The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:12-42 (day five)

“Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.”‭6:40‬.
The opportunity to communicate with each other has changed dramatically over the last couple of decades, thanks in large part to technology. Cell phones, FaceTime, Instant Messages all make it easier these for communication to happen. Yet, there are still moments when communication becomes hindered and/or impossible.  Loss of signal, dead battery, cell phone turned off, lost, or left behind.
One of the great hopes and pleas in Solomon’s prayer is that God would hear his prayer and the prayers of the people (notice it’s both Israel and foreigners- but that’s another blog).
God’s capacity to hear us never fails. No lost signals, no dead batteries, always listening.
Does that bring you joy?  Does that give you hope?  Does that cause you to want to share your heart and thoughts with Him?

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:12-42 (day four)

Solomon left no stone unturned…what a prayer of dedication and commitment!  Solomon acknowledged God’s covenant keeping relationship with His people.  He prayed for His lovingkindness…His favor…His justice…His forgiveness.  He asked for restoration…for provision and relief when needed.  Solomon sought proclamation…salvation…the presence of God.  The king seemed to foresee every situation that might come up in the life of Israel.

Israel did not know what their needs would be in the future, but they had a king who interceded for them with the Father.  Often, we do not know how to pray.  We are overwhelmed with life and can only groan before the Father.  Romans 8:26 says, “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;”  The Spirit prays for us according to the will of God.

Intercession on our behalf is a blessed gift.  What a privilege we have to do the same for others. Who do you know that you can pray for right now?

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:12-42 (day three)

“Hear from your dwelling place, from heaven; hear and forgive.”

A person dies without fellowship – that physical and emotional welcoming of the whole person into the presence of others. From a baby’s need for nurturing touch and mother’s voice to an old man’s need for the grip of a friend’s hand and the sound of a neighbor’s greeting, people’s bodies and spirits need fellowship with one another. We will die – body and spirit – without it. Forgiveness – deciding not to punish a person when that person has sinned against you – is a necessary foundation of fellowship. To live in each other’s presence requires that nothing prevent intimacy between you and the other. We learn forgiveness from God. When he forgives, he is breathing life into us. When we forgive, we do the same. No wonder he commands us to forgive one another.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:12-42 (day two) 

…if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You. vs. 38-39

In the midst of all the wonderful descriptions about the Temple and all of its contents, this stands out to me the most. The building is vast and grand beyond description, but the message of forgiveness is greater than any amount of gold. Solomon recognizes here that God’s people will not always dwell in the magnificence of the building; they will eventually come off the mountain and lose sight and memory of the closeness they once had with the Lord. There is a way back,  however, and that is the theme of the Gospel. God has made a way for those who love and follow him to be restored. It is through repentance. Have you forgotten the wonder of the presence of God, do you need forgiveness? Good news, it is waiting for you.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 (day seven)

“He said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hands.'” vs 4

Read that last part again “fulfilled it with His hands.” God is not some clockmaker who created the world, wound it up, and set it in motion to function on its own. God has always been and always will be hands on with His creation. He is personal. Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” Then again in Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” God is at work in the life of every believer. Even if you feel abandoned or that God is not near, one day you will look back and see how God connected all the dots along the way. He fulfills it with His hands!

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 (day six)

Solomon stood on the promises of God for only a short season. While God remained faithful, Solomon soon began to go his own way. The chronicler is writing hundreds of years after the fact, of course. He knew all too well the destruction Solomon’s unfaithfulness would eventually bring.

Solomon was not the fulfillment of God’s promise to David. Nor would any king after him; not of the political sort, at least. God’s long game was not to prop up a perishing earthly kingdoms (even our own).

No, his faithfulness would eventually find its fulfillment in the one true eternal king, his Son Jesus. As true today as it was for the Israelites after the exile.

Interestingly, we find ourselves in the very same position as those who first read the writings of the chronicler. They were looking to a future Son of David, the messiah, to restore the kingdom. We now are looking to his return.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 (day five)

“The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.”

There are several promises of God found in our Re:Verse text this week. A place for the temple. A person to rule. The next King. And the covenant God made with Israel.  God kept every one of them. God keeps all His promises. Are there promises that you need to discover or remember?  God’s promised presence.  God’s promised power.  God’s promised peace.   God’s promised wisdom.   God’s promised forgiveness.   (Just to name a few). Search the scriptures, remember His faithfulness and you will find a living God who has kept every promise He has made, who is worthy of praise and trust.

“The promises of God reveal his particular and eternal purposes to which he is unchangeably committed and upon which believers can totally depend.” – BibleGateway.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 (day four)

It was always about God!  The Temple would be a place for God to dwell.  It was a place for His covenant with man to reside.  It was holy because of the presence of God.  The elaborate décor was to honor the God of all the universe.

It was never about man!  As extravagant as it was, the Temple was never to bring honor to Israel.  Even though David had dreamed of its glory, he was not allowed to build it.  Solomon could not claim glory for it…it was planned and provided for before he was even born.  As treasured and valuable as it was, men could not have conceived the holiness that inhabited the Temple.

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”  1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Our bodies are intricate and amazing…prepared for before we were born…designed to bring glory to God…and filled with the Spirit of God.  We are His temple!

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 (day three)

“The king faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel.”

Will a person who holds power in a society work for the good of all the people in that society? That’s always the hope, isn’t it? What often ends up happening, though, is that the powerful people in a society support the one who will keep them powerful, and that person then works for the good of only some rather than all. Throughout history, the Lord has raised up people to speak truth to power. But for now, here’s power speaking truth to the people. Speaking the truth involves more than the right words; it’s also righteous actions for the good of all people. For a shining moment, it actually happened. Then Solomon abandoned the truth. He used his power to weaken and destabilize an entire nation. Leaders matter.