‘Your prayers…have come up as a memorial before God.’ Acts 10:4
We may often feel frustrated at not being able to do more to help our persecuted brothers and sisters. However, one thing we can certainly do is pray for them. And our prayers are never ignored, they remain before God, remembered and valued by Him.
Acts 4 describes Cornelius as a devout man who feared God, gave generously, and prayed continually. Prayer was not something he turned to only in times of crisis; it was a consistent part of his life. His example shows the importance of developing a lifestyle of prayer rather than treating it as an occasional response to problems. And in the case of Cornelius, prayer did more than change his personal circumstances—his prayers were used by God to take the gospel to the Gentiles and expand His kingdom.
The term ‘memorial’ suggests that God remembers every prayer. Like money deposited into a bank account, prayers are stored and available in God’s timing, even when answers are not immediate. So let’s continue to pray, confident that our prayers are remembered by God and will be used in his time to sustain our persecuted brothers and sisters and expand his kingdom.
