Our Linking Faith being Developed and Praying Prayers with Christ as Incense Today

We need to have our linking faith developed to be the Lord’s overcomers full of faith at His return, and we need to pray the prayers to release God’s judgment on the earth, with Christ as the incense.

The prayer in Luke 18 is answered in Rev. 8:5 and 6:9-11; as we pray persistently and do not lose heart, having Christ as our linking faith increase in us, we are produced to be the Lord’s overcomers to meet Christ at His triumphant return and be raptured by Him as those who have faith on the earth. Amen!

Our God is righteous, just, and fair; however, it may seem that today many unrighteousnesses, injustices, and unfair things are taking place, and God is not responding.

We may read the Bible and see how wonderful, righteous, and just our God is, and we may learn from the many patterns in the Bible that we need to pour out our heart before Him and ask Him concerning anything.

But it seems that our Lord and Husband Christ, who is not here with us physically but is in our spirit, does not answer, nor does He act to avenge us or vindicate Himself.

We are like the widow in Luke 18 who kept coming to the unrighteous judge, asking him to avenge her of her opponent.

Eventually, the judge that did not fear God nor did he regard man made justice for her, because she was persistent and he did not want to be worn out by her coming to him again and again.

Although today God appears to be unrighteous, we still must appeal to Him; we need to pray persistently and bother Him again and again.

He may not do much today to avenge us or vindicate Himself, but we know that He will carry out quickly the avenging of His chosen ones who cry to Him day and night. Amen!

We simply need to keep bringing our case before Him, plead with Him, and bother the Lord again and again. He never told us not to pray; rather, He told us to pray unceasingly, persistently, and not lose heart.

So here we are, day by day, coming to Him in prayer to not only enjoy Him and partake of His riches but also to ask Him to make justice for us, bring in righteousness, and vindicate Himself.

Our God is living and very active, but He acts in secret; in this age, the age of grace, He does not act openly or in a miraculous way but in secret, hiddenly, so that He would gain a group of people to be the Body of Christ, the church.

The main work that Christ is doing in His first coming is not to bring in justice and righteousness or equality; He came to redeem us and afford us a way to be born of God, transformed in His image, built up as the church, and become the glorious bride of Christ.

The work He does today is inward, deep within our being. And we believe into Him, we partake of Him, we enjoy His riches, we experience Him, and we open to Him inwardly; however, when it comes to the matter of Him avenging us of our opponent, this is something He will do at His second coming.

Until then, we pray, we desperately pray, and we pray persistently, and our faith increases, is being perfected, and becomes a linking faith by which we live.

God will Gain the Prayers of the Saints for the Judgment of the Earth with Christ as the Incense, and He will do it!

There is a connection between what we see in Esther (the hidden God operating behind the scenes), Isaiah (a God who hides Himself), and Luke 18 (praying persistently to a God who doesn’t seem to answer or make justice for us) with Rev. 8:5 and 6:9-11.

The parable in Luke 18 is connected with the prayers in Rev. 8:3-5, where Christ as another Angel comes and stands at the altar, having a golden censer and much incense was given to Him to offer with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

The prayers of the saints are golden bowls; they pray under the altar for God to avenge them, and Christ adds Himself as the incense to their prayers to make them acceptable to God.

When the Angel took the censer and poured it on the earth, filling the censer with the fire of the altar and casting it on the earth, there were thunders and voices and lightning and an earthquake, for the Lord answers the prayers of the saints and judges the earth, which is in opposition to God.

When the Lord opens the fifth seal, under the altar that is below the earth there were the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony that they had, and they were crying out in prayer.

They were asking God to avenge their blood on those who dwell on the earth.

So the Lord told them to wait a while, gave them a white robe, and wait for others who will also come until He will judge the earth.

The prayers of the saints in Rev. 8:3-4 must be for the judgment of the earth, which opposes God’s economy.

Today we may pray to the Lord to make justice for His saints, but one day is coming when there will be a particular kind of prayer rising up in the Lord’s saints.

We cannot manufacture this prayer today nor can we copy it, but it will rise up in the Lord’s seeking ones.

I recommend message 23 in the Life-study of Revelation on this matter, which really shines a light on what will happen.

At the end of this age, and we’re rapidly approaching this time, people will be so rebellious against God that they will even declare that they are God.

While God has been tolerating this, some of the faithful saints will no longer bear it and will pray that the sovereign Lord will not tolerate this rebellion but come in to vindicate Himself and avenge them.

They will pray desperately,

How long, Lord, until all the earth will know that You are the Lord? How long will it be before You come in to vindicate Yourself and avenge us? How long will You tolerate this rebellion, this open rebellion against God?

This kind of prayer will rise up as the age is about to end; we can’t make it up now, for it will be a counterfeit prayer.

We simply need to go on with the Lord day by day, pray with our prayer companions faithfully for the Lord’s interest, and remain one spirit with the Lord and in one accord with the saints in prayer.

Then, the time is coming when we all will be pressed to pray like this; there will be pressure from the world situation, and we want to stop this pressure and rebellion, so we will simply pray!

Our spirit will no longer tolerate this situation any longer, and we will pray that the Lord will come in and vindicate Himself and let all the rebellious ones know that He is God.

As we pray in this way, as God gains the prayers for the avenging of the saints and the vindication of Himself, Christ will add Himself as the incense to our prayer, and God will pour out His judgment on the earth.

There will be thunders, voices, lightnings, and an earthquake, and God will begin the judgment of this rebellious earth.

This will take place at the opening of the seventh seal when Christ as the other Angel will minister as our High Priest to bring to God our prayers mingled with Himself as the incense, and He will execute God’s judgment on the earth.

These prayers will rise up more and more, and the Lord will come in to deal with the rebellion and make justice for His people.

God’s judgment on the earth – casting fire on the earth – is the answer to the prayers of the saints with Christ as the incense (Rev. 8:3-5).

May the Lord gain such prayers in us and through us, when the situation of the world is going toward such open rebellion against God.

May we be one with the Lord and one in spirit with the saints to release the prayers that will end this age, bring in the judgment of the rebellious earth, and bring in the kingdom of God on the earth!

Lord Jesus, we want to remain one spirit with You today. Keep us bringing all things to You in prayer, making known to the righteous Judge all the things that the enemy is doing to us and to God’s people. Oh Lord, increase our prayer. Uplift our prayer. May our prayer be the prayer that You need for You to carry out what is in Your heart. Gain the prayer that You need, Lord, for You to have a way to pour out Your judgment upon the rebellious earth, end this age, and bring in the age of the kingdom. We want to simply remain in a spirit of prayer, praying persistently with God as our faith and with Christ as the incense being added to our prayer. Amen, Lord, may Your will be done and may Your kingdom come!

Having our Linking Faith being Developed to be the Overcomers who Meet Christ in His Triumphant Return

Luke 18:8 ends with, When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? If we read this today we may say that so many have faith on earth, for everyone who is saved has faith.

Why would the Lord say such a word? Well, all believers in Christ have faith, which is the initial faith, but not all have this faith perfected in them.

So many have faith in the early stage, in the initial stage, but their faith is not perfected, for not many are overcomers.

We need to have our faith developed until we become the Lord’s overcomers who meet Christ in His triumphant return. In the midst of the dreadful situation outwardly, there has to be the perfected, matured faith.

2 Thes. 1:3 says that our faith needs to grow exceedingly.

We need to be open to the Lord and to the matured saints so that they may complete the things that are lacking in our faith (1 Thes. 3:10).

We need to receive help and perfecting, for we lack in faith; may we gladly receive the perfecting and not consider that we have enough faith.

The Greek word rendered “faith” in Luke 18:9 means “the faith”, denoting the persistent faith for our persistent prayer, like that of the widow.

The faith through which we were saved is the initial stage of faith; the faith that brought us into a life union with Christ is the linking faith (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 2:20; John 14:19).

The linking faith is the faith that comes into us through our contacting the Triune God continually so that we may live by the Son of God.

Our linking faith needs to be developed until we become the overcomers who meet Christ in His triumphant return.

We may experience a particular heart-breaking situation, and many may be involved and may be affected, and we may pray to the Lord for days, months, years, and even decades that He would do something, but He would not do anything outwardly.

We need to pray persistently and not lose heart, and we need to continue having faith in God even when He seems to be doing nothing to respond to our prayers.

Even though He does not respond, even though He may not take action, we still need to believe into Him.

In the midst of our situation with its complications and heart-breaking situations, though God may seem not to respond to our desperate prayer, we still have faith in Him, for He is our God!

He is righteous, He is faithful, He is loving, and He is compassionate, and we declare to the whole universe that, no matter what the situation is or will be, we believe in Him as our God.

We should pray persistently and not lose heart but rather, allow the Lord to develop our linking faith so that we believe into Him and trust in Him even when He does not answer our prayer.

May our faith and love be perfected and grow; on one hand, we behold Him and are infused with Him as our faith, and on the other hand, we love Him and trust in Him, for He is our God.

May we become part of the bride of Christ who is mature in faith and love for the Lord’s return.

The divine requirement for the overcomers to meet Christ in His triumphant return is the linking faith; we need to have our linking faith developed until it becomes mature at the Lord’s return.

As He leads us through certain events, experiences, and situations, may our faith in Him increase, grow, and be matured, and may peace rule in our heart no matter what happens outwardly.

May we be the believers in Christ who always trust in the Lord, not in ourselves, having no assurance in ourselves but having our full assurance in Him (2 Cor. 1:9).

May the Lord find us, at His return, as the ones who have faith, the linking faith that has been developed in us and is mature in us.

When the Lord returns, He will find some – a small number of overcomers – who are living by the linking faith.

These believers live an overcoming and exulting life by the linking faith, and they are found by Christ at His return as the treasures ready to receive the salvation of their souls as the end result of their faith (1 Pet. 1:8-9).

May we be such ones. May we be those who know only to overcome and pray with God as our faith, living by the linking faith and having our faith developed in the Lord so that we may receive the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls.

May we not only have the initial salvation but also enter into the progressing stage of transformation and arrive at the completing stage of salvation, the stage of glorification.

Lord Jesus, we want to live by the linking faith today so that our faith may be developed and matured until the Lord’s return! Amen, Lord, our hope is that we may be found by You at Your return as the believing ones, those who always trust in You and not in ourselves! We open to You, Lord, and we put our trust in You. Move in us today to link us to Your unsearchable riches. We want to live an overcoming and exulting life by the linking faith so that we may be found by Christ at His return ready to receive the salvation of our souls as the end result of our faith! Increase our faith, Lord! We want to cooperate to develop our faith until it is matured so that You may find us having faith at Your return! Gain in us and in all the saints the matured faith, the perfected faith! We believe in You, Lord, no matter whether You do something to rescue us from trials and tests! We believe into You, Lord, whether You answer our desperate prayers or not. We declare to the whole universe that You are our God! You are righteous, You are faithful, and You are loving and compassionate! We believe in You and we vindicate You, our God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 322-325, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 12, entitled, A God who Hides Himself – the Hidden God.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – A message by brother A. L. on, The Linking Faith—the Faith of the Overcomers, watch it online.
  – Incense being added to prayer, a portion via, Lessons on Prayer, Chapter 13, by Witness Lee.
  – The Linking Faith—the Faith of the Overcomers, a message by brother Ed Marks (watch it here).
  – Living in the Age of Mystery, the Age of Faith, an outline via, Church in Cerritos.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Teach us to pray that we may cause / The enemy to flee, / That we his evil pow’r may bind, / His prisoners to free. / Teach us to pray and firmly stand / Upon the battleground, / To fight and break the stronghold down, / The enemy confound. (Hymns #767 stanzas 1-2)
  – The serpent’s brood increase, / The powers of hell grow bold, / The conflict thickens, faith is low, / And love is waxing cold. / How long, O Lord our God, / Holy, and true, and good, / Wilt Thou not judge Thy suffering Church, / Her sighs, and tears, and blood? / We long to hear Thy voice, / To see Thee face to face, / To share Thy crown and glory then, / As now we share Thy grace. / Should not the loving bride / Her absent bridegroom mourn? / Should she not wear the signs of grief / Until her Lord return? (Hymns #961 stanzas 3-4)
  – We love Thy coming, Lord! / We know not when ’twill be, / But turn from all distracting things / Thine own dear face to see. / We serve the living God / And wait His Son to see; / For this we need faith, love, and hope, / Increasing constantly. (Hymns #1306 stanzas 1-2)