If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their captivity and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors – toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name – then hear their prayers and their petitions from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. Forgive your people who have sinned against you. (2 Chronicles 6:38-39)
Read: 2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10, Romans 7:14-8:8, Psalm 18:1-15, Proverbs 19:24-25
Relate: The Temple was built. The praises had gone up and God’s presence had come down. From there Solomon went into one of the longest prayers in the Bible. Normally I am not a big fan of long winded prayers. Usually when a person who is praying starts to go long it is more because the pray-er wants to be heard by others. They are giving little thought to whether their prayer is being heard by God. For Solomon, this isn’t the case and that can easily be seen by what he is praying.
For one potential situation after another Solomon is praying the same thing: If such and such happens, and they pray, then God please hear from heaven. If there’s injustice, and they cry out to you, then hear from heaven. If there’s famine or drought, and they are hungry and thirsty, then hear from heaven. If they’ve sinned and repent, then hear from heaven. If… then hear from heaven.
God answers. He promises to hear from heaven with an “If… then” of his own. If God’s response isn’t the most famous promise in the Bible, then it is certainly in the top ten. He says, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
React: Solomon’s Temple served as a focus point in three ways. It was a place where God’s presence came down. It was a place where our praises went up. It was also the place where God’s promise was made. Jesus, the true Temple, is both the embodiment and fulfillment of that promise. He is proof that heaven heard. He is the means through which forgiveness was given. He is also the way in which restoration will take place. God keeps His promises. Am I willing to comply with the “if”?
Respond:
You are the Promise Keeper. Help me to humble myself I pray. Help me to ever seek after You and turn from those things that would break Your heart. I know that You will hear my cry. Help me to cry. I know that You will hear from heaven. Help me to call out to You. I know, God, that You will answer. Help me to ask. You are the Promise Keeper, help me to hold You to it.
THE RIVER WALK 
Ugughhhhh Hgvhhh
Sent from Mailbox for iPhone
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What is that supposed to mean?
lol honestly I do not know or really why I did it – its weird – I have not been in writing mode in a while so this is interested – I apologize for that
Lol… no problem… I was just curious
Definitely one of the most well-known promises. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen that stitched onto a pillow or drawn in a painting. Jesus is what we all need, He is our forgiveness and our restoration! Good thoughts, BJ.
Hi, this is very good piece, thank you – but can you make a correction and amend the Scripture as you have a typing error stating 2 Chronicles 7:38-39 but it should be 2 Chronicles 6:38-39.
Good catch. Thanks.
I have never seen a picture, or rather painting or drawing, of the temple with the candlesticks on the outside.
Unlike the other two, this is an image not of Solomon’s but rather of Herod’s Temple.
I don’t think that I have ever seen any rendering of either Solomon’s or Herod’s temple with the candlesticks outside, and so large. Is there a historical reference to this, or even a biblical one that I have missed?
The candlesticks you are asking about are in the Ezrat Nashim, the women’s courtyard.
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/John/Jesus-Reveals-Himself-Light
Jesus has dramatically called people to come to him for God’s living water (7:37-38) and now he again (palin, 8:12) refers to himself in a most startling way, saying, I am the light of the world (v. 12). This claim, like the claim to give living water, also corresponds to events at this feast. A lamp-lighting ceremony took place in the temple every evening of the feast, during which large lamps were set up in the Court of Women. The lamps’ light, it was said, filled every courtyard in the city (m. Sukka 5:3). In the light of these lamps there was great singing and dancing all evening in celebration of God’s salvation, especially his deliverance at the exodus as he lead his people with his presence in a pillar of fire by night. In the sight of these great lamps in the Court of Women (8:20), perhaps even in the evening while they blazed, Jesus proclaims himself to be the light of the world.
Wow! Thanks, that is very interesting.
God’s promises are true and faithful. Amen!
Great thoughts. Thanks for sharing. I like the way you structure your posts. It draws the reader to participate. Thanks.
I have nominated you for the Inner Peace Award. There are no rules, no list, no questions, no link back or no nomination unless you choose to do that. Just my thanks and admiration!
Please visit my post to see the nomination:
talesalongtheway.com/2013/07/22/inner-peace-award-and-bouquet-of-super-awards-with-no-rules/
Namaste. . . Anne
Nice connection with Solomon Temple and Jesus. God is now God with us. I love Solomon’s prayer – directing toward God ultimately. I wonder about that earthly Temple. Solomon doesn’t get any instructions like they received about the Tabernacle. I just wonder if a lot of what they did in the OT was just so off. Solomon seems like a story where someone got so involved in all his projects he forgot the point of his prayer to always seek God.
Thanks for sharing especially the song! I needed that today….
Reblogged this on Handicap and commented:
Sometimes we take his promises and we twist them around and we take them in the wrong way and we don’t use them for what he means them for. And then that leaves us to go away from God because again it’s hard to do something for a creator that we can’t see and we should have faith that he’s there but sometimes it’s hard to have faith that Jesus our creator is around.
It’s nothing like glorifying the Lord.
How quickly we forgot God’s “ifs and whens, etc.” My blog (depressionsgift.c0m. (I mention it only because I have two blogs and don’t know which one I’m commenting from at the moment but the reference is to depression.) offer good advice to people how to overcome depression. But so many people aren’t willing to do the work. And depression is very much about the” if and when” you do this, you can get better. Scripture gives us such powerful tools to overcome the difficulties of our lives but we just want to obey the ones that don’t require so much of us.
Thanks for the reminder that in all things, there are “ifs and whens” and that God has his own set as well. God bless
Rebecca, you are right on in my estimation! Amen and Amen!
He says, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” Amen!
Reblogged this on a Thirsty Girl for God.
Great promise… and such an important message for today. Love that pic of the temple at the top. Where did you find it?
Reblogged this on Call to Witness and commented:
God is always willing to have us come back to Him. All we have to do is come to Him. The hard part for us however is to admit that we do need the Lord. Whether it is a crisis or a habitual sin, we feel like we can handle such things on our own. It is time for us to stop fooling ourselves and realize that we need the Lord.
I have been hearing and reading about this everywhere. The main focus being obediant to the Lord. I hear how loving God is all of the time from believers and non believers alike, even at our church, but w/o doing our part of “behaving”. Yes God promises us much but we have to be His good children in the process. T.Y. great read.
Reblogged this on ChristianBlessings and commented:
O Lord thank You for Your grace to forgive us when we realize our wicked ways and repent. Lord help us to realize we need to change to Your ways and not be stubborn in our ways. Help us follow You. Amen.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. Timely reminders for me in the words and song.