Praying to Smoke???

Since I began attending an Orthodox Church in 2009, I have encountered a number of misunderstandings of Orthodox Christianity -- that we worship Mary (we do not), that icons are idols (they are not), that we substitute Scripture with tradition (we supplement, not substitute, Scripture with Holy Tradition, which does not replace or contradict Scripture).  However, the strangest misunderstanding that I have encountered is that we pray to smoke. It is true that we typically have many candles burning during an Orthodox service, and that incense is an important part of the service; of course, both candles and incense produce smoke. But why would anyone claim that we pray to smoke?

The Orthodox Church building is modeled after the Old Testament Tabernacle and Temples as well as the description of Heaven as found in Revelation. As for the connection between smoke and prayer, it is found in two passages in Revelation.  The first is, "And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints (Revelation 5:8)."  While this does not explicitly mention smoke -- the "golden vials full of odours" could be filled with perfume, for example, they could also be filled with the smoke of incense, which becomes the obvious interpretation in light of the second passage.  

And 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.  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand (Revelation 8:3-4).

Thus, in Heaven, the smoke of the incense was offered with the prayers of the saints and ascended up to the Lord. In like manner, in the Orthodox Church, the smoke of the incense, as well as that of the candles, is offered up to the Lord with our prayers, and the prayers of all saints, and becomes a symbol of prayers ascending up to the Lord throughout our service. We do not pray to smoke; rather, the smoke represents our prayers.

Confession

The Apostle John wrote, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)."  This does not address to whom we are to confess our sins; this could be satisfied by confessing our sins to God alone.  Certainly, we are to confess our sins to God, but is this sufficient?  James wrote, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed (James 5:16a)."  Thus, the Protestant practice of confessing sins to God alone is not Biblically sufficient.  In the early Church, Christians openly confessed their sins to the entire congregation; however, as you can imagine, this created a great deal of problems.  Therefore, the tradition became to confess before an ordained priest who was sworn to keep the confession private.