And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came having a golden censer and stood at the altar, and much incense was given to him that he might offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the hand of the angel. And the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire from the altar and cast it to the earth; and there were peals of thunder and voices and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves that they might sound. Revelation 8: 2-6

The following is all future to us.

Before the seven trumpets are blown, John shows us a heavenly sequence that leads to the blowing of the trumpets. He begins this phase of his vision with the entry of the seven angels who will do the blowing. Incidentally, notice that John said “the” seven angels. That’s pretty specific. Perhaps John is referring to the Jewish tradition that names seven angels that stand before God: Uriel, Raguel, Saraqael, Remiel, Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel.

Whoever they are, they standby as another angel (representing Jesus) with a censer (a fire-pan) in hand, leaves the Most Holy Place into the Holy Place and stands before the golden altar of incense. He then takes incense that is mingled with the prayers of the saints and places the incense atop the altar. The smoke from the incense/prayers then rise  before the Lord.

Among the prayers that rise from the altar will be the prayers that come from the figurative saints beneath the altar, first mentioned in the fifth seal. The prayer of those saints was “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You not judge and avenge our blood upon those [unbelievers] who dwell on the earth?”

In response, the angel takes its censer and dips it into the fire from the altar. The angel is then instructed to fling the fire down to earth. This indicates that earth’s probation is over, which is all the more reason for the angel having placed the incense/payers upon the altar to rise before the Lord..

For beside the aforementioned prayers are the prayers of the sealed saints who will witness the dire events of the seven trumpets and seven vials of plagues that follow probation’s closing. Of course, the sealed saints will be protected from those events. This shows that God does listen to prayers that rise before Him.