091224: The Structure of a Prayer

1 Kings 8:22-53
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

- First temple of God to be built

- Built before he built his palace

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

“O LORD, 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. 24You 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, 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 man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done.’ 26And now, O 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!

- Solomon acknowledge that man’s best attempt to build the best temple is still finite and not good enough for the perfection of God.

30Hear 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.

- Ask for an audience of the Lord, and then ask for forgiveness.

31“When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, 32then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty, and so establish his 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 confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, 34then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers.

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 confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36then 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, 38and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel—each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple— 39then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), 40so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.

41“As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, 43then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and 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.

- This is the few times that non-Jewish/non-Israelite people are mentioned. This gives evidence to the idea of how the prayers of the gentiles can be answered and how God’s name may travel throughout the world.

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, 45then 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 the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; 47and 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 conquerors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 48and 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 fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name;49then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors to show them mercy; 51for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

- Psalm 25: David prays for himself; Psalm 26: David prays for others, in the sense of his struggles with his interaction with other people; in parallel to Solomon’s Dedication, Psalm 25 is similar to the beginning of Solomon’s prayer where he, too, prayed for himself; whereas Psalm 26 is similar to Solomon’s prayer involving his troubles with other people.

Psalm 25

Of David.

1To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;

2in you I trust, O my God.

Do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3No one whose hope is in you

will ever be put to shame,

but they will be put to shame

who are treacherous without excuse.

4Show me your ways, O LORD,

teach me your paths;

5guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior,

and my hope is in you all day long.

8Good and upright is the LORD;

therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

9He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them his way.

15My eyes are ever on the LORD,

for only he will release my feet from the snare.

18Look upon my affliction and my distress

and take away all my sins.

20Guard my life and rescue me;

let me not be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

21May integrity and uprightness protect me,

because my hope is in you.

- Psalm 25 illustrates David’s struggles within himself: David is worried that he has sinned and is further worried that he would continue to sin; he thus prays to God for instruction to not sin any further, to not to lose his way, and for forgiveness

- In today’s age, this is a prayer for the average Christian; i.e. a prayer asking for instructions on how not to continue to sin, on seeking forgiveness

Psalm 26

Of David.

4I do not sit with deceitful men,

nor do I consort with hypocrites;

5I abhor the assembly of evildoers

and refuse to sit with the wicked.

9Do not take away my soul along with sinners,

my life with bloodthirsty men,

10in whose hands are wicked schemes,

whose right hands are full of bribes.

11But I lead a blameless life;

redeem me and be merciful to me.

12My feet stand on level ground;

in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.

- Psalm 26 is about David’s prayer for guidance when faced with his personal struggles with his interactions with other people.

- David says he has been walking with God and has been careful about not associating with “sinners”

- It would seem that David, being the King of Israel, is worried that the people he is leading have gone away from God. He is thus praying that God does not judge unfavorably against him along with these people.

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hannah’s Prayer

1Then Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the LORD;

in the LORD my horn^a is lifted high.

My mouth boasts over my enemies,

for I delight in your deliverance.

2“There is no one holy^b like the LORD;

there is no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God.

3“Do not keep talking so proudly

or let your mouth speak such arrogance,

for the LORD is a God who knows,

and by him deeds are weighed.

4“The bows of the warriors are broken,

but those who stumbled are armed with strength.

5Those who were full hire themselves out for food,

but those who were hungry hunger no more.

She who was barren has borne seven children,

but she who has had many sons pines away.

6“The LORD brings death and makes alive;

he brings down to the grave^c and raises up.

7The LORD sends poverty and wealth;

he humbles and he exalts.

8He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the ash heap;

he seats them with princes

and has them inherit a throne of honor.

“For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s;

upon them he has set the world.

9He will guard the feet of his saints,

but the wicked will be silenced in darkness.

“It is not by strength that one prevails;

10those who oppose the LORD will be shattered.

He will thunder against them from heaven;

the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.

“He will give strength to his king

and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

- This is like Jesus’s comment in Matthew 20:16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

- Also, as in Matthew 5, The Beatitudes

Summary

- The above prayers all start out with the man acknowledging God, the Father, and how he is below God.

- Prayers aren’t for just needs; they can be for a simple praising of the Lord, to thank the Lord.

- A model prayer can be found in Matthew 6:9-13, which is taught by Jesus [1. call upon the Lord God; 2. praise the Lord; 3. pray for God’s will to come to fruition (including His plans for the self to be carried out by himself) 4. pray for needs; 5. pray for forgiveness as “I have forgiven others” (i.e. reaffirmation that the praying person is worthy to be forgiven); 6. pray to not sin again (away from temptation); 5. pray to be delivered away from the devil and his evil deeds]:

5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

11Give us today our daily bread.

12Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.^a’