“Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” (Psalm 61:1-2, KJV)

Does King David’s mournful cry to God resonate with you? It does with me. I have been in those “end of the earth” places where my heart was overwhelmed. Vietnam and Iraq were areas where my heart was dry. Being away from family, friends, and church will create an emotional and spiritual desert in our hearts.

Yet we don’t have to go somewhere around the world to have an overwhelmed heart. The world we live in seeks to overwhelm us with its ungodly values and culture.

So, what is the proper response when the “heart is overwhelmed”? King David understood that the proper response was to cry out to God Almighty. Sadly, though, we fail many times to do so because we misunderstand the heart of the Father.

Our adversary wants us to think that God couldn’t care less about us and our problems, that He is too busy with the needs of people more righteous than us — the “saints.” Well, guess what? You are a saint if you have given your life to Jesus Christ and confess Him as your Lord and Savior!

This is how Vine’s Dictionary defines the Greek word hagios, which is translated as “saints”: “used of believers, it designates all such and is not applied merely to persons of exceptional holiness, or to those who [have] died.” This Greek word is similar to the word “holy,” which simply means “set apart” for God’s service.

I want us to have a proper understanding of those terms so we can look at what Scripture tells us about the “prayers of the saints” — my prayers and your prayers.

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

“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.” (Revelation 8:3-4)

This is not just a New Testament concept. King David, a man after God’s own heart, understood it fully.

“O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!” (Psalm 141:1-2)

When we pray to God, crying out with overwhelmed hearts and asking for His grace and mercy, He hears our prayers, and they are like sweet-smelling incense to Him.

The next time your “heart is overwhelmed,” cry out to your Rock, knowing your prayers are sweet-smelling incense before His Throne.

What say ye, Man of Valor?
Semper Fidelis!