You know, almost all the economically developed countries in the world, where citizens enjoy comfortable lives, are predominantly Christian? Because the God of the Christian faith is a God full of grace, love, and mercy, and He longs to pour out blessings on His beloved children! In this chapter, the teacher will lead us through Solomon's prayer to know this Father God who bestows abundance!
Questions for Reflection:
Do you think faith is merely a spiritual crutch or a philosophical theory? Do you believe that believing in the Lord can solve all of life's problems?
How do you measure the spiritual maturity of a believer?
Regarding the building of the temple, Solomon once said to God: But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Have you ever wondered why God wants to dwell in a temple made by human hands?
I particularly love this chapter myself! This passage is especially important. When I first believed in the Lord, every time I read the passage of Solomon's prayer in the Bible, I felt shocked, very shocked! It would not be an exaggeration to read this passage ten times and copy it several times. Because it is closely related to your life! A believer must know: our God is the God of the living! If it is a god that is irrelevant to you, He would say: Practice in this world, and perhaps one day you will enter heaven. That is not what our God wants. Our God is the God of the living, meaning that the problems you encounter while you are alive are all in Solomon's prayer! This is also an important foundational thing for us to adjust our concepts in the entire faith.
Why is that? Because in the generation we are in contact with, the spirit of religion is very rampant! What is the spirit of religion? Your life is your life, your faith is your faith, and these two are irrelevant. The problems you face in your life are the same as those faced by others in the world, so what are you believing in the Lord for? Right? Aren't those promises in the Bible all for us? For us and our descendants? So this matter must be integrated with life. Solomon is remarkable in that he clearly recognizes the God we worship! He built a temple for Him, and then he prayed in the temple. None of the words he said were grandstanding; they were very real. If you trust in this God, and you do not trust in a real way, you must have been caught by the spirit of religion.
So I often tell brothers and sisters, how do I measure whether you believe in the Lord well? It is from the level of your life, your family, your work, your life, including your interpersonal relationships, and your health, these are all closely related. Yesterday, when I was chatting with a sister, I said, God is a righteous God, a God who heals us. It is not God's will for us to get cancer. She said, No, a certain pastor had cancer. But is a certain pastor having cancer the standard? That is not the standard! It is not God's will for us to get cancer, even if a certain pastor had cancer, it is not God's will. There must be a problem in some aspect of that person. If there is no problem, you will definitely see it when you read Solomon's prayer.
Solomon's Understanding of God
Let us first examine 1 Kings, verses 22 to 53: Solomon's Prayer. This chapter holds immense significance. In essence, it is termed Solomon's Prayer. Verses 22 to 30 encapsulate a summary of all these prayers, followed by a division into seven distinct supplications. Observe in verses 22 to 30, Solomon's perception of God: Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cries and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day. (1 Kings 8:30)
What is Solomon's understanding of God in verses 22 to 30? Firstly, Thou which spake with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled with thine hand. (1 Kings 8:24) It is wondrous indeed that God fulfills what He promises. One's understanding of God is paramount; without acknowledging that God fulfills what He promises, one cannot experience Him! All the promises in the Bible are God's promises, and when you pray, He fulfills them. Such was the building of the temple. Today, our church is also in the midst of construction; building the temple is also our dream. God promised that we build the temple, and He will fulfill it. You ought to constantly proclaim, God promises, and He fulfills!
Secondly, verse 27: But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? The temple that Solomon built was extraordinary! It was entirely covered in gold, the likes of which the world had never seen. Yet, what did Solomon say? He said, God, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less this temple that I have built. Towards God, we must have a humble understanding. Only when your mindset is right does the temple become a place where God dwells. Do not assume that this place is God's temple and forget God's attributes. God dwells in the universe, unbounded by this small place. Of course, when this small place becomes a symbol of God's presence, you will find that praying towards the temple, or in the temple, or in such a manner, God will answer and hear.
This is a remarkable revelation: though the temple cannot contain God, God, in His mercy, dwells in the temple we build because we have a correct understanding of Him. Today, we witness the same thing. When we humble ourselves before God, the place we build becomes a symbol of God's presence. Then he says, That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place whereof thou hast said, My name shall be there, still a promise! It is a dwelling established for God's name according to the promise. Then, Hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. We see Solomon making a brief summary, and then proceeding with seven types of prayers.