Silence and Incense

My quiet time today was from Rev 8. This is when the Lamb breaks the 7th seal and the 7 angels w/ trumpets are about to blow their horns and all the tribulations are about to go down! It's interesting what happens first: vs 1 says "When he opened the seventh seal,there was silence in heaven for about half an hour." Kinda like the silence before the storm, preparation for the trials and tribulations to come. Then in vs.3-4 a great picture of how our prayers reach God: Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. This is a beautiful picture of how our prayers are literally an offering to God! Our prayers reach God, they don't fall on deaf ears. They much like incense are a fragrant offering to him!