Who are these people sitting on thrones, to whom judgment is given? They are those ‘that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus.’ So you have got martyrs here on thrones.
How do we reign with him? We reign even while on earth through prayer. We pray to him whose will determines all that happens throughout creation. He has taken the prayers of his suffering people into consideration in forming his eternal plan. Though it was a plan made before the foundation of the world, our prayers formed part of it; they were built into it like beams built into a great house, or ropes that hold up a great mast. Let no Christian say that his prayers are unnecessary because God has predestined all things in advance. They may not be the ultimate cause of all things, but they are certainly a secondary cause.