Luke 1:8-20 says, “8And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, 9According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. 11And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 18And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 19And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings. 20And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.”

When Zacharias burned incense to the LORD, the angel Gabriel appeared on the right side of the altar. According to Jewish tradition, the right side of the altar was reserved for the LORD Himself, which is why he became so fearful (Perry Stone’s Commentary). The sign of the prophetic words of John being born coming to pass was for Zacharias to be unable to speak. Doubt had to be silenced so no negativity could be spoken concerning God’s Word and will for John the Baptist. You can be part of a chosen generation and a royal priesthood, burning the incense of worship to the LORD, but one of the qualities of this worship is prophecy, but if you doubt what God’s Word has said, it will hinder His will being accomplished in your life. You must be willing to go with the moving of the Spirit!

Revelation 8:3-4 says, “3And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”

The incense was not the prayers, but it went up with the prayers as a beautiful aroma in the nostrils of Yahweh. The incense was the worship! When we are unified in prayer and worship to God, it will be as sweet incense before the LORD, and He will move according to His will. As a matter of fact, if He is enthroned upon the praises of a thousand generation, then when are worship and prayers align with those that are occurring in heaven, as well as His saints on the earth from now and times past, even with those in scripture, God’s Word will be fulfilled in our generation. His Kingdom will come, and His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

John 11:39 says, “Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.”

If we have smelled something before, it does not take long to discern what that smell is and where it is coming from. If something has died, whether it is road kill or a mouse in the wall, we will smell it. With our spiritual senses, we should be able to discern the fragrance of strange incense or pure worship. We should be able to discern whether a message is living or dead. In this scripture, Martha was skeptical of Lazarus being raised from the dead because he stunk. He had already been dead for 4 days, but Christ is the resurrection and the life, and the aroma of His purity was stronger than the stench of death!

So, what is the aroma of your worship? Are you trying to cover the stench of death in your life, or is it pure incense unto the LORD? The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23). It is time to cleanse yourself in the holiness of the LORD by speaking the Word over your life, and as the bride of Christ, if we draw closer to Him, His fragrance will be upon us!