STUDY THEME: PRAYER: APPROACHING THE THRONE OF GRACE. 3-30-03

"PRAYING WITH HUMILITY." 2 CHRONICLES 7:11-22

2 CHRONICLES 7: 11-12, 13-14, 14-16, 17-18, 19-22.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO 2 CHRONICLES 7.

Thank you for memorizing 2 Chron. 7:14 last week. May we recite it together at this time?

The lesson this Sunday closes our series of lessons on prayer. It focuses on the famous prayer that Solomon prayed when he dedicated the temple to God. It was a beautiful and magnificent prayer, which the Son of David prayed. It was also a very important time in the history of Israel.

Just as God had answered Jabez’s prayer earlier, so He heard and answered the prayer of Solomon. But those men prayed with humility. Some times we as American Christians are very impatient and want God to answer our prayers immediately. Someone has said that the modern American motto is, "I want it and I want it now." But we must always pray in keeping with deep humility, learning to trust God. He will answer in a far better way many times than we can understand.

The suggested "Biblical Truth" for this lesson is that God hears and answers the prayers of His people when they humbly turn from their sins and seek Him. The suggested "Life Impact" of the lesson is to help us experience God’s blessing by humbly turning from sin and seeking Him.

God answers prayer, but He does so in His time and on His terms. He expects people to humbly repent of their sins. He expects those who are forgiven to continue to live within His will. Spurgeon said, "Humility is to make a right estimate of one’s self." "There is one road that leads to God---Humility." Someone has said, "Humility is the Christian’s greatest honor." I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility. For God walks with the humble.

David wanted to build the temple in Jerusalem but God said he had bloody hands, but permitted him to accumulate much of the material with which his son Solomon could build the temple.

The writer of Chronicles regards the temple construction as a joint effort of David and Solomon. In 1 Chron. 22:5 he says, "So David made abundant preparations before his death." When you read the description of the temple in 2 Chron. 3 and its furnishings in 2 Chron. 4, you come to realize that Solomon’s temple was built according to the pattern of Moses tabernacle but twice the size as given in Ex. 26: 31-35. Solomon constructed the temple on Mount Moriah, north of the city of David. The temple was built according to plans that David received from the Lord and passed on to Solomon.

Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the temple is recorded in 1 Kings. 8:22-53. A second version of the same prayer is recorded in 2 Chron. 6:12-42. You will be blessed by reading both versions of this prayer. The prayer begins with Solomon standing before the altar with his hands spread out toward heaven. It closed when he arose from before the altar, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven.

When Solomon finished praying fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices. 2 Chron. 5:6 says, "The sheep and oxen sacrificed could not be counted or numbered for the multitude. 2 Chron. 7:5 says that Solomon alone offered 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep. The number was so great that they had to move the sacrifices and offerings outside the temple. The music of worship added to the splendor of the celebration. In all the celebration lasted 15 days.

When the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the temple the Shekinah glory of God so filled the Temple that 2 Chron. 5: 14 says that "the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the temple."

In his prayer Solomon asked God to hear the people’s prayers and forgive their sins. He asked God to listen to his prayer. God did not specifically answer Solomon’s request---the fire merely indicated God’s approval of the temple as a place of worship.

After the dedication of the temple, Solomon turned his attention to building a palace for himself. Construction of this magnificent building took 13 years. Thus 13 years passed between the prayer of dedication of the temple and the Lord’s answer. Solomon achieved everything that he had contemplated for both structures. Surely he must have enjoyed a certain sense of satisfaction. Except for the fire from heaven, he still had not received a concrete answer from God about the petitions of his prayer at the dedication of the temple.

Then one night the Lord revealed Himself to Solomon so that He might answer that prayer. The reference to night as the time that God answered the prayer clearly distinguishes this episode from the event during the dedication of the temple 13 years earlier. God reassured the king that He had indeed heard his prayer. God’s initial words to Solomon asserted that his prayer had been received and that God had acted to deliver his petitions.

The separation of 13 years between the moment Solomon spoke and the reply from God emphasized an important characteristic about God’s response to human petitions. God answers prayer according to His timetable, not ours. God always does what is best in any situation, not what certain people think is best to be done. Always remember that God’s knowledge and God’s solution are superior to each and every human resolution. It is God’s grace that makes prayer possible.

Back in 2 Chron. 6: 22-39 Solomon listed seven specific situations in which prayer may be offered in or toward the temple. In reply God repeated the subject of rain…locusts….plagues in 2 Chron. 7:13. These are three potential natural disasters that follow disobedience. In Vs. 14 God promised that the nation would receive relief from the hardships caused by these if the people would turn to Him in humility and prayer. Many times in Chronicles the concepts in this passage appear as the decisive factor for divine blessings and curses.

Selfish pride is the heart of human sin. Pride assumes that we can get along without God. Humility recognizes how desperately we need God and His grace. God called for His people to pray. James 4:2-3 identifies two faults of many people’s prayer life. One is that they do no pray. The other is that they pray only selfish prayers.

These four actions in Vs. 14 are God’s terms for answering prayers of confession. God promised that when this was done, He would hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will hear their land.

Many people today want immediate gratification of their desires. Some even expect instant answers to their prayers, and when nothing happens immediately, they wonder whether God has heard their prayers. Some fail to see the connection between their sinful ways and their failure to experience God's blessings. The Bible asserts, however, that while God answers prayer, he does so in His time and on His terms. He also expects His people to follow Him in obedience.

Our nation desperately needs moral and spiritual revival. The old formula is as relevant today as it ever was. If God’s people were to do what this says, such renewal would begin. Imagine what would happen if Christian people were to honestly confess and forsake their sins, what a change there would be in our lives, in our homes, in our churches, and in our land. Our land is sin-sick, and God stands ready to heal.

The word concentrate describes God’s setting apart the temple as His special place for people to worship Him. God’s name would be there forever: that is, God had established the temple as a special place to meet His covenant people. His eyes would watch over it, but His heart would always be there too.

He had said it would be forever, but Solomon’s (or any king’s) enjoyment of it would depend on his obedience to God. Later in 1 Kings 11:4-8 Solomon did worship other gods, as did many of his successors, so the nation was exiled to Babylon and the temple destroyed. Everyone who would witness the dissolution of the land and the temple would know that it was a mark of God’s judgment on His people because of their sin. Herod’ temple was destroyed in AD 70, so where is the presence of God to whom we Christians pray today?

We now pray to the Heavenly Father through His Son and by His Spirit, who abides in us and enables us to pray. In Matt. 6:6 Jesus taught us to have a private place where daily prayers are made. He also taught in Matt. 18: 19-20 that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He is present and will hear and answer their prayers.

God answers humble prayers, but He answers them on His own terms. 2 Chronicles 7:14 states some of His terms. We find in Matt. 21: 22 that prayers must be prayed in faith, and that according to 1 John 5:14 prayers must be in accordance with God’s will. These two go together. They call for us to pray to the God who is able to do all things, but to believe not only in His power to act but also to trust His wisdom and love in answering the prayer in His own way. He is our Heavenly Father. He will withhold nothing good that His children need, but He will withhold what is potentially harmful or useless.

Commenting on Vs. 13-16 Martin J. Selman wrote, "This paragraph reveals the heart of the books of Chronicles, and is actually Chronicles’ summary of the essential message of the O.T."

These two verses were addressed to Solomon. Thou is singular here but ye in Vs., 19 is plural, referring to all the people. God’s word to Solomon was a reaffirmation of His promise to David that one of his descendants would reign forever. This promise was not fulfilled in Solomon or any of the other kings of David’s line, but in Jesus, the Son of David and the Son of God.

God hears the sincere prayers of sincere, repentant sinners. On the other hand, God will not hear the prayers of people who continue in their sins and presume on God’s forgiveness. The Psalmist sang in Ps. 66: 18-19, "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer."

These verses describe the judgments God promised would fall on His people if they rebelled against Him. The word you is possibly referring to Solomon and his descendants but more likely referring to the people as a whole. God’s people might turn away and forsake the decrees and commands He had placed in their hands. Further, they might serve other gods and worship them. It was possible that instead of allowing their relationship with the Lord to shape everything they did, they might abandon God’s ways and fill their lives with empty idols.

Probably most of us have faced the anguish of unanswered prayer. We pray and pray but receive no answer from the Lord. Our prayers do not seem to penetrate the ceiling, let alone heaven’s door.

Sometimes God is waiting for us to repent of our sins. Unconfessed sin clouds our relationship with the Lord and hinders our prayer life. Repentance restores fellowship with God and brings the joy of answered prayer once again.

Today many people find satisfaction in the pursuit of worldly gain. Others dabble with false religions and feel they have meaning in life. But only a relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ by faith has eternal significance.

When and how can we expect God to answer our prayers? First, God will answer our prayers in His time. His timing is always perfect, and we need to trust Him. Second, God will answer our prayers on His terms. He is the Sovereign Lord, and His way is always best. Third, God will answer our prayers with obedience expected. God has not saved us for Himself so He may shower us with blessings no matter how we live. He has called us to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ His Son. God hears and answers the prayers of His people when they humbly turn from their sins and seek Him.

THE THEME FOR THE FOUR LESSONS IN APRIL IS "WHO ARE YOU, JESUS."

THE LESSON NEXT SUNDAY SAYS, "HE IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD." JOHN 8:12: 9: 1-41. A. V. DAUGHERTY 3-30-03