1 Kings Bible Study | Chapter 8 | Mike Prah

Jul 7, 2021 | by Mike Prah

HOW TO PRAY ANSWERABLE PRAYERS

KING SOLOMON PRAYER OF DEDICATION – 1 Kings 8:22-53

Mike Prah

The Five Keys to Answered Prayer

1. Ask God in prayer
2. Have faith in God
3. Seek God's will
4. Strive to obey God
5. Pray in Jesus' name

What is Effective, Answerable  Prayer?

• Prayer is more than just going to God with your wish list.
• Prayer is having intimate fellowship with God through Jesus, where we come with alignment with the Father's loving heart and divine purposes for our lives.
• Prayer is about getting yourself in close fellowship with God, where God has access to your life to make you a change agent for the things He wants to accomplish in your lifetime in this generation.
• Prayer becomes the avenue where I avail myself to God that He may hook me up to what He wants to accomplish.

HOW TO PRAY ANSWERABLE PRAYERS

INTRODUCTION

The theme of Solomon's dedicatory prayer is that God had seen fit to honor His word, first in continuing the line of David, and second, in accepting the prayers of his people and in granting forgiveness. Solomon prays, in effect, that God will always recognize the temple as the way for sinful humanity to approach a holy God. His desire that God might continue to be gracious to the dynasty of David and the people of Israel.

 1) Acknowledgment of God's Sovereignty & Faithfulness ( 1 Kings 8:23-24)

2) Prayer for Continual, Generational Blessings (1 Kings 8:25-26)

Solomon prays for blessing upon David's dynasty. Solomon's confidence in prayer is bolstered by previously answered prayer ( 8:25c). The first basis for confidence or faith in prayer is past answered prayer(s). The second basis is God's own promises (8:25-26; cf., Ex 32:13)

3) Prayer for God's Care and Attention (8:28-30)

The expression "give attention" (vs. 28), "eyes open toward" (vs. 29). Emphasis on "hear" (4x).

4) Prayer of Justice for the Innocent (8:31-32)

5) Prayer for Forgiveness (8:33-40)

True forgiveness involves repentance. Repentance is changing your mind. It involves turning from wrong and turning to God. Notice the words "turn back/from" (vs.33,35, 38).

6) Prayer that Unbelievers (Gentiles) Might Desire to Know God through the working in and through Believers (8:41-43)

7) Prayer for Victory in Time of Trouble (8:44-45)

8) Prayer for Restoration after Captivity (8:46-51)

9) Prayer for Continuous Care Until the Complete Fulfillment of His Purpose (8:52-53)

1 Kings 8:22-53 (New International Version)

Solomon's Prayer of Dedication

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said:

 "Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my Father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

 25 "Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, 'You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.' 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my Father come true.

 27 "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, 'My Name shall be there,' so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

 31 "When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, 32 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.

 33 "When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, 34 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

 35 "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

 37 "When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— 39 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), 40 so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.

 41 "As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

 44 "When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 45 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

 46 "When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; 48 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; 51 for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

 52 "May your eyes be open to your servant's plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. 53 For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt."

 DIGGING DEEPER

SECTION 1: PERSONALIZING THE MESSAGE

(a). What insight from the message left the biggest impression on you? Why?

(b). What did you hear that encouraged or reassured you?

(c). What did you hear that challenged or convicted you?

(d). How did the message increase your appreciation for God the Father, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit?

(e). From your personal experience, how can you illustrate a point from the message?

(f). Who can share the positive results of heeding the message or the painful consequences of disregarding its truth?

 SECTION 2:  APPLICATION OF THE MESSAGE

(a). What personal application of the message has the Lord shown you? How do you feel about following through with it?

(b). How should the message we heard affect or change our prayers?

(c). If we diligently apply the message, what effect would it have on personal lives and our daily walk with Christ?

(d). What would you say to share this helpful information to benefit someone who did not hear this message?