A relationship that matters

Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been. On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods. – 1 Kings 11:1-8 GNT

What was it that caused Solomon to move in his relationship with God to a place where God was no longer an active part?

It would seem that Solomon somehow lost sight of that fact that he was not wise – rather the wisdom he had was a gift of God. Somehow in seeing God answer prayer that He began to take his relationship with Him for granted. Somehow there were more important things to do than to spend time in prayer at the temple. Most importantly, something had taken the place in his heart and it became rooted there – sex. That might be too obvious. Maybe it was his ability to woo and win the hearts of women that made him feel worthy or of value – something that he did not look for from God. Most likely he knew God knew and as a result decided to look for value in another place.

Then he thought he could handle it, control it, keep everything in order.

Here is the problem – I noticed that he failed to introduce his God to these women. He probably did not even introduce his God to them because he knew the very existence of them in his life violated the relationship God had asked from him.

A slippery slope indeed that saw him slipping and sliding and destroying the nation of Isreal for hundreds and hundreds of years.

A view through the lens of prayer and I see protection

misty canyon with sharp cliff and lonely tree iin Delika

I wrote a post on 66 Books that you might enjoy today.

“Prayer is a ‘global experience,’ an effort to establish a relationship between limited, weak human beings with something more powerful. Psychologists and authors of the most extensive scientific psychological study of religion to date say that ‘prayer is…critical to the way most peple conduct their lives.’ The most significant contemporary survey of prayer, by scholars who have taught at Harvard, Smith College and Tufts University, also concudes that ‘wherever one finds humans, one finds humans at prayer’ and that even if prayer is outlawed, ‘it goes underground where it continues to wend its course into the depths of the soul.’ A classic older study draws the same conclusion, noting prayer’s ‘astonishing mulitplicity of forms’ throughout the world.

I am heard so let me pray

Remember that great prayer that Solomon prayed in the dedication of the temple? If God had never heard it, it would have been meaningless. The true measure of my prayer is if God actually answers the prayer.

The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer. I consecrate this Temple which you have built as the place where I shall be worshiped forever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time. – 1 Kings 9:3 GNT

“Have you never known what it is to leave off prayer when you are in the middle of it, and say, “I am heard: I am heard”? Have you not felt that you needed not to cry any longer, for you had gained your suit, and must rather begin to praise than continue to pray? When a man goes to a bank with a cheque, and he gets the money, he does not stand loafing about the counter: he goes off about his business. And oftentimes before God, he that is prepared to be a long time in prayer if it should be necessary, feels that he must be brief in petition and long in thanksgiving.” – Spurgeon

So this totally affects the way I pray, how I pray, what I pray for, and even how I’m able to pray. 

Do all this in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God’s people. – Ephesians 6:18 GNT

I know God and I talk to Him – I do that through prayer.

Teach us how short our life is,
    so that we may become wise.

How much longer will your anger last?
    Have pity, O Lord, on your servants!
Fill us each morning with your constant love,
    so that we may sing and be glad all our life.
Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us
    during all our years of misery.
Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds;
    let our descendants see your glorious might.
Lord our God, may your blessings be with us.
    Give us success in all we do! – Psalm 90:12-17 GNT

If I am looking for wisdom, I am going to have to pray for it and ask the Holy Spirit to teach me. I am going to have to keep asking for God’s mercy because I know I am nothing without Him. I keep praying the the work of the Holy Spirit may change my heart and the beauty of holiness may appear and be seen in my actions.

“Prayer brings the power of the Spirit. Leaders are selected and appointed with prayer. The apostles – the teachers and leaders of the early church – believed that they needed to give as much attention to praying as they did to teaching the Word. All Christians were expected to have a fervent prayer life, praying in all sorts of ways for all kinds of things. It was expected that spouses might even part from each other for times of sustained prayer. The Spirit gives us the confidence and desire to pray to God as Father and enables us to pray even when we don’t know what to say. All desires must be given to God in prayer – the only alternative is anxiety. All people around you should be prayed for, and the sick should especially be prayed for. God hears prayers and answers them. Every gift you receive should be ‘consecreated’ through prayer – you should thank God for it lest your heart become hard through an illusion of self-sufficiency. Prayer should pervade your whole life – we should ‘pray without ceasing,’ seeking the glory of God consciously in everything we do. The prayers and praise of our lips is now the most pleasing sacrifice we can offer God.” – Timothy Keller

Solomon’s prayer

Solomon reveals through his prayer how much he valued God’s presence. He begins his prayer with adoration.

As he moved to the altar, he began to consecrate the offering to the Lord. He did so by affirming that there was no other God. Then he asked for God’s continued presence and protection. He followed these with seven typical Israelite prayers that asked God to be engage.

As Solomon knelt, his final ask was for God’s salvation and goodness to be realised by His people – he called on God’s grace and for Him to remember the mercies of David.

Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar, where he raised his arms – 1 Kings 8:22 GNT

After Solomon had finished praying to the Lord, he stood up in front of the altar, where he had been kneeling with uplifted hands. – 1 Kings 8:54 GNT

Obedience, wholehearted devotion, is still required to experience the blessings of God’s presence.

Solomon knows that God had already revealed Himself to others, including His father David, so I notice he is not asking for a brand new experience. He is approaching God in prayer because he knows he is God’s servant and because Israel are God’s people. He is expecting God to stamp His name on this place of worship and it is here where the unapproachable God becomes approachable and ready to help those who worship, sacrifice and pray. It is a prayer of dedication.

Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. – 1 Kings 8:23 GNT

God is looking at my heart.

“Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. He laid hands on children to pray for them. He raised Lazarus from the dead, callng on his Father in prayer. He saved Peter from spiritual hardening, through prayer. He said the temple should be a house of prayer. He taught that some demons could be cast only through prayer. He prayed often and regularly and sometimes all night. The prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane – his prayer – that he wold not have to suffer the cross – was denied. He died praying – crying out in agony, praying for his enemies and giving himself to God.” – Timothy Keller

To live in reality

God said to me, “Mortal man, prophesy to the wind.[a] Tell the wind that the Sovereign Lord commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life.”

So I prophesied as I had been told. Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up. There were enough of them to form an army. – Ezekiel 37:9-10 GNT

A call to speak breath (spirit/wind) so that those who were dead would live.

It was a bold prayer that God challenged Ezekiel to pray and the word of God accomplished the task.

“The second action was tantamount to praying, as Ezekiel besought the Spirit of God to effect the miracle of re-creation, to breathe into man’s nostrils the breath of life (cf. Gen. 2:7). This time the effect was devastating. What preaching by itself failed to achieve, prayer made a reality.” – Taylor

“First, the prophet prophesies to the bones – here is preaching; and next, he prophesies to the four winds – here is praying. The preaching has its share in the work, but it is the praying which achieves the result, for after he had prophesied to the four winds, and not before, the bones began to live.” – Spurgeon

Nehemiah seeks the favor of the emperor to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem through prayer. He used prayer also for protection until the work on the wall was done. Later, Ezra protects people returning to Judah from exile in Babylon through prayer. Both Ezra and Nehemiah repent and seek forgiveness for the sins of the people.” – Timothy Keller