Revelation 8:5

And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

Filled it with fire, and cast it upon the earth ... "This is the main symbolical act."[35] It shows that God's judgments upon the earth are definitely connected with the prayers of his saints. The most powerful influence on earth is that of prayer; and there are no significant events of earth that do not sustain some relationship to Christian prayers, whether observable by people or not. "This casting of fire also symbolizes that God's judgments are about to descend upon earth."[36] "The earth here means the entire earth,"[37] and does not mean the land as distinguish from the sea; hence, all the judgments that follow are the answer to prayers.

What are the real master powers behind the world, and what are the deeper secrets of our destiny? Here is the astounding answer: the prayers of the saints and the fire of God.[38]

[35] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 271.

[36] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 232.

[37] James D. Strauss, op. cit. p. 129.

[38] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 121.