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1 Kings 8 (Part 2) Bible Study (Solomon's Prayer of Dedication/Sacrifices) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  But we do thank you from the bottom of my hearts that we are
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  able to gather as students of your word.
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  And, Lord, we know that apart from the Holy Spirit's power,
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  the transmission of truth cannot go very far.
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  And so we ask with humility and great desire, that there would
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  be an unusual power, a power to deliver this teaching, a power
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  to receive it, more importantly, a power to apply it in our
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  lives. So, Lord, we just ask that this
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  truth that we will study in this chapter will bleed into
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  practical Christian living. Destroy all hesitation to obey.
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  Destroy all distraction. Destroy all bondage, Lord, and
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  may we come out of this session together more alive in Christ
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  than when we entered in. We ask these things believing in
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  the inheritance that we've received in Christ Jesus, the
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  blessed gift of God, the Holy Spirit.
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  In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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  Amen. First Kings chapter 8.
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  Meet me there in verse 22. The Bible throughout from
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  Genesis to Revelation, testifies of men and women of prayer.
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  We read of God, the God of heaven and earth answering
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  prayer. We learn of different types of
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  prayer. We even as Christians, are
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  exhorted by God, through the Holy Spirit, through the vessels
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  of Apostles, to pray, to be prayerful, to make it a practice
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  and a constant unbreakable attitude of ours, to be in a
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  place of constant dependence on the Lord in this thing called
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  prayer. And with all of that, the Holy
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  Spirit in His wisdom has preserved for us actual prayers
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  by certain Saints in holy writ for us to look at and examine to
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  be edified by. And what you and I have before
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  us tonight is one of the greatest prayers in all of the
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  Bible, in that it is one of the longest prayers recorded in the
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  Bible. The prayer that you and I are
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  going to examine carefully is that of Solomon Solomon, who
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  prayed at the dedication of the temple in the presence of God's
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  people with great humility and precision.
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  And the beautiful thing about this prayer is far more than the
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  fact that it is a very lengthy petition.
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  What you and I are going to be blessed by in this account of
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  prayer is is through a detail that is mentioned in a parallel
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  account to the scene in First Kings chapter 8.
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  So I told you to to turn there First Kings 8 but go to the
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  mirroring account in First Chronicles or Second Chronicles
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  rather Chapter 7 and verse one. This is how we should frame our
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  time and studying the supplication made by this king
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  in Second Chronicles 7/1. This is a detail that's not
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  mentioned in First Kings chapter 8, but it's worth highlighting.
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  Here's what we read as soon as Solomon finished his prayer.
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  Fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering, and
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  the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
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  What happened as soon as Solomon finished praying?
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  There is a supernatural manifestation of God's approval
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  of what was prayed for. What do we make of this verse?
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  Very Simply put, God accepted Solomon's request.
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  And why? We should know that at the
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  outset of the study so that you and I can frame our
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  investigation of this text in a way where we realize that we're
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  looking at the words of a man who moved the heart of God.
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  We're looking at the words of a man who uttered things toward
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  heaven and God approved and was pleased to make his acceptance
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  clear and known. And that's good for us to know,
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  because it's one thing to pray. It's one thing to pray.
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  It's another thing to pray and know that God hears.
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  It's one thing to pray and know that God hears and be confident
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  that God can and will answer. We're not merely going to look
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  at this prayer to try to figure out the most favorable and
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  preferable method of prayer, though.
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  There are some ingredients found here that can help us be more
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  effective in that area. More than that, there are
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  several requests that Solomon makes in this one prayer.
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  There are several petitions that he offers to the Lord that are
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  worth looking at in greater detail because when we look at
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  these requests, what we're essentially seeing is the type
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  of request God is willing to hear and work with and move for.
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  And though there are several of them, I want to group them in
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  five, the number 5. I want us to take a majority of
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  this study tonight to look at 5 scenarios, 5 cases, five types
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  of prayer. That God is willing to answer.
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  It's not limited to these five, of course, but these are five
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  that are concerning to Solomon and they should be a source.
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  Of comfort for for us who might need consolation in the very
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  areas that we're going to under score.
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  But before we look at this list of things that God is willing to
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  bend his ear for and actually extend His hand to move for, we
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  want to look at some truths leading up to that.
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  And so let's read the 1st 8 verses together and then break
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  down our thoughts in three PSI. Want you to see that there's
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  going to be 3 PS that will be beneficial for US1P is going to
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  be the posture, the second P is going to be the praise, and the
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  last P is going to be the power of promise.
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  Or you can just. Summarize it with promise.
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  Are you ready? Ready or not?
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  Verse 22 then Solomon. Stood before the altar of the
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  Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and.
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  Spread out his. Hands toward heaven, and said, O
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  Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above, or
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  on earth beneath. Keeping covenant and showing
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  steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all
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  their heart, you have kept with your servant David, my father,
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  what you declare to him. You spoke with your mouth, and
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  with your hand have fulfilled it this day.
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  Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep for your servant
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  David, my father, what you have promised him, saying You shall
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  not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only
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  your sons pay close attention to their way to walk before me, as
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  you have walked before me. Now, therefore, O God of Israel,
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  let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your
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  servant David, my father. But will God indeed dwell on the
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  earth? Behold, heaven and the highest
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  heaven cannot contain you. How much less this house that I
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  have built and have regard to the prayer of your servant, to
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  his plea and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and
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  to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that
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  your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place
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  of which you have said My name shall be there.
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  That you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers
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  toward this place, and listen to the plea of your servant and of
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  your people, Israel, when they pray toward this place, and
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  listen in heaven, your dwelling place.
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  And when you hear forgive. Consider with me tonight the
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  posture of Solomon, verse 22. The Holy Spirit sees it
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  necessary for us to get a physical description of the
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  expression of this man's prayer. What did he do before he uttered
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  a word while we read that he stood?
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  He stood, and he stretched out his hands toward heaven.
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  That's an interesting note, because this is something
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  clearly that we should know about, and it's not to teach
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  that there is one mode of prayer because there are several.
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  There are many, many expressions of humility and brokenness and
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  supplication before God. And so we cannot make a case
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  that there is a better way to pray, that there is a more
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  honorable way to pray, though there are perhaps creative ways
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  of being dishonorable and how we pray.
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  But one thing that we can take comfort in is that this is not
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  prescriptive. This is descriptive, and the
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  scripture doesn't go to great lengths to tell us how we should
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  bend our bodies or lay out or do what we need to do with our
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  physical posture in order to get a better signal with God in our
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  praying. In fact, anybody that would make
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  a case that there is one way to pray has a great problem if they
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  take the instruction of Paul seriously when he said pray
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  without ceasing, how am I supposed to pray without ceasing
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  if there's one specific posture that I must maintain?
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  Paul calls for an unceasing attitude of dependence on God,
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  which then necessitates that what I I have to at all times in
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  my car as I'm at work, as I'm walking, remain in the place of
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  prayer, and God will honor that prayer despite what's happening
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  with my legs or my chin or my hands.
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  If we can take anything from this, it is that it would be a
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  challenge for those who would say that there is only one way
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  to pray. What generally happens when a
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  pastor or leader, or even the head of a house, calls for a
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  people to seek the Lord briefly and inquire of him?
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  What's the reflex? What do people do?
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  Isn't that what happens? They they.
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  They fold their hands and they bend their face.
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  Or they bow their head and they close their eyes.
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  Correct. You will not find that posture
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  once in all of the Bible. Isn't that funny in all this?
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  In all the scripture you will not see an example of somebody
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  bowing their head. Closing their eyes and folding
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  their hands to inquire. God, that's not to say it's
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  wrong. That's not to say it's wrong,
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  but it. Should 'cause people who are
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  critical to be reserved from looking at others who pray
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  differently and to say that's that's not the way you should
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  pray, Even the Lord Jesus himself.
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  What did he do in John 17? He lifted up his eyes toward
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  heaven, and he kept his eyes open when he prayed.
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  And so we read of people who lay prostate.
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  We leave people who sit. We read of people who sit.
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  We lead. We read of people who do many,
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  many different things in the place of prayer.
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  And what's more important to God is the heart posture more than
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  anything else. I wasn't planning to go to this
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  text, but here's a text in the New Testament that calls for
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  instruction of how corporate prayers should look like in
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  first Timothy 28. And what does Paul say?
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  That he calls for men everywhere to pray.
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  And then what's following that thought?
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  Lifting what? Not just hands.
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  Holy hands, Holy hands. So one that's an instruction for
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  how men this is. Remember, this is the order of
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  worship in the corporate sense. Men should be leading meetings,
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  right? But with that, we're told that
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  what? Should happen when the church
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  prays. Now it's not to say woman can't
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  pray. You read 1st Corinthians 11.
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  They are called to pray and in the corporate sense as well holy
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  hands. Paul's not speaking here more
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  about what we should do with our hands, but with what our hands
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  symbolize, our daily interactions and our daily
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  living and activities. Those hands should be and must
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  be holy, holy. And that's what makes prayer
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  effective. It's the holiness of the hands
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  more than the hands being stretched out.
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  And when we come to 1st Kings A, we do see the physical posture
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  of Solomon. Which can express reverence and
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  honor toward the Lord. But there is an emphasis about
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  his heart posture more than his physical posture.
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  Come back to chapter A and notice it with me.
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  Look here at verse 28 at First Kings 8.
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  Notice how he references himself.
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  You have regard to the prayer of who your servant, and to his
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  plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry, to the prayer that
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  your servant prays before you this day.
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  Here's the king of the nation willingly and joyfully calling
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  himself in the presence of God. I'm your servant.
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  I'm not in my prayer bossing you around.
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  I'm not commanding you to do anything.
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  I'm here, Coming. Empty handed Asking if you would
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  be good to answer these prayers and you are good.
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  That's why I'm coming to you in prayer.
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  So posture, posture, Physical posture is mentioned, heart
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  posture is emphasized, and if you are a person who's caught up
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  with how things should look. Do not be critical of those who
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  do lift their hands in worship as people sing.
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  Praise God. That's not the case here.
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  Who would feel the necessity to bend their knee before God?
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  Any of those expressions are totally acceptable as long as
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  they're not distracting. But then we come to praise
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  What's the first thing that Solomon does?
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  What does he do to crack the seal of his supplication?
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  He adores the Lord. Look here again in verse 23 and
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  said, oh Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in
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  heaven above or on earth beneath.
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  So before he asked for anything, he adorns the Lord his God with
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  his praises. He declares his goodness.
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  He declares his uniqueness. He declares that he is
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  incomparable to any other deity or thing.
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  And what's so amazing about this is, is though there isn't again
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  this one formula, this one order of how we should pray God, God
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  invites us to be at liberty and how we express ourselves at the
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  same time. There is wisdom to glean from
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  this. I find that adoration does more
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  than honor God. Let me tell you this adoration
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  is very foreign to people's prayer lives.
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  So this is so, so key and understanding.
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  Adoration does more than just honor God.
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  I find that adoration, both in practice and through principle,
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  in the word of God awakens faith, adoration awakens faith.
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  And you try this. Next time you're in a rut in
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  your prayers. You praise the Lord and and
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  realize that in praising him with your mind, with your heart,
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  with, with thoughtfulness, in your words, with an
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  understanding of who God is in the word of God and what will
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  begin to take place is, there's a sobriety that overcomes you.
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  There's a power that begins to position you to understand the
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  honor of being in that moment. If I find myself getting
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  distracted with task or intrusive thoughts, I pause and
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  I tend to think about who I am speaking to and it doesn't take
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  very long before I realize. What an honor it is to be
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  speaking to this God. What a privilege it is to be in
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  the courts of this King. And so when we praise, it's
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  stimulates reverence and it excites your faith.
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  When you consider who God is, when you consider what He is
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  able to do, His character and His capabilities, you will be
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  rescued from a passionless prayer life.
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  And so we see here that Solomon praises the Lord, and then he
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  goes from praise to another thing that really will help us
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  in our seeking of God, and that's tapping into the promises
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  of God. Notice what he does here in
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  verse 25. Now therefore, O Lord God of
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  Israel, keep for your servant David, my father, what you have
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  promised him, saying you shall not lack a man to sit before me
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  on the throne of Israel if only your sons play.
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  Pay close attention to their way to walk before me as you walk
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  before me. Look at verse 26.
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  Now, therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed.
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  So he's saying it again in a different way.
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  Verse 25. Now, therefore, O Lord, God of
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  Israel, keep for your servant, well, you promised him.
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  Verse 26 Let your word be confirmed.
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  The courage that Solomon had to approach the Lord in this way
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  was because he had to grasp what God had said, what God had done
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  in the past. That was what gave him the
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  boldness to come before the Lord in this way.
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  And that's important because you know how most people view
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  prayer? They view prayer as a way of
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  trying to persuade a reluctant God to do something on their
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  behalf. All right, let's see if God is
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  in a better mood today. Lord, I'm going to stay a little
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  bit longer in prayer, and hopefully this will convince you
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  that I'm worthy to receive the answers to my request.
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  And you know how the Bible presents prayer.
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  Bible presents prayer in the following way.
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  It's really a response to an invitation that God already gave
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  you. To tap into and to access the
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  rewards and the blessings that he wants to pour out on your
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  life, if you see it that way. It makes prayer much more
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  exciting, does it not? God had said some things, and he
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  had given you a key to unlock it, and that key is called
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  prayer. And so as you come to the Lord,
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  you're coming based on something that he had said.
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  And then you're connecting that promise with faith, trusting
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  that the Lord will unlock it and provide it for you at the right
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  time. That's what prayer should look
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  like. As much as we are invoking the
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  Lord, we're also responding to an invitation that he gave in
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  His word. So don't drag your feet to pray
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  when you realize that there is a wealth, there is a treasure
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  waiting to be discovered if you just believe it.
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  And so this this king here is asking Lord, with specific
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  promises, Lord, would you do what you said?
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  Can I ask you a question? When you read the Bible, does it
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  in any way stimulate you to be more prayerful?
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  If you're a consistent student of the word of God, I will make
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  a very bold claim. It should make you more of a
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  prayerful person. If not, maybe you're not
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  studying the Bible, right? Because if what you're hearing,
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  even a Bible study, what you're hearing on Sundays is not 'cause
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  you to be drawn to a personal place of communion with the
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  Lord, you're not hearing it, right?
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  You know, one of the prayers of any person who preaches the word
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  of God should be this. This would be my this would be
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  my my counsel that whatever subject you are declaring, let
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  the goal be this, that it would draw people closer to the Lord
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  Jesus no matter what it is. Even if you're talking through
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  Leviticus, let the word 'cause people to want closer communion
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  with Him, a deeper intimacy with him, And if the.
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  Word is not drawing you toward that place.
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  Maybe you're on the quest for knowledge more than intimacy
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  with the Lord. And there's a big difference.
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  You can tell when somebody has Bible knowledge but doesn't have
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  the knowledge of God's presence in their lives.
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  And it's a sad sight to me. It's a sad sight to me.
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  So we talk about these three PS. There's posture, there is
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  praise, there is the power of promise.
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  But now we come to five types of prayer that God is willing to
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  hear, and they're categorized in these requests.
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  But let's Let's put them under these five headings.
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  If you're taking notes based on what Solomon asked for, the
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  first thing that we could be confident in knowing that God is
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  willing to hear is that He's willing to.
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  Hear and help with difficult, almost impossible matters.
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  Let's read here in verse 31, and depending on what kind of Bible
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  you have, you'll even see how these requests are separated by
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  the way they designed the the format of the text.
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  Look at verse 31. If a man sins against his
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  neighbor and is made to take an oath, and comes and swears his
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  oath before your altar in this house, then hear in heaven and
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  act and judge your servants condemning the guilty by
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  bringing his conduct on his own head and vindicating the
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  righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
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  Here's what Solomon has as a primary concern, justice in the
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  land. And he realizes that what's
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  going to follow naturally are disputes, problems, conflict,
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  relational problems, accusations.
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  He's already dealt with some, and he's planning to see more.
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  And so he asked the Lord for something very specific, because
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  Solomon's aware that there are even some predicaments that are
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  void of eyewitnesses. They were done in private.
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  They were done in secret. They were done without public
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  knowledge. And So what that would demand at
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  this time was that when there was an accusation made against a
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  brother, that brother was called to appear before the temple,
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  before the altar, and make an oath.
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  And to make an oath in that setting was far more than for
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  him to have his conscience pricked.
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  Like how what we see in our courts today where people put
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  their hands on the Bible to make them feel the holiness of that
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  moment, It's far more than that. What we're guaranteed here and
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  based on this prayer, based on what Solomon's asking the Lord,
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  is that when this would happen, God would supernaturally expose
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  the wrongdoer and you would confirm the innocent.
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  How that happened, we are not told.
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  Perhaps the strongest clue we have is through the Urim and the
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  Thummim of the priest, where there would be something
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  revealed to the leadership that would expose the guilty and
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  would confirm the innocent. And so, Solomon asked the Lord,
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  when these situations come about, where it's humanly
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  impossible to find out who's right and who's wrong, would
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  you? Would you make it known?
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  You know what I find so fascinating about what Solomon's
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  asking here? This is a man who, just a few
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  chapters ago, solved A humanly impossible situation, Remember,
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  with two prostitutes came before him, both claiming the life of
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  one child, both blaming that they are the ones who are lying.
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  Remember that And Solomon had wisdom from God to discern who
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  was in the right and who was in the wrong.
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  And this kind of man, who was praised with such heavenly
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  wisdom, sees the need to ask God to do what only he can do.
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  Well, Solomon, you were able to do it, but here's what Solomon
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  believed. No matter what kind of mind get
• 22:28
  God gave me, I still need God. Yeah, no matter.
• 22:33
  What kind of gifting he has provided me?
• 22:35
  I still am in need. Moment by moment, day by day,
• 22:39
  case by case, I need the Lord to intervene.
• 22:43
  I need the Lord to intervene. I can't depend on my strength.
• 22:45
  I can't depend on my history. I can't depend on my track
• 22:48
  record. I can only depend upon the Lord
• 22:51
  providing my daily bread and doing what only He can do.
• 22:54
  I realize that even this mind is given by God, and if he doesn't
• 22:57
  sustain it, He gave it. But if he doesn't sustain it,
• 23:00
  then I will never know true success.
• 23:02
  God has started many things, but because of people's pride, the
• 23:05
  thing that God started wasn't sustained.
• 23:08
  God can start a church miraculously, but if the
• 23:11
  leadership and the people are not remaining humble and
• 23:13
  dependent on God, God will shut that church down.
• 23:15
  He has no problem. He's not concerned about his
• 23:17
  reputation in that sense. He's not concerned about what
• 23:22
  people will say. He's concerned about his name,
• 23:24
  and he's concerned about his people walking in his ways more
• 23:26
  than anything else. When they veer off, he's willing
• 23:29
  to make it very clear that he's not pleased.
• 23:31
  But here's Solomon, at this juncture of his life, realizing
• 23:35
  God, if you don't do it, it's not going to happen.
• 23:38
  So what's the principle behind this?
• 23:40
  What if, Solomon asked him, what is prayer able to unlock?
• 23:43
  Well, it's able to unvault heavenly wisdom, is it not?
• 23:46
  It's able to reveal what is hidden in the dark, bringing it
• 23:49
  to light. It's able to dissent, dismantle
• 23:52
  the deceptive schemes of man. Satan will have a very difficult
• 23:57
  time. Those who have footholds in
• 23:59
  their lives for Satan work through will have a very
• 24:01
  difficult time taking advantage of prayerful people.
• 24:05
  You do not know what you're up against, my friend.
• 24:09
  When you try to come against a Saint of God, a man or woman
• 24:12
  who's in tune with God in prayer, you have no idea what
• 24:15
  you're messing with. Why?
• 24:18
  Because a man who seeks Lord and humility and walks and conscious
• 24:21
  obedience. To him has God on his side, and
• 24:25
  we talked about this a couple weeks ago in Joshua Chapter 9 in
• 24:28
  our prayer meeting, that Joshua and the Israelites of that
• 24:31
  generation were entered into the Promised Land.
• 24:33
  They had a promise. They had God's presence to some
• 24:36
  extent. But in that particular case,
• 24:38
  when the Gibeonites came and deceived them, thinking that
• 24:40
  they were from a faraway land, when in fact they were
• 24:43
  inhabitants of the land of Canaan, they did not.
• 24:47
  The scripture says to Joshua and I, they did not inquire of the
• 24:50
  Lord and they were deceived. That's the reason why they were
• 24:53
  overcome by the lies of the enemy, because they did not
• 24:56
  pause to look at the all the elements and all the
• 24:59
  presentation. Say Lord, is this of you
• 25:01
  implying that if they had prey, they would have been rescued
• 25:04
  from deception? The schemes and the trickery of
• 25:07
  Satan. And so Solomon says here, Lord,
• 25:10
  I'm praying because I believe that in and through this prayer
• 25:14
  you're willing to answer and keep us from being overcome by
• 25:18
  deception, by lies, by doing something unjust, by doing
• 25:21
  something that is missing. The Mark prayer that God is
• 25:26
  willing to hear is 1 that He's able to help with concerning
• 25:31
  matters that seem impossible or difficult.
• 25:33
  But it's more than that. We come here and we read what
• 25:35
  what's next? Look at verse 33.
• 25:38
  When your people are defeated before the enemy because they
• 25:42
  have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and
• 25:45
  acknowledge your name, and pray and plead with you in this
• 25:47
  house, then here in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people
• 25:51
  Israel, and bring them again to the land that you gave to their
• 25:54
  fathers, highlight that. When your people Israel,
• 25:57
  defeated before the enemy. But look here at verse 35.
• 26:01
  This is the same thought when heaven is shut up and there is
• 26:04
  no rain, because they have sinned against you.
• 26:06
  If they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and
• 26:09
  turn from their sin when you afflict them, then here in
• 26:11
  heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants your people
• 26:13
  Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should
• 26:15
  walk. Look here at verse 37.
• 26:18
  If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight
• 26:22
  or mildew or locust or Caterpillar, if their enemy
• 26:25
  besieges them in the land, at the gates, at their gates,
• 26:27
  whatever plague, whatever sickness there is.
• 26:30
  OK, so it seems long winded, but it fits under one category.
• 26:35
  Solomon now begins to describe the potential consequences of
• 26:38
  unrepentant sin and continual rebellion.
• 26:40
  And he knows the word of God very well, because Deuteronomy
• 26:44
  and Leviticus spell out the exact acts of discipline that
• 26:48
  will ensue from the nation who choose to turn their back on
• 26:52
  God. And what Solomon has in mind
• 26:54
  here is that God would answer the prayers of those who are
• 26:59
  enduring the chastisement for their trespass.
• 27:04
  And so here's the. Second type of prayer that God
• 27:06
  is willing to hear and answer. God is willing to hear and
• 27:09
  answer those who pray as they endure the consequences of their
• 27:14
  sin. Why is that important?
• 27:20
  Because for many people sin as they pursue it feel hopeless,
• 27:27
  especially when they are faced with the consequences of their
• 27:30
  actions. Some consequences are more
• 27:32
  severe than others, but sometimes those consequences
• 27:34
  could be so intense and life altering that in in doing that
• 27:39
  they think to themselves and believe.
• 27:41
  Perhaps I've been cut off from God's mercy altogether.
• 27:46
  This is it. I can't see how moving forward
• 27:50
  from this place, I can have God's full favor again, His full
• 27:54
  pleasure over my life again. I am forever scarred with the
• 27:58
  consequence of the sin. I can never undo what my sin has
• 28:01
  done. And Solomon here begins to
• 28:04
  describe the different kind of scenarios that sin can lead the
• 28:08
  people into. But with every scenario, he
• 28:10
  asked the Lord to be able to hear them if they in that moment
• 28:13
  come to their senses, cry out to God, say, oh God, please forgive
• 28:17
  me, please restore me. God is willing to hear the
• 28:22
  prayer of those who have gone so far away from him, so deep in
• 28:27
  darkness, so contrary to the convictions that they once held
• 28:30
  to if they pause and pray and look to the Lord.
• 28:35
  Solomon here, by way of principle, teaches us that God
• 28:38
  is willing to say, I hear you and I will do something about
• 28:42
  your predicament. What kind of sin?
• 28:47
  Notice again. Look here at the end of verse
• 28:48
  37. He says here, whatever plague,
• 28:55
  whatever sickness there is, there is no category of
• 28:58
  wrongdoing, regardless of what kind of judgement it invites
• 29:01
  into your life, that God's grace is unavailable for.
• 29:06
  There's not one single think about that.
• 29:09
  Think about how significant that is.
• 29:13
  And all that is required to reach God in restoration is a
• 29:16
  contrite heart, right? Notice what Solomon says here in
• 29:19
  verse 38. Whatever prayer, whatever plea
• 29:23
  is made by any man or by your people, all your people, Israel.
• 29:27
  Each. Knowing the affliction of his
• 29:28
  own heart and stretching out his hands towards his house, you
• 29:31
  know, he didn't say. Just stretching out his hands
• 29:34
  toward his house. He could have said that.
• 29:36
  Lord, if you see anybody stretching out their hand
• 29:38
  towards his house, hear them. But what is he?
• 29:40
  What is he followed up with? What's preceding That Rather
• 29:43
  says here if they know the affliction in their heart, it's
• 29:49
  not about some external thing that God has to see.
• 29:52
  You've been coming to church 10 weeks in a row.
• 29:55
  I think I'll take you out of the penalty box now.
• 29:58
  That's not how God works. No, it's it begins internally.
• 30:02
  It's the heart that's broken and contrite.
• 30:04
  That is what is required for the Lord to move favorably.
• 30:08
  Again, in your life when you realize this is the mess, that
• 30:11
  this is the offense that I have brought about to the name of
• 30:14
  God. And then when God sees that he's
• 30:16
  willing to do miracles in your life again and bring reversal to
• 30:19
  the mess that you brought into your life again.
• 30:26
  And Solomon here shows that there's still hope and prayer is
• 30:30
  still something that can be utilized even when you don't
• 30:32
  deserve it because of your performance lately.
• 30:36
  So what happens? He says here, please hear them.
• 30:41
  Look at verse 39 very quickly. This is just a side note worth
• 30:43
  mentioning. Then here in heaven your
• 30:46
  dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose
• 30:49
  heart you know according to all his ways.
• 30:51
  Look what's in parentheses here. For you, you only know the
• 30:56
  hearts of all the children of mankind, that they may fear you
• 31:00
  all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our
• 31:04
  fathers. Who's Solomon praying to?
• 31:05
  Who's he praying to? God.
• 31:09
  What's His name? Yahweh.
• 31:12
  And what prerogative, What exclusive ability does he pin on
• 31:16
  Yahweh and Yahweh alone for you? You only what?
• 31:22
  Know the hearts of all the children of mankind.
• 31:27
  That only belongs to you. Only Yahweh can scan the hearts
• 31:29
  of all inhabitants of the lands. The nations, the cities, the
• 31:33
  streets, in the neighborhoods and be able to perfectly
• 31:36
  interpret what's going on in their hearts.
• 31:38
  That's powerful, what said. Of Jesus, let me remind you in
• 31:44
  Revelation 2 as Jesus speaks through John to a particular
• 31:48
  church, and he mentions this in verse 23 concerning Christ and
• 31:52
  Revelation 223 as a warning to them who thought that they can
• 31:56
  live and sin, We're told that Christ in his love for his
• 32:00
  church. Says the following in Revelation
• 32:02
  223 and I will strike her children dead.
• 32:06
  Speaking of Jezebel in the church, the spirit of Jezebel in
• 32:09
  the church and all the churches will know.
• 32:11
  Look what Jesus says. I am he.
• 32:14
  Who searches mind and heart? And I will give to each one of
• 32:19
  you according to your works. So Christ claims to be able to
• 32:24
  do what only Yahweh is able to do, and that's search the hearts
• 32:27
  and minds of men and be able to give the specific reward or
• 32:31
  punishment in accordance with the cleanliness or the
• 32:35
  corruption in that heart. If you want another verse to add
• 32:38
  to your arsenal, it's Jeremiah 1710.
• 32:41
  Notice what's said about the Lord.
• 32:43
  Again Yahweh and Jeremiah 17. 10 And and connect that with how
• 32:47
  Christ is spoken of, and how Christ speaks of himself in the
• 32:50
  New Testament. Here's Jeremiah 1710.
• 32:52
  I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind to give every
• 32:59
  man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his
• 33:02
  deeds. Isn't that what he said to the
• 33:04
  church? He said it.
• 33:06
  Let me read it to you again. I am E who searches mind and
• 33:08
  heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
• 33:13
  Well, Yahweh said that in Jeremiah.
• 33:14
  Solomon said that that belongs to the Lord alone.
• 33:17
  And Jesus comes and says I can do that.
• 33:20
  Why? Because Jesus is Yahweh, that's
• 33:23
  why. Just a side note.
• 33:27
  So we see here that Solomon believe that God will hear
• 33:31
  prayer of those who endure the consequences of sin.
• 33:33
  But that's that's not it #3. Let's come again back to first
• 33:37
  Kings eight. Look at verse 41.
• 33:42
  Likewise when a foreigner Solomon says who is not of.
• 33:46
  Your people. Israel comes from a far country
• 33:49
  for your name's sake, for they shall hear of your great name
• 33:53
  and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm, when he
• 33:56
  comes and prays toward this house here in heaven your
• 33:59
  dwelling place, And do according to all for which the foreigner
• 34:03
  cost you, in order that all the peoples of the.
• 34:06
  Earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people
• 34:09
  Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have
• 34:12
  built is called by your name. So now Solomon.
• 34:16
  Zooms from his people, from the people of Israel.
• 34:19
  Zooms out and considers the alien that extraterrestrial
• 34:23
  aliens, foreigners and neighboring nations who worship
• 34:28
  heathen gods. But at some point come to their
• 34:30
  senses and realize that's the true God.
• 34:32
  And I want to know this God. I want to pray to this God.
• 34:35
  And so Solomon now is very much in tune with the heart of God.
• 34:38
  He he knows God's word enough to realize that God has a heart for
• 34:42
  the Gentiles. Even here, God has a heart for
• 34:45
  the neighboring nations. Don't get into this false notion
• 34:48
  that Jesus in the New Testament introduces grace for the
• 34:51
  Gentiles. Whereas God in the Old Testament
• 34:54
  was hesitant and it wasn't in his mind, God always had the
• 34:57
  Gentiles in mind in electing the nation of Israel, making a
• 35:00
  covenant with them. That covenant with Israel was
• 35:03
  not an end in itself, it was a means to a different end.
• 35:06
  Israel was raised up to be a nation.
• 35:08
  Yes, God in his sovereignty has the right to choose any nation
• 35:11
  and to deal specially with that nation.
• 35:13
  But we see in this book that God through the election of Israel,
• 35:17
  wanted to bless all the families of the earth, and he wanted this
• 35:21
  house, even in the old covenant, to be a House of prayer for what
• 35:24
  all peoples, all nations. You read about Jesus and Isaiah
• 35:28
  49, where we're told of the servant of the Lord that it was
• 35:31
  too light of a thing to redeem Jacob alone.
• 35:34
  I will make you a light to the nations, and you will go, and
• 35:36
  you'll redeem the. The coastlands and everybody
• 35:39
  else across the world. So we see, This is why you need
• 35:43
  to know the Old Testament. And the more you study and the
• 35:46
  more you learn about it, the more you realize that there is a
• 35:49
  consistent thread with the character, nature and the will
• 35:52
  of God. You think about the Black Hebrew
• 35:55
  Israelites. Have you seen these guys on the
• 35:56
  streets? Yeah.
• 35:57
  OK, so you know what I'm talking about.
• 35:59
  If not, I encourage you not to Google them.
• 36:02
  You might run into them if you walk in any major city long
• 36:04
  enough downtown or something. These guys believe that one,
• 36:08
  they are the true nation of Israel, that they are the true
• 36:10
  people of God, and in their theology, they're called in
• 36:14
  their theology. They totally deny that God has
• 36:17
  any favorable will for the Gentiles.
• 36:21
  So what do you do as a Christian when you meet these kind of
• 36:23
  people who believe these things? And by the way, it's getting
• 36:25
  greater popularity, especially for African Americans and those
• 36:30
  from that background. What do you do when you're
• 36:34
  confronted with that and they quote scripture about how
• 36:35
  Gentiles will bow before the Jews and how Israel rise above
• 36:38
  all their nations? What do you need to know your
• 36:40
  Hebrew Scriptures? You need to show from the Hebrew
• 36:42
  scriptures they'll deny the New Testament.
• 36:44
  Show from the Hebrew Scriptures this is what the God of the
• 36:47
  nation of Israel, the true nation of Israel, has in mind
• 36:51
  for Gentiles, not just for that people.
• 36:54
  So Solomon had the mind of God in this, and this is the request
• 36:57
  that he makes. So what's the principle here?
• 37:00
  Here's point number three of the kind of prayers that God is
• 37:02
  willing to hear. God is willing to hear any man
• 37:05
  who comes to him. God is willing to hear any man
• 37:08
  who comes to him. That's the truth from this
• 37:11
  request. And this shows that the Lord
• 37:14
  does not discriminate based on personal history, current
• 37:18
  status, spiritual heritage, or any other measure that might
• 37:22
  make us as humans, even dear Christians, to look at somebody
• 37:26
  and to evaluate through human standards whether or not they
• 37:29
  are worthy enough to be used by God in a special way, to be
• 37:33
  heard by God favorably. How do you modernize that?
• 37:37
  Well, you have some people, honestly, who might think you
• 37:40
  know the descendant of a Christian family will receive
• 37:44
  God's favor more than a guy like me who escaped from a heathen
• 37:47
  family and decided to align myself with the truth.
• 37:50
  Because who am I in comparison to somebody who has that kind of
• 37:55
  background That might not mean much to you, the point that I'm
• 37:58
  presenting to you because most of us in here grew up in the
• 38:00
  church. Most of us.
• 38:02
  Not all of us. But I'm telling you what I'm
• 38:03
  saying, I'm sure will bring great comfort and joy to the
• 38:06
  person who has a criminal record.
• 38:09
  Person who's been raised by parents who were involved in
• 38:13
  witchcraft and taught their kids to blasphemy.
• 38:15
  The true. God.
• 38:18
  God is willing to, if you just simply humble yourself and
• 38:21
  acknowledge him as the true God, receive you, hear you.
• 38:25
  And in this case, Solomon, I'm sure, blew some people's minds
• 38:30
  who are unfamiliar with the heart of God.
• 38:32
  Psalm is actually asking God to do something of blessing those
• 38:36
  who are not in covenant by way of inheritance.
• 38:38
  Wow. Wow.
• 38:43
  And so no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no
• 38:45
  matter what you've done, if you're washing the blood, you're
• 38:50
  no greater than the greatest Saints that the Church has ever
• 38:52
  known. You have same access to God.
• 38:56
  You have the same privilege and promises to you.
• 38:58
  And this is what Solomon is asking the Lord to do, knowing
• 39:02
  that the Lord was somebody who is willing to answer it. #4 the
• 39:07
  4th kind of prayer that God is willing to hear and answer.
• 39:10
  God is willing to hear us as we face adversity and danger.
• 39:14
  Notice what's said in verse 44, the situation, the circumstance
• 39:18
  that Solomon presents. If your people go out to battle
• 39:21
  against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, that's
• 39:25
  an important thing to highlight even at this time.
• 39:29
  Whenever Israel was engaged in war, it had to be commanded by
• 39:32
  God. They didn't have the freedom to
• 39:33
  go and lay siege of different lands and bring conquest into.
• 39:38
  They did not have that kind of right.
• 39:41
  So that's an important text to make note of if your people.
• 39:43
  Go out to battle against their enemy by whatever way you shall
• 39:47
  send them. It has to be divinely ordained,
• 39:51
  so keep that in mind when people criticize the God of the Old
• 39:53
  Testament as being genocidal. Keep that in mind for the idea
• 39:57
  that the people of God who in the Old Testament did engage in
• 40:02
  wars, we're not doing so with liberty and with subjective
• 40:05
  reasonings. They took it from a righteous
• 40:08
  and holy God who knew when to attack and when to bring about
• 40:13
  discipline to a people who deserve it by whatever way you
• 40:17
  shall send them. And they pray to the Lord toward
• 40:21
  the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built
• 40:24
  for your name. Then here in heaven their prayer
• 40:27
  and their plea, and maintain their cause.
• 40:29
  So now Psalm has something in mind even when our army is out
• 40:32
  in battle and they are at a great distance from the House of
• 40:35
  God. Lord, would you consider the
• 40:37
  request as they turn their face toward the House of worship and
• 40:40
  implore and inquire for your intervention?
• 40:44
  Prayer brings assistance to us in adversity and in the face of
• 40:48
  many dangers. And what I love about what
• 40:51
  Solomon is saying here is that he himself, even as a military
• 40:55
  leader, as a king, did not believe that human, you know,
• 40:59
  resources and abilities where salvation comes from, no matter
• 41:03
  what kind of thing you got going on, no matter what kind of
• 41:06
  network you have, no matter what kind of connections deliverance
• 41:09
  is of the Lord solution comes from the sovereign God.
• 41:15
  The best results come from the one who can only do the best
• 41:19
  possible outcome in any given situation, and this is what
• 41:23
  Solomon is asking for. Lord, even with our army we
• 41:25
  don't put our trust. In the arm of the flesh, we're
• 41:27
  asking even in this very physical reality, would you
• 41:29
  intervene and make away And the principle?
• 41:33
  We're not called to any holy war.
• 41:35
  We're not called to engage in any physical battle.
• 41:37
  Our battle is not against flesh and blood.
• 41:40
  Here's the principle. No matter what kind of because
• 41:43
  we do have an enemy and there is warfare.
• 41:44
  And no matter what kind of situation presents itself
• 41:47
  against you, you can pray and believe that God will find the
• 41:51
  best way to give you victory in it, the best way.
• 41:57
  The praying man is out of advantage.
• 41:59
  I said earlier that Satan has at a greater disadvantage when he's
• 42:02
  up against a praying woman, a praying man, a praying mom, a
• 42:04
  praying father, praying church. So let me flip it.
• 42:08
  You are at a great the greatest advantage when you know how to
• 42:11
  call upon the Lord and everything and for all things.
• 42:13
  May I remind you of Ahithophel when it was told to David while
• 42:17
  he was in exile. This man, whose words were like
• 42:20
  the oracles of God, has chosen to divorce himself from you,
• 42:23
  David. And line up with your rebellious
• 42:25
  son, Absalom. Humanly speaking, David would
• 42:29
  have been finished. And one of my favorite prayers
• 42:33
  in all of the Bible is what prayer?
• 42:35
  The prayer David prayed in that moment when he learned we're in
• 42:38
  trouble. What did he did?
• 42:40
  He sighed. A prayer, O Lord, turned the
• 42:43
  wisdom of Ahithophel. Into what Foolishness.
• 42:47
  Foolishness. Did God answer that prayer?
• 42:49
  He did answer that prayer. Whatever was presented to
• 42:53
  Absalom was rejected by Absalom, and God did even more than what
• 42:58
  prayer, What David pray for Ahithophel was eliminated as a
• 43:02
  threat for the rest of David's life.
• 43:05
  You know what that teaches. Let me remind you from that
• 43:07
  Bible study that teaches that a man of prayer is at a greater
• 43:10
  advantage in the most brilliant mind.
• 43:13
  That's what that teaches the man of prayer.
• 43:16
  The woman of prayer is at a greater advantage than the
• 43:19
  strongest man, the richest man, the smartest man.
• 43:23
  When God finds a man who is praying, he is the strongest.
• 43:29
  And this is what Solomon believed, even with his standing
• 43:32
  army. Lord, if it's if it ever comes
• 43:35
  to the point that this would happen, please hear our prayers
• 43:39
  and the prayers of your people when they call upon you.
• 43:40
  And we read of stories in kings where certain kings believe that
• 43:44
  Hezekiah right ASA where they ask the Lord.
• 43:48
  The Lord came through and brought about victory and it is
• 43:51
  rooted in this. Lastly, what kind of prayers is
• 43:55
  God willing to answer? What kind of things is God
• 43:57
  willing to do in prayer? God is willing to hear the
• 44:00
  prayer of one man on behalf of so many others.
• 44:04
  You're not going to see that based on what I'm about to read,
• 44:07
  but you will in a moment. This is the longest portion of
• 44:11
  Dave, or rather Solomon's Petition in this one prayer.
• 44:15
  It's from verse 46 down to verse 53.
• 44:19
  I'm not going to read all of it, but let me read the first few if
• 44:22
  they sin against you. So now he revisits his idea of
• 44:25
  sin. Solomon seems to be very
• 44:26
  concerned of the future spiritual state of the nation of
• 44:28
  Israel, and here's why. Look what he says.
• 44:32
  For there is no one who does not sin.
• 44:34
  He's aware of human frailty and faithlessness.
• 44:39
  And you are angry with them, and give them to an enemy, so that
• 44:41
  they are carried away, captive to the land of the enemy, far
• 44:45
  off or near. Yet if they turn their heart in
• 44:47
  the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and
• 44:51
  plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, We have
• 44:54
  sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly.
• 44:57
  If they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in
• 45:01
  the land of their enemies who carried them captive, and pray
• 45:03
  to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the
• 45:06
  city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for
• 45:09
  your name, we'll stop there. So the the situation that
• 45:14
  Solomon has in mind, because you already talked about the
• 45:15
  consequences of sin, now he speaks about the worst of the
• 45:18
  worst outcomes. Exile.
• 45:21
  You couldn't get any lower than that as the people of.
• 45:23
  God. Because this land was promised,
• 45:25
  there was so much promise of security and longevity for
• 45:28
  generations to come. But Solomon understood that
• 45:32
  there is there was a time that could come where the people
• 45:35
  could sow sin against God, and so where At his.
• 45:37
  Patience, the Lord says, I'm bringing a nation, You're out of
• 45:40
  here, And this is what Solomon asked.
• 45:43
  Lord, even in the land of their captors, whatever generation
• 45:46
  that might happen in, even in the land of captivity, would you
• 45:50
  hear their prayers if they turn their face towards Jerusalem and
• 45:52
  implore and seek. You with a repentant heart
• 45:56
  question. Do you ever see in the Old
• 46:00
  Testament a situation, whether that be the Assyrian exile that
• 46:06
  took over the north or the Babylonian exile that took over
• 46:09
  the South, where the nation of Israel cried out to the Lord in
• 46:12
  this way while they were in exile?
• 46:18
  You got it. Did you hear it?
• 46:23
  You'd be hard pressed to find a national movement during
• 46:27
  captivity where the people as a whole, or at least a large
• 46:30
  population, remember the words of Solomon and cried out in
• 46:34
  order to be restored to their home.
• 46:36
  But he speaks about them in the plural, does he?
• 46:38
  Not if they turn their heart. Verse 47 verse 40.
• 46:42
  Eight if they. Repent with all their mind.
• 46:45
  The only instance that you see of a fulfillment of this is with
• 46:48
  one man. Who's that man?
• 46:50
  You heard it, Daniel. Go to that chapter very quickly.
• 46:54
  We're almost done here, Daniel. Chapter nine.
• 46:55
  Look at the first few verses. I love Daniel.
• 47:01
  Not for the obvious reasons why. I have a friend and we were
• 47:11
  talking about, he's a dear brother in the Lord and we were
• 47:14
  talking about how we were named. And and he told me he said my
• 47:18
  father was planning to call me Daniel.
• 47:21
  And I said, really? And he goes, yeah, But then he
• 47:22
  didn't want me to have to live with that burden, to live up to
• 47:25
  such a name. And so he named me a different
• 47:27
  name. I thought, oh gosh, I don't even
• 47:29
  think about for that my name. But Daniel is a profound person
• 47:34
  in the scriptures and we see him praying at a certain point in
• 47:39
  his life. He's always praying throughout
• 47:40
  the book of Daniel. But look at this in verse one of
• 47:42
  chapter nine in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahusurus
• 47:47
  by descent Amede. Who has made?
• 47:49
  King over the realm of the Chaldeans in the first year of
• 47:52
  his reign. I Daniel perceived in the books
• 47:56
  the number of years that according to the word of the
• 47:59
  Lord to Jeremiah, the prophet must pass before the end of the
• 48:03
  desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years.
• 48:06
  I love Daniel. We know Daniel to be a man of
• 48:09
  prayer, man of conviction. But you know what?
• 48:12
  You can add something to this man's example.
• 48:15
  He was a man who knew the Bible. Daniel studied the Bible, and we
• 48:20
  see here that Daniel studied. He perceived other translations,
• 48:23
  say there in verse two, that he understood the books.
• 48:27
  He didn't just read it. He sought to master it and to
• 48:30
  seek its applications in his life.
• 48:32
  And this is what? He realized Jeremiah divine
• 48:36
  revelation revealed in Jeremiah 25 that the Exile will last 70
• 48:39
  years and Daniel's been doing some math work.
• 48:41
  We're leading up to 70 years again.
• 48:46
  Does the Bible fuel your prayer life?
• 48:48
  Because it does for Daniel. He understood what was said,
• 48:51
  right? And this is fascinating.
• 48:52
  This is prophecy. This is an eternal decree by
• 48:55
  God. You would think that if there's
• 48:56
  anything that you would read in the Bible that would not cause
• 48:59
  you to make any actions or response, it would be prophecy.
• 49:02
  What can you do about it? God said it's going to happen,
• 49:05
  so just enjoy the ride. That's not how Daniel understood
• 49:08
  prophecy. He understood prophecy and he
• 49:10
  goes, oh, I better get praying. Let me ask God to fulfill this.
• 49:16
  It's incredible how this man thought so.
• 49:19
  He seeks the Lord, right? And look here, verse 3.
• 49:20
  Then I turn my faith. Then I.
• 49:23
  What do you mean turned your faith?
• 49:24
  You're in Babylon. What do you think he's turned
• 49:26
  his face to? Then I turn my face to the Lord
• 49:30
  God, seeking him by prayer and please for mercy, with fasting
• 49:35
  and southcloth and ashes. Daniel is doing this out of a
• 49:40
  response of what he read in Jeremiah.
• 49:42
  Only Jeremiah. Do you think he just knew
• 49:44
  Jeremiah? No.
• 49:45
  He knew first Kings chapter 8 and he knew Solomon prayed and
• 49:49
  God answered by fire, saying, I approve that these requests.
• 49:52
  Solomon said that whenever his people would be in captivity,
• 49:55
  that if they repent with all their heart, turn their face
• 49:58
  toward the House of God, and seek the Lord, he's willing to
• 50:01
  bring them home. One man, not the whole nation.
• 50:08
  He doesn't call for the remnant to seek the Lord by himself.
• 50:13
  He bends his knee. He puts on sackcloth and ashes,
• 50:17
  and he seeks the Lord on behalf of his people.
• 50:18
  When you read this prayer, it's one of the great prayers of the
• 50:20
  Bible as well. He includes himself.
• 50:23
  We have sinned. We have sinned.
• 50:27
  You know how significant that is?
• 50:28
  Daniel was a man. He was imperfect.
• 50:30
  But try to find a recorded fault in Daniel's life.
• 50:32
  In his book, try. And yet this man says, we, we,
• 50:39
  we and God heard that prayer. God honor that prayer.
• 50:43
  God preserved that prayer. And so I make the point that
• 50:46
  here's a man who prayed a prayer that really belonged to the
• 50:48
  nation, called the nation to respond to, and he did it on his
• 50:52
  own, on behalf of the nation. And God is willing to hear a
• 50:55
  man, even if that man prays for a country, even that man prays
• 51:00
  for a church. Even if a man prays for a city,
• 51:03
  God will honor that one man's prayer.
• 51:07
  That's powerful. Can we stay with Daniel a little
• 51:11
  bit? Because I really like him.
• 51:14
  Think about it. We heard from Pastor Daniel when
• 51:17
  he spoke out of Daniel at a couple of Sundays in a row, or
• 51:23
  where Daniel was believed to be around how old When he came into
• 51:26
  Babylon. He was a teenager, probably
• 51:29
  around 15 years old, very zealous in Daniel.
• 51:32
  Chapter one, right? I mean, as a teenager he stood
• 51:34
  his ground and he had zeal and passion and conviction.
• 51:38
  And now based on Daniel Chapter 9, we read that 70 years, close
• 51:41
  to 70 years passes by, which would make Daniel.
• 51:43
  What if we believe he was 15 in Daniel chapter one close to 85?
• 51:49
  Is there any aversion, any dilution to his zeal?
• 51:59
  He remained constant, just as passionate, just as solid.
• 52:04
  Just as trusting in God, just as Worshipful as an 85 year old
• 52:09
  man. So don't buy the lie that the
• 52:12
  older you get, things become more familiar and you're just
• 52:14
  going to cool off. That's not Daniel.
• 52:17
  He didn't cool off. He just burned brighter.
• 52:20
  He he was stronger in his faith and so he comes before the Lord.
• 52:25
  And what do you think happened from Daniel chapter one to
• 52:27
  Daniel Chapter 9? Do you think he just sat in the
• 52:29
  same room for 70 years? No kingdoms came and went.
• 52:34
  Government shifted. He only received greater and
• 52:37
  greater promotion. And with all the promotion, all
• 52:40
  the accolades, all the shifts around, one thing didn't change.
• 52:43
  This man's prayer life. This man's prayer life did not
• 52:48
  shift. Rulers shifted.
• 52:52
  His financial and social status changed.
• 52:56
  One thing didn't change even when a law was given.
• 52:59
  If you pray in these next 30 days.
• 53:03
  You'll be killed and he just all right time to pray.
• 53:07
  And he just went and prayed. I love Daniel.
• 53:11
  You know what he could have done?
• 53:12
  What many Christians would have done.
• 53:14
  I just 30 days. Some Christians have gone longer
• 53:16
  without praying without any law. I just 30 days.
• 53:22
  I'll just wait till it's done. And I don't want to step on
• 53:24
  anybody's toes. You know I'm a high-ranking
• 53:26
  official of course. And Romans 13, right?
• 53:29
  Obey the government. Now be the government.
• 53:32
  Now we come to concluding thoughts in First Kings Chapter
• 53:35
  8. It's a long chapter.
• 53:41
  Solomon provides First Kings 52 a summary of what he's trying to
• 53:45
  say. First Kings 852.
• 53:49
  This is one way we can wrap up the kinds of prayer that God is
• 53:53
  willing to hear and answer verse 52.
• 53:56
  Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the
• 53:59
  plea of your people, Israel. Giving ear to them whenever they
• 54:03
  call to you, Lord, just as a general request, whenever they
• 54:07
  call. Upon you would you just answer?
• 54:09
  And God answered by fire, he goes, I'm willing, I'm willing.
• 54:12
  Now look at these last things that Solomon says he He begins
• 54:15
  to now turn and give a benediction to the people in
• 54:17
  verse 54. So now as Solomon finished
• 54:20
  offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from
• 54:23
  before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands
• 54:25
  outstretched to heaven. Anything pop out to you in that
• 54:27
  verse? Who said it?
• 54:31
  He knelt. How did he start?
• 54:34
  At some point, based on how the text flows, At some point he
• 54:37
  began standing with his hands stretched out, and he felt the
• 54:41
  weightiness of that moment, and he began to go to his knees.
• 54:47
  So he started on his feet. He ended on his knees.
• 54:50
  It's a picture of growing submission in the place of
• 54:52
  prayer. So he gets out of off his knees.
• 54:56
  He turns to the people, and he stood again in verse 55 And he
• 55:00
  stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud
• 55:02
  voice, saying, Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his
• 55:05
  people, Israel according to all that he promised.
• 55:08
  Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke
• 55:12
  by Moses, his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as
• 55:16
  he was with our fathers. May not leave us or forsake us,
• 55:20
  that He may incline our hearts to Him to walk in all His ways,
• 55:23
  and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His rules,
• 55:26
  which He commanded our fathers. Now look at this in verse 59.
• 55:30
  Let these words of mine with which I have pleaded before the
• 55:33
  Lord be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he
• 55:38
  maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his
• 55:41
  people, Israel, as each day requires.
• 55:44
  This was Solomon's wish. Lord, this great prayer that
• 55:47
  I've prayed as humbly as I could.
• 55:49
  Pray it as specifically as I could pray it.
• 55:52
  Lord, may these words stay near to you day and night, day and
• 55:57
  night, day and night. And what was a wish for Solomon
• 56:06
  is later revealed to be a reality for all the Saints.
• 56:10
  When you go to Revelation 5/8 you learn that this the Saints
• 56:14
  and their prayers, more specifically that come up before
• 56:16
  the throne of God, are preserved by God in golden bowls of
• 56:20
  incense. I just love that thought.
• 56:23
  That what? Solomon really longed.
• 56:25
  For God reveals, not only do I remember them, it's a sweet
• 56:29
  fragrance to me. You know what's important to me?
• 56:31
  I forget some of the prayers I've prayed.
• 56:34
  God doesn't. Sometimes we see our prayers as
• 56:38
  just fanciful thinking, and if we throw enough of them up
• 56:42
  there, one of them will eventually be caught by the
• 56:44
  Lord. One of them will land at the
• 56:45
  foot of His throne. That's not how God sees it.
• 56:47
  Every prayer that's been prayed in sincerity of heart and
• 56:49
  truthfulness has been reserved preserved as an aroma.
• 56:53
  To him, that's incredible, Psalmist says Lord.
• 56:57
  Would it be close to you? Revelation says, not only is it
• 56:59
  close to me, I put it in this golden display, and I enjoy
• 57:07
  knowing that you depend on me day and night.
• 57:14
  Solomon here in verse 61 says, Let your heart speaking to the
• 57:23
  people, therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God walking in
• 57:28
  His statutes and keeping His commandments as at this day.
• 57:35
  Go back to how Solomon began his prayer in verse 23.
• 57:38
  O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above
• 57:41
  or on earth beneath. And what is the one thing that
• 57:43
  he highlights in terms of his incomparable greatness?
• 57:48
  Keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants
• 57:52
  who walk before you with all their heart.
• 57:53
  The thing that caused Solomon's heart to praise him as his
• 57:56
  faithfulness, his steadfast commitment to those who walk
• 58:00
  before him. And how does Solomon end this?
• 58:04
  He ends this by turning to the people with a benediction.
• 58:06
  It says God has been faithful to you.
• 58:10
  You be faithful to God. That's what he says.
• 58:14
  Let your heart, you know God's heart.
• 58:15
  You heard about God's heart now. Let your heart therefore be
• 58:18
  wholly true to the Lord our God. And that's how he closes this
• 58:23
  segment of the dedication. For the remaining of the chapter
• 58:27
  he performs great acts of sacrifices.
• 58:30
  Thousands upon thousands of the greatest of beasts were slain to
• 58:33
  the point where they could not even put it on the altar.
• 58:35
  They had to dedicate a whole section of the outer court so
• 58:38
  that they can lay out all these animals and give something of
• 58:41
  great worth to the Lord. And they celebrate the Feast of
• 58:44
  Tabernacles. In verse 66 we read on the
• 58:48
  eighth day. He sent the people away, and
• 58:50
  they blessed the king and went to their homes, joyful and glad
• 58:54
  of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to
• 58:56
  David, his servant, and to Israel, his people.
• 58:59
  Here's the little thought that sprung in my heart when I read
• 59:01
  this today. I thought, Lord.
• 59:03
  In the same way that the people left your house, glad of heart,
• 59:06
  filled with joy, shouldn't it be true every single Sunday?
• 59:10
  Shouldn't it be every Sunday? We should leave here no matter
• 59:13
  how we came in? Filled with joy, Filled with a
• 59:14
  revelation of the goodness of God, bringing laughter to our
• 59:18
  soul. Holy laughter.
• 59:20
  And knowing who it is that we serve.
• 59:25
  And Solomon now finished speaking to God.
• 59:28
  And in Chapter 9, God is going to speak to Solomon.
• 59:32
  Let's pray. Let's pray.
• 59:42
  We heard about prayer. If you want to lift up holy
• 59:47
  hands, you can lift up holy hands.
• 59:48
  If you want your eyes to be open to heaven, your eyes can be open
• 59:51
  toward heaven. If you want to bow your head and
• 59:53
  close your eyes, what's more important is your heart in this
• 59:56
  moment as you were speaking to the living God.
• 59:59
  The same God of Solomon, the same God of David, same God of
• 1:00:03
  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the same God of Paul, the same God
• 1:00:05
  of Peter. James and John is the same God
• 1:00:08
  who hears us today. Father, we thank you that we get
• 1:00:12
  to be in your house tonight and we pray that the deposit these
• 1:00:17
  people had at the end of this dedication, service of great
• 1:00:19
  joy, gladness of heart would be our portion as well.
• 1:00:24
  We ask, oh Lord, that we would be rekindled and rejuvenated in
• 1:00:29
  the place of prayer, and knowing that you're willing to hear,
• 1:00:32
  knowing that the access we have with our request and our
• 1:00:35
  circumstances are far beyond what we can imagine.
• 1:00:39
  And Lord, whatever circumstance any person finds himself in
• 1:00:42
  today, whether they're in need of help, whether they're in need
• 1:00:45
  of restoration with you, whether they're in need of wisdom or
• 1:00:48
  clarity, Lord, may they not fail to look to you in the place of
• 1:00:52
  prayer. In all things, and for all
• 1:00:54
  things, believing that you will answer, and believing that you
• 1:00:58
  will come through and that you will be glorified in it, Would
• 1:01:01
  you make us a people of prayer? Would you make us Lord years
• 1:01:05
  from now, people who have not changed in their conviction and
• 1:01:07
  practice of seeking you sweetly and desperately at times, make
• 1:01:12
  us like Daniel. Make us like this man who
• 1:01:15
  whenever he engaged with the word of God, it just added fuel
• 1:01:17
  to the fire of his personal intimacy with you.
• 1:01:21
  Oh Lord, make us like Daniel, that no matter what changes come
• 1:01:23
  to our country, to our own worlds, to the world at large,
• 1:01:27
  that one thing would not change, and that's our posture of
• 1:01:30
  humility before you. In the place of prayer, Lord, we
• 1:01:34
  look to you and we ask make this church a prayer church.
• 1:01:38
  Keep us as a praying church, and may we see the fruit of our
• 1:01:41
  prayers. Thank you.
• 1:01:42
  That even now, what is happening now is that you are collecting
• 1:01:45
  every prayer that's being offered in every heart.
• 1:01:48
  And you are securing them and sealing them as a sweet trophy
• 1:01:53
  before your throne. What a mighty God we serve.
• 1:01:56
  We crown you with our praise and adoration.
• 1:01:58
  In Jesus name we pray. Amen and Amen.
• 1:02:01
  O Saints, it's so great to see so many of you on a Friday
• 1:02:05
  night. You bless my heart.
• 1:02:07
  More importantly, you bless the heart of God.
• 1:02:08
  Let's stand now in the presence of the Lord.
• 1:02:10
  Sing to the living God. Honor him and worship on a
• 1:02:12
  Friday night. He's worthy, worthy of more than
• 1:02:16
  just a Sunday afternoon. He's worthy of day and night
• 1:02:19
  worship.