Now take that in one more time. There are a lot of groans in these verses – even more groans than a hospital Emergency Room:
The world groans because of sin, because it’s lost, because it lings to be found
We groan because we long for our pain and suffering to end and to be with Jesus
The Holy Spirit groans before the Throne of God, echoing our prayers
Now, I’ve both worked and used interpreters. An interpreter’s job is to take someone’s meaning in one language and make it plain in another. We might think that the Holy Spirit would rake our artless, ineloquent prayers and make them beautiful before the Throne of God. He doesn’t. He just groans.
If I had an earthly interpreter who took my words and made them just moans, I would not think they were doing their job. I would think they are complaining about doing their job.
But not the Holy Spirit: He groans our groans before God.
In our verses, something even more amazing happens. We see an angel adding incense – a kind of spiritual ‘special sauce’ – to our prayers. They then rise to the Throne of God, bringing with them a sweet fragrance.
Imagine: our paltry, ineloquent, artless prayers, sometimes arrowed upwards in frustration and desperation, are turned into a fragrant sacrifice before God.
How amazing is that!
There are times when I have prayed in a crisis and my prayers have not been beautiful or well structured or full of flowery language. Sometimes they have been just short cries for help. On other occasions, nothing more than a groan or a scream.
But that’s not how God has received them. He has received them as a fragrant, holy act of worship.
If that doesn’t boost our prayer life, I don’t know what will.
Apart from the source and the scent of the storm, we also see The Strength of the Storm.
The Strength of the Storm
Revelation 8:5 NIV
[5] Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.8.5.NIV)
Someone once asked me if it was possible that Filipinos could ever get used to their country being torn apart by the typhoons that ravage their country eight to ten times a year. I don’t think you can, in the same way that someone from the American Midwest can ever get used to tornadoes. You know they are coming. You know they could do serious harm to your home and your belongings. You can take precautions and get put of the way. But I don’t think you can ever get used to the sheer pain and sense of foreboding that this time things could go badly wrong.
Storms can be very dangerous.
This storm in particular.
And yet, amidst the thunder, the lightning and the earthquake, it bears a strong resemblance to this:
Exodus 19:16-18 NIV
[16] On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. [17] Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. [18] Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.19.16-18.NIV)
Do you see what’s happening here? God’s people pray our pitiful prayers, the Holy Spirit groans, an angel adds incense to turn our prayers into a sweet-smelling sacrifice and then God brings the thunder as His power is unleashed.
Maybe you don’t see it. Maybe you haven’t see it.
Maybe you didn’t live through 1989, as the power of God swept through Eastern Europe and brushed aside decades of Communist arrogance and hubris. I did.
Maybe you haven’t had God provide exactly what you need, when you need it, apparently from nowhere. I have.
Maybe you haven’t seen Him move to remove unmovable obstacles and change unchangeable situations. I have.
Because our God is powerful.
But sometimes His power is shows in the quiet. Habakkuk faced an incredible situation. God had told him that Judah would be beaten in battle and exiled for their sins, and then the army that defeated them would face justice. Right at the end of his stunning prophecy, which we will study later, in my next series, he says this:
Habakkuk 3:19 NIV
[19] The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/hab.3.19.NIV)
This might seem like a strange, obscure verse from the back end of a minor prophecy.
However, it has become personally very meaningful to me.
Years ago, when I was a missionary, I was exhausted by the expectations of others and fearful that I could not measure up to them. I was so unwell that I took to my bed for a few days to rest. I had my daily readings, where I read this passage, and then I fell asleep. I dreamt that I was trying to climb a mountain, but instead of rock, under my feet there was only gravel. The more I stepped forward, the more my feet slipped and I moved backwards.
After struggling for a while, I yelled in anguish to the heavens, ‘Help me!’
Then this verse echoed around my head.
Have you ever seen animals that live at high altitude in rocky places? They are so nimble, so agile, so fleet-footed.
Habakkuk said that God made his feet like those animals. God made him nimble, agile and fleet-footed in the face of ever-present danger.
This is the quiet miracle, the silent power, that isn’t always visible on the outside, but gives us the strength, resilience and wisdom to make it through life’s more extreme challenges.
This is the guidance that leads us through the valley of despair to a mountaintop, allows us to survey all that we have been through and leaves us breathless with the realisation of what God has led us through.
This is the quiet whisper in the storm-afflicted heart.
This is our God.
Imagine that you have a friend who is a major Swiftie. That might not be too hard to imagine.
Now imagine it’s their birthday. You’ve been invited to the party and been told you can bring a plus-one.
Now imagine that you show up to their front door with Taylor Swift.
How do you think your friend would react?
Friend, whenever suffering comes, we have Someone on our side who makes Taylor Swift pale into insignificance. He has all the strength and power and wisdom we need to get through whatever we have to face.
His name is God.
All we have to do is invite Him to the party.
And that’s what we do in prayer.
Conclusion
Revelation 8:1 NIV
[1] When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.8.1.NIV)
Have you ever been in a room what someone who was so important that when they entered it, the entire room fell silent?
I have – only once: in court.
This verse is truly exceptional. What it says should send shivers down our spine and make the hairs on the back of our neck stand on end. Revelation is a really noisy book. There are lots of battles and trumpets and fires and judgement. So much happening – a lot of which we just don’t understand.
And then, all of a sudden: silence. For half an hour.
This is, of course, the calm before the storm.
But what happens during this calm?
Revelation 8:2-5 NIV
[2] And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. [3] Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. [4] The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. [5] Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.8.2-5.NIV)
Before the seven angels sound their seven trumpets, all of heaven falls silent, so one angel can offer our prayers as a fragrant sacrifice to God.
And that brings the thunder. Not because of our prayers or because of the pray-ers, but because of the one to whom we pray.
We pray. Heaven falls silent to hear us pray. And then God answers.
That is the source, scent and strength of this storm.
Tell me this: does that not just make you want to pray all the more?
Revelation was written at the hardest time the fledgling church had ever faced: the vicious, heartless and unrelenting persecutions unleashed by the capricious Emperor Nero. It was written to assure them that God was in control and that He was working everything out for His good and their glory. In the midst of all the apocalyptic imagery, we see this glorious picture of God hearing and answering their prayers.
In the midst of our suffering and the storms of our lives, we must take encouragement from this. Because, in the same way that a deep sea diver has a lifeline to oxygen, prayer is our lifeline in the depths of our pain.
We cannot neglect it.
I began preparing this series while we were preparing to board a cruise ship in the Caribbean. I knew my wife faced an operation with a recovery period of six weeks after it, but I thought that was as bad as things would get. I thought we were out of the darkness.
I did not expect to be writing these lines after a typhoon and an earthquake where some of our family live and my youngest brother-in-law, aged just forty-two, having a heart attack and just getting treatment in time to avoid a second.
I have written to you about a storm season from inside a storm season.
So I can assure you that everything I have written about over the last ten posts works.
Whether God is working on us for our good and we don’t like what He us doing, or we just don’t know what’s happening, or we feel cornered and hemmed in, or we need to find shelter or resilience or an escape from fear and depression or to face the worst things about ourselves or to know who God really is or how to focus our minds, it all comes down to one thing:
We need God.
We need God in every circumstance.
That’s why Paul taught this:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV
[16] Rejoice always, [17] pray continually, [18] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1th.5.16-18.NIV)
Colossians 4:2 NIV
[2] Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/col.4.2.NIV)
Ephesians 6:18 NIV
[18] And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.6.18.NIV)
Philippians 4:4-7 NIV
[4] Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! [5] Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. [6] Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/php.4.4-7.NIV)
Prayer is the most mindful thing you can do when in the midst of a struggle and a storm, but it’s also the most powerful. Because behind prayer stands God.
We might feel like nothing in the midst of a powerful storm of life. We might be fearful. We might feel seriously intimidated.
But we need to remember a simple piece of mathematical logic: even zero plus infinity equals infinity.
We might be powerless, but when we pray we tap into God’s infinite power, and that makes us infinitely powerful.
So yes, we can stare down any storm, but only when we make the Most High our refuge and face it with Him.
Because our God brings the thunder.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, forgive me if praying to You is something I have done only when I am desperate. I always need Your help, but especially now. Bring the thunder, Lord. Stand beside me and lead me through this storm, I pray. Amen.
Questions for Contemplation
What do these verses teach about prayer? Why is it important?
Why is prayer powerful? What does this mean for you?
How does this help us through the storms of life?
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