ANSWERED PRAYERS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, the Lord appeared to him a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him:

"I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before Me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting My name there forever. My eyes and My heart will always be there.”

1 Kings 9:1-3

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we come to the opening verses of 1 Kings, chapter 9, the construction of God’s temple in Jerusalem had been completed and dedicated by Solomon before a great assembly of Israelites. The culmination of all this was a fourteen-day celebration after which all the people returned home with joyful, glad hearts focused on all the good things the Lord had done.

In our three verses for today, we find Solomon at this point of time, having “finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace” after “he had achieved all he had desired to do”. It had to be a time of relative quiet and solitude for him as compared to the busy preparation and execution of the dedication event and festivities over the past two weeks.

It was into this time of solace that we see God entering in and speaking to His appointed and anointed king. He had been and still was walking alongside Solomon…just as He does believers like us today, a truth that should be a great comfort.

We know this wasn’t the first time that the Lord had appeared to Solomon. The scriptures make it a point to remind us of this for you’ll remember how God came to Solomon in a dream at Gibeon, shortly after he had assumed the throne. It was there that He gave Israel’s new king the following command:

“Ask for whatever you want Me to give you.” 1 Kings 3:5

We had looked at prior where this opened up the opportunity for Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted and his answer would have been surprising to a worldly person who may have went after material wealth or powerful status. For you’ll recall that Solomon only asked for a “discerning heart” so he could govern God’s people properly and be able to “distinguish between right and wrong” (1 Kings 3:9). In response, the Lord answered that prayer, giving Solomon a “wise, discerning heart” (3:12), as well as “riches and honor” so that during his lifetime, he would have “no equal among kings” (3:13).

So what happened in this second meeting between Solomon and the Lord?

We see where once again, God responds to Solomon’s request and fulfills it, except this time the outcome comes in the form of answered prayer. We see the Lord validate this in the following ways within verse 3:

First, He heard Solomon’s prayer and plea.

"I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before Me…”

Going back to 1 Kings, chapter 8, you’ll remember that Solomon asked God to hear either his pleas or the pleas of his people twelve different times under certain circumstances. In one of these intercessions, Solomon asked the Lord to “hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying in Your presence this day” (v.28). And so when God tells Solomon, “I have heard the prayer and plea you made before Me”, He is essentially saying, “I have received what you said”.

Secondly, the Lord committed His eyes and heart to the temple…and promised to do it always.

“I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting My name there forever. My eyes and My heart will always be there.”

Back to chapter 8 again where we see Solomon say this right after asking that the Lord hear his prayer and plea:

“May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ so that You will hear the prayer Your servant prays toward this place” (v.29).

Here in chapter 9, we find God vowing that His eyes and heart would always be in the temple…the temple built by Solomon which He consecrated (made holy)…the temple that had been dedicated to His name which would always be there…just as His eyes and heart would be.

So thus far, we see where Solomon had two hopes found within his prayers, hopes which the Lord promised to honor and fulfill.

Indeed, God does answer the prayers of His faithful followers and this should serve to validate what we should already know…that we serve a Lord who cares for us, a Lord who is always listening and responding to our petitions in accordance with His will.

Friends, we have this blessed assurance from the scriptures and yet, how often do we act as if we’re forsaken…like we serve a God who distances himself and ignores us?

Unfortunately, too many believers feel they should be able to dictate terms to the Lord as to when and in what way He should act, treating Him as if He is some fast-food kind of God who is only there to take our orders and fill them in the quickest fashion possible. When He doesn’t move within the timeframe we deem appropriate, then we have a terrible tendency to just give up on the One who never gives up on us. In the worst case scenarios, we see where people will completely abandon God in their lives and give up praying at all, adopting a mindset that it is of no use because the Lord doesn’t listen.

The words found in these opening verses of 1 Kings, chapter 9 should serve to renew our hope in God and the way He handles our petitions. For when we pray, He does hear us and listen, responding in a way that is always right and righteous…a way that will always have our best interests in mind. He did back in Solomon’s day and He’s still doing it today.

As for our part, we need only remain patient, trusting that our Lord will indeed do as He promised, working things out for the good of those of us who love Him and have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28) as He answers our prayers with our best interest in mind.   

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.