The Golden Bowl

Now that my pots and pans are showing their age and the towels are looking a little sad and the kitchen knives are a little dull, I’m thinking there should be a new trend of throwing showers for married couples every 10-20 years or so. What do you think?! I mean, almost 43 years into this deal, and things are beginning to lose their luster. (Okay, I’ve replaced a few things since back in the day.)

Prior to our wedding, we were blessed by family and friends with a couple of lovely wedding showers. Everything we could imagine we might need – and many things we couldn’t - was generously gifted to us. We were set up for a seamless start, beginning married life with soft bedsheets, cute little wicker shelves, picture frames for wedding photos, and so many other wonderful gifts!

But the one room for which we were most “showered” was definitely the kitchen! Not wanting her dear son to starve to death, my mother-in-law thoughtfully purchased the Betty Crocker Cookbook – New and Revised Edition (1983) and a very shiny set of pots and pans for her new daughter-in-law. We received dishes, pretty blue glasses (without water stains!), flatware, and all the little things that would make for a nice dinner setting. Placemats with coordinating cloth napkins and napkin rings – oh, my! There were gadgets and gizmos and every sort of doodad a new bride might need to whip up something tasty in the kitchen. Small appliances came with manuals that would require literally days’ worth of reading – if we actually took the time to crack them open.

We were so blessed! And I was a little overwhelmed and a lot clueless.

Many of those gifts weren’t fully appreciated until a few years into our marriage. “Cooking” was pretty limited for a full-time college student and her young accountant husband who spent most weekdays working out of town. But I did eventually learn the value of the nice bakeware and how to use most of the gadgets in the kitchen drawers.

I wonder how many beautiful gifts the Father has given to us, His beloved children, that we’ve failed to value or put to use.

The one that comes to my mind is the golden bowl…

In Revelation 5, the Lamb of God is preparing to open seven seals of a scroll. He receives this scroll from the One seated on the throne in heaven. When He takes it, every heavenly being falls down in worship. Twenty-four elders surrounding the throne are holding golden bowls, and those bowls are filled with incense – the prayers of God’s people.

Here I am, holding this golden bowl – an invitation to converse with the God of heaven and earth – and too often the bowl remains empty. I neglect the privilege of coming into the Lord’s presence. I forget just how powerful prayer is. And I forget that the reason my prayers carry any weight at all is because I have a High Priest in Jesus Christ, Who is pleading with the Father on my behalf.

My golden bowl should be overflowing with praise to the Lord, with joyful shouts and thanksgiving, acknowledging Who He is and what He’s able to do (Psalm 95:1-3). Every ounce found in that golden bowl should be filled with reverence and awe for the holiness of His character (Hebrews 12:28-29). But most often, the bowl is near-empty.

The requests in my golden bowl should be for God’s healing (James 5:14-16), for His supernatural wisdom and the discernment of His will (James 1:6), for His mercy and grace when I find myself in need (Hebrews 4:16), for His deliverance when I’m in a desperate situation (Psalm 145:18), and for forgiveness when my heart is convicted of my sin (2 Chronicles 7:14). More often than not, my requests to Almighty God are for cheap, fleeting, earthly trinkets.

The first place I should run when I sense the cold hands of the enemy near is to that golden bowl to plead with the Lord for His help. He promises to deliver me from evil (Matthew 6:13), assures me of His divine power to demolish the enemy’s strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4-5), empowers me by His Holy Spirit to resist the temptations of the enemy (Matthew 26:41), and clothes me in His protection to equip me for spiritual battles (Ephesians 6:18). Neglecting the call of the golden bowl, I place my faith in my own strength – and fail again.

I place my fears in the golden bowl, and God gives me His perfect peace (Philippians 4:6-7). I place my confusion in the golden bowl, and God gives me His revelation of great and hidden things (Jeremiah 33:3). I place my loneliness in the golden bowl, and God gives me His nearness and presence (Psalm 145:18). I place my weakness in the golden bowl, and God’s Holy Spirit steps in to help me (Romans 8:26). I place my desires in the golden bowl, and my good, kind, gracious God blesses me according to His perfect will (1 John 5:14).

Don’t foolishly neglect the call of such a great and powerful gift! What I’ve discovered is that a prayer unprayed is a prayer unanswered. “You do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4:2b) Brothers and sisters, the Lord is waiting to receive the incense of your prayers. Place them in the golden bowl.