Solomon's prayer

After king David became king of Israel, his friend Hiram the king of Tyre had a house built for him in Jerusalem (2Sam 5:11). After this, he decided to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem and placed it in a tent (2Sam 6). Later, he was sitting in his house and told the prophet Nathan that he lived in a house but the ark was in a tent, so he wanted to build a house for the ark (2Sam 7). God told David through Nathan that he would not be allowed to build the house, but his son Solomon would do it. Although he did not build the house, he drew the blueprints and gathered much material for the temple (1Chr 28-29).

After David died, Solomon built the temple (1Ki 5-7). It is estimated that it would cost about one billion dollars to build it today. When it was finished, Solomon held a dedication service (1Ki 8). In 1Kings 8:1-11, they brought the ark of the covenant and placed it in the most holy place of the temple. In verses 12-21, Solomon spoke to the people and reminded them how this was the fulfillment of what God had told his father. In verses 22-29, he opens a prayer of dedication of the temple to God. Then he prays about 8 different possible contingencies. They are about different reasons the Israelites would need to turn to God in repentance and ask for His forgiveness by praying toward the temple from wherever they were at that time.

1. In verse 30, he makes a general request that if His people would pray toward the temple,

God would forgive them.

2. In verses 21-32, asks that if there was an issue between two people and the issue was

brought to the temple for judgment, that God would give righteous judgment.

3. In verses 33-34, Solomon prays that if Israel lost a war because they had sinned but turned

to God in repentance in the temple, that He would forgive them.

4. In verses 35-36, he asks that if there was no rain because they had sinned, if they prayed

toward the temple that God would forgive them. Praying like this still works today.

5. In verses 37-40, if there was famine or pestilence or a siege was laid against them, that

prayer toward the temple would be answered with forgiveness.

6. In verses 41-43, Solomon asked that if a Gentile came to Israel to seek God a pray toward

the temple, that He would grant their request so they would know that they would know

that He is the true God.

7. In verses 44-45, he asked that if Israel went to battle and prayed toward the temple, that

God would maintain their cause.

8. In verses 46-53, he prayed that is Israel lost a war and was taken into captivity because of

their sins, if they confessed, repented, and prayed toward the temple, that He would forgive

them and give them compassion before their captors. This occurred after the Babylonians

conquered Judah (Ezra 1, Neh 1, Dan 9).

Solomon concluded his prayer with a blessing (vs 54-61), they offered sacrifices (vs 62-64), and they held a 14-day feast to celebrate (vs 65-66). God answered his prayer (1Ki 9-1-9). When we pray the will of God as it is revealed in His written word, we can be sure we are on the right track (Mt 6:10, Lk 22:42, 1Jn 5:14).

Although Jesus Christ fulfilled the meaning of the temple system (Mt 5:17-18, Lk 24:25-49, Gal 3:24, Heb 8-10), we can still learn some valuable principles from Solomon's prayer:

1. He didn't wait for disaster to strike to pray. He prayed proactively in advance of possible

problems.

2. He acknowledged that many of our problems are the direct result of sin. Instead of getting

mad at God or blaming others, we should first take inventory of ourselves. Not all problems

are because of our sin. Sometimes they are a test from God. Sometimes they are due the

failures of others. Sometimes they are just part of living in this fallen world. We will only

experience the perfect order God originally made and will restore some day (Gen 1-2, Rev

21-22) if we are born again through repentance, water baptism in the name of Jesus

Christ, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost (Lk 13:3-5, Jn 3:3-5, Acts 2:38-39, Acts 8:12-

17, Acts 10:43-48, Acts 19:1-6).

3. Prayer is always an appropriate action and response to circumstances.

4. Although the New Testament church is not headquartered in a specific earthly location, we

should always direct our prayers toward heaven and the God who reigns there in the

person of Jesus Christ. We need no other mediator (1Tim 2:5). All the fulness of the

Godhead dwells in Him, and we are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and

power (Col 2:9-10).