COMMUNICATING WITH GOD. 1st Kings 8:22-53 Solomon began his prayer by praising God for His mercy and faithfulness before he appealed to the Lord God to fulfill the promises He made to David. He asked God to hear the prayers made in and toward the temple. Prayer is usually a general term relating to our communication with our heavenly Father. Supplication is a request for help or mercy when in need. A cry is an expression of gratitude and praise.
Even the temple, as wonderful as it is, cannot contain God, who is infinite. Heaven, where His throne is, is superior to anything we can imagine because God is not limited by space, time, or matter. The heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. It was an act of amazing grace that God would come to earth, walk and live among humans, and be their God. Even more astounding and important than that He moved into the temple is that He actually dwells in the hearts of His people, making us the temple of the living God.
When one person is the mouthpiece of a congregation of people gathering in the name of the Lord, there is an appropriate way to address God. A suitable position and respectful words indicate we are serious about our requests and the worship and intercessions we express. It is not a casual act when we approach the eternal God and speak to Him on behalf of others. Moses' raised hands put him in a position where God could send plagues on the land of Egypt, give victory to Israel over the Amalekites, and others also lifted their hands toward the Lord. When we pray publicly, our hands are to be holy, and our attitude is confidence toward God and unreserved faith. The prayer of faith recognizes the Lord God as unique in His being, all-powerful in His authority, merciful toward mankind, and compassionate toward those who fear Him. What He has said, He will do. His promises are always kept.
Solomon stood before the altar with his hands raised, acknowledging that access to the Lord God is because of an innocent substitute. Solomon didn’t follow the ritualistic practices of temple worship when he knelt down and raised his hands in supplication, thanksgiving, and praise to God. He understood the temple to be a place of religious ceremony and also a house of prayer. When people wanted to strengthen or maintain their personal relationship with God, they would go to the temple. It was a place for repentance and forgiveness, even for a despised publican.
The temple would be the gathering center for worship and life in Israel because national and religious life were joined in Israel. If the people prayed and listened to God speaking through the prophets as a part of their worship, they would obey the Lord. The prophets often had to rebuke them because what they did at the temple became merely ritualistic practices rather than a place of communication with God.
A covenant made with the Lord is sure and verified by His word and promise. When God acts on behalf of His people, it may be by arranging and directing the course of events. He makes things happen according to His choosing and, at other times, responds to prayers by miracles. However, God chooses to act, which is the terms of a covenant He will keep. Our responsibility is to keep our side of the covenant with honesty, integrity, dignity, and honor. Hopefully, our children will heed our ways and walk before the Lord themselves.
A spiritual relationship is an experience of the mind and heart. Physical encounters are not to be expected. God has spoken to me, but I have never heard His audible voice. God is at work in my life, but I haven’t seen Him in Person. I have sensed God doing something in my heart, but I haven’t felt a shock or a surge. A normal relationship with God depends on His ability to relate to us. We don’t have to see Him visibly to connect with our Lord; He reveals Himself differently. We don’t have to hear Him speak audibly; He has different ways of speaking without words. He expresses Himself in words in the Bible. To be close to God isn’t a geographical location; He meets us in the places of our hearts when we are in fellowship with Him. To know God isn’t knowing all about Him; we know Him through our personal relationship with Christ.
The fact that the temple was filled with the cloud of God's presence in no way limited the omnipresent God in the temple. The visible evidence of the presence of God reminded the people of Israel that He was there to assist and guide them in their national life. The heavens cannot contain God, let alone a building made by men. Yet God is willing to dwell in His people and among His people in "the house of God." God's presence transcends anything that men can make. Nothing can contain Him exclusively. It is a marvel of His grace that He condescends to live in His people.
God wants us to have a meaningful relationship with Him. [Psalms119:135; Num.6:25; Eph.5:10; Gen.6:8]. God is pleased when we love Him supremely. The Creator of the universe wants fellowship with us. He loves us and wants us to love Him back [Hos.6:6]. He desires our love; He longs for us to know Him and spend time with Him [Mat.27:37-38]. God is pleased when we trust Him completely.
Noah had never seen rain; he lived hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean; he was to build an ark so large that it would house two of all animals. He did what God said because he trusted God without question [Heb.11:7]. He kept on trusting God despite all the years that passed. God is pleased when we obey Him wholeheartedly. Noah obeyed God in all the details [Gen.6:2]. He obeyed exactly.
That means God expects us to do whatever He says without reservation or hesitation. You don’t have to hesitate and say, “I’ll pray about it,” if you know it is what God asks. You do it without delay. God doesn’t owe us an explanation or reason for everything He asks us to do. Obedience unlocks understanding. Partial obedience is disobedience. Obedience to God is proof of our love for Him. It is an act of worship.
God is pleased when we praise Him continually. When we offer praise and thanksgiving and give God enjoyment, our hearts are filled with joy. Worship works both ways [Gen.8:20; Heb.13:15; Ps.119:17; Ps.68:3]. God is pleased when we use our abilities. Every detail of our lives is important to God. Every activity, except sin, can be done for God’s pleasure if it is done with an attitude of praise. Using the talents and abilities God gives delights Him [Ps.37:23]. The Potter finds pleasure in the vessel He formed, functioning as He intended. He intends us to use the abilities He gave us and finds pleasure in those who worship Him and trust His love [Ps.147:11].
It is another gracious act of God to hear the prayers of His people at any time. Especially when His people gather together publicly as "the house of God" and pray in His Name. He is there to hear and answer. When there are charges of wickedness made but not enough evidence to affirm or reject the charges, we have to turn the whole matter over to the Lord. When prayer is made in faith, confession is honest, and forsaking of sin takes place because God is omniscient, so the truth of the matter is made known. Forgiveness can take place, and restoration follows. As a result of sin, enemies take over the nation; when prayer is urgent, and the matter is confessed as a consequence of disobedience, God can justly forgive. Prisoners can be freed and restored to the land of their fathers because they have returned to the God of their fathers.
When an Israelite could not pray in the temple, he was to direct his prayer toward the place where God said He would swell among His people, Israel. Daniel prayed in this way three times a day. If an Israelite defaulted in some agreement or could not give the needed evidence concerning guilt or innocence in a matter or circumstance, he could pray toward the temple and trust God to do what was right.
If the nation had sinned against the Lord and had been defeated by enemies because of disobedience to the covenant with the Lord, some consequences would follow. But, if they repented and turned back to God and prayed in the temple, the appeal was that God would hear, forgive, and bring the captive soldiers back to their homeland.
Crop failures caused by drought endangered the whole nation when people got careless and forgot the Lord. Starting to take God and His blessings for granted will lead to consequences that are beyond our control. Omnipotent God can change the weather, make it rain again, and restore what has been lost because of pestilence, disease, and those things that plagued the people. God knows people's hearts and actions toward others and intends that we live in peace. There should be no difference between foreigners and their countrymen.
When divine sanctions gave the military the obligation to initiate action against enemies, they should pray toward Jerusalem and trust God for the best possible outcome. Solomon knew that disobedience would lead the Israelites into captivity and exile. He began his prayer with an appeal to the covenant God had made with David and concluded with an appeal to the covenant made at Mount Sinai when Moses was the leader of the Israelites.
Guilt is an emotion that is good for us when we sin. When we confess and forsake sin, we will find mercy is ready to be granted by our heavenly Father. Grace and forgiveness are in God's heart and can be given when repentance is genuine. When, in His wisdom, God brings some form of discipline upon His people to correct them, it is a blessing. When He gives instructions on "the right ways of the Lord," it is also a blessing, even though there may be pain and suffering needed to bring it to pass.
The Lord intends that His people, in whatever age they have lived and whatever place they live, be a light to those around us. Those from distant lands ("strangers from a far country") are blessed when they hear of the name of the Lord from us and put their trust in Him. The Lord hears our prayers of intercession and does what is needed so that those who seek Him find Him. Solomon must have had some insight into the future because, in His prayer, he prayed for the people of Israel who were captives to have a change of heart, repent, and call upon the Name of the Lord. His prayer was for the captives to be returned to the land, but more importantly, to the Lord and the inheritance He had given them.
Faith in prayer, whether intercession, supplication, thanksgiving, worship, or adoration, brings us consciously before the Lord our God in confidence that His will for us will be done through us. A prayer of adoration praises God for His goodness, greatness, power, and care, Acknowledging God as God. And In praying to Him in all the devotion of the heart.
The highest form of prayer. In its simplest and finest form is the worship and praise of God by one of His children. It consists of bowing the knee and the heart and of man’s actual reality as he comes before God and being what God intends him to be. Prayer may transcend language at times, although language may be used. Many prayers begin with adoration. Walking in the light of God’s truth [1 Jn.1:9] enables us to know the truth, obey the truth, obey God’s commandments, and confess our failures to obey [1Tim.1:17; Jude 24-25; 2Kgs.19:15; 2Chr.20:3-13; Ps.8; Mat.6:9-13].
Biblical prayer requests have three main objectives: God’s glory [Mat.6:9-13; Lu.11:2-4]- God’s name hallowed; God’s kingdom come; God’s will be done; David prayed like this in 1Chr.17:23-27; Daniel, in Dan.9:19; Paul, in 2Thes.1:12; 1Thes.5:23; Phil.1:9-11; Ep.1:17-23. Then there are our own needs: they are important to God – physical concerns [Mat.6:11; 2Cor.12:8-9]; spiritual concerns [Mat.6:11, 33]; treasures in heaven [Mat.6:19-24]. We should also be concerned with other’s welfare: intercession – Jesus’ prayer [Jn.17]; early church [Acts 4:23-31; 2Cor.2:1:8-11]; asking for prayer for ourselves [Ep.1:15-18; 3:14-21; Phil.1:3-11; Col.1:9-13; 4:3-6; 1Thes.5:25; 2Thes.3:1-2]
Sometimes we don’t know what exactly to pray for [ Romans 8:26], but we are told to pray for all things [Ephesians 5:20], all saints [Ephesians 6:18], all men [1Timothy 2:1], all in authority [1Timothy 2:2], laborers to go into the harvest [Matthew 9:38], and for wisdom [James 1:5]. We are told that when the men pray in public in an assembly [1Tim.2:1-6], there is the priority of prayer [2:1a], the variety of prayer [2:1b], the objects of prayer [2:1c-2], the reasons for prayer [2:3-4], the basis for prayer [2:5-7], and the right attitude in prayer [2:8].
When a brother in Christ is praying on behalf of everyone in the group [1Co.14], prayer has to be representative of all the people. His words need to be understandable, relative, sensible (short vs. long), responsible as a privilege, with the right attitude (assurance vs. doubt), effective (based on a righteous life), assured (without doubting), structured (to bring glory to God), and as the Lord’s example in His prayer before raising Lazarus.