2 Chronicles 6:30-31
. . . then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.
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Solomon’s temple-dedication prayer can be an appropriate place to turn when our prayer lives grow stale.
By reading this prayer, we can re-learn how to talk to the Living and Holy God. So if you take nothing else away from today’s portion, turn to this chapter and jot down everything Solomon says about the Lord. The list will be long, and your prayer life may just be renewed by the glorious reminders of our King.
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Today’s passage reminds us that no matter how glorious Solomon’s temple was, he knew that no man-made building could contain the glorious God (2 Cor. 5:1; Heb. 9:11, 24). He also implied to the people that their sojourns to the Temple and prayers toward it would be useless if their hearts were not right, for Yahweh “knows the hearts of the children of mankind.”
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What an appropriate reminder today for those of us who attend church regularly and participate in Christian activities; a reminder to pay close attention to who we are, not just what we do.
As we wind up the first half of 2008, let’s ask the Lord to examine our hearts and graciously convict us to fear Him and love Him from the inside-out.
Thanks for sharing this prayer. I spent time praying with some friends tonight and we used several of the verses in this chapter to start us off in our praise to the Lord. Verse 14: He said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart.” Fantastic praise. He is God. He keeps His promises. He loves His people.
Isn’t it astounding to read Bible prayers and compare/contrast them to the ones we pray?
Thanks for sharing that Chris.