WHAT ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE FIRST CENTURY CHURCH?
– What were they asking for? Why does God respond to these prayers with wrath and judgment upon the church’s enemies? We have a good idea of the prayers of the church when we read Revelation 6:9-11. As the martyrs cry out for vengeance, they are asking God to vindicate His holiness and truth upon those who spilled the blood of the people of God. This would certainly reflect the prayers of the early church saints, and it also is the reason why God reacts to these prayers with judgment upon Israel. There is great irony in this entire passage. In Jerusalem, in the first century, you would have found apostate Israel thinking they were worshipping God in the Temple, offering up sacrifice and burning incense to the Lord. Yet Christ has made a point of showing that Jerusalem and the Temple are finished, the true Temple is the people of God, and the true prayers are those offered by His saints. As you read verse 5, you realize that it is the prayers of the saints which have inaugurated Jerusal
