Psalm 141:2

'Let my prayer be set forth as incense before you' — the explicit equation of prayer with rising incense underlies vv. 3–4 (incense + prayers of the saints ascending before God). Verbal + conceptual correspondence is very close; a recognized fixed idiom in Second-Temple piety.

'Let the lifting up of my hands be as the evening sacrifice' ties uplifted hands to acceptable worship, matching Paul's vision of prayer with holy hands. The equation of raised hands with pleasing sacrifice undergirds the call to pray rightly. It complements the other Psalm parallels.

Cornelius prays at the ninth hour (the hour of the evening sacrifice); the psalm's 'let my prayer be set forth as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice' frames prayer ascending at the sacrificial hour, coherent with prayers that 'have gone up' before God.

'The whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense' presupposes the equation of incense with prayer voiced in Psalm 141:2, 'let my prayer be set before you as incense.' Thematic coherence is strong; the link is conceptual rather than verbally quoted.

Hays: medium — the explanatory gloss 'golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints' rests on the established figure equating incense with prayer ascending to God. Psalm 141:2 is the classic verse making prayer = incense; cf. also the temple incense of Exod 30 and Luke 1:10. Conceptual echo rather than verbal quotation.

The summons to constant 'prayer and requests... at all times' (6:18) resonates with the Psalmist's plea that prayer rise continually like incense. Thematic coherence with perpetual supplication supports a low-confidence, contested echo.