1 Kings 8:30-40

Listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and forgive. If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house, then hear in heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this house, then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers. When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land, which You have given Your people for an inheritance. If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands toward this house; then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know, for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men, that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.^[1]

This passage is just a small portion of the dedicatory prayer Solomon prays at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. It is a heartfelt prayer that covers far more than just what we are accustomed to hearing at dedications today. It is a prayer that implores God’s intervention into the affairs of His people in every aspect of their lives; when they are at war, in times of famine or pestilence, all of which have come as a result of their sin. It is intercession at its best acknowledging that God alone knows our hearts. It is the kind of prayer and praying that is often missing from the western church today. Prayers have become so perfunctory that they are devoid of passion and power. No wonder we see so few miracles in the west today.

What has happened that we place so little confidence in prayer today. Is it our opulence? Is it our self-sufficiency? Or is it simply our lack of faith? It is interesting that one can call for a season of prayer and fasting and reach the same faithful handful, but sponsor a musical program and the venue will fill to capacity. We want God to move on our behalf but we don’t want to talk to Him. Sounds like a very unequal relationship to me.

Dear Heavenly Father, You know our circumstances better than we could possibly know ourselves. Your know the breadth and depth of our need and our desire. You also know the defect of our faith that prevents us from diligently seeking You. Forgive us for coming to You only when we are in trouble. Change our hearts so that we will seek a deeper relationship with You, and in so doing surprise us with Your glory for the sake of Your Kingdom and glory. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 1 Ki 8:30–40.