“POWER IN PRAYER #7-KEY POINTS IN PRAYER”
1 KINGS 9:1-9
INTRO: What a joy it must have been for Solomon for the Lord to appear to
him before the beginning of the great work of building the temple. We
read in 1 Kings 3:5—“In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a
dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.” Do you
remember how real the Lord’s presence was to you when you were
first saved? When we got saved we were full of zeal, earnestness, and
determination to do some great work for the Lord. We truly sought His
face! In childlike faith we truly depended upon Him and knew without
Him we could never accomplish His will for our lives. Friends, each of
us can testify tonight that there are things that have happened in our
Christian lives that would not have been possible if we had not relied
on the presence and the power of the Lord! If God had not
strengthened us, taught us, and given us wisdom beyond what we
already possessed, where would we be? If His Spirit has not
encouraged us, inspired us, instructed us, and empower us, we would
not have been able to accomplish many of the things we have
accomplished for His glory! What a priceless blessing it is to begin our
workwith God by seeking His will, wisdom, and way.
Friends, since we know this is all true, why is it then that we not
depend on the Lord more for the things we need to serve Him
acceptably? Why do we lose that zeal, earnestness, and determination
to seek God’s face every step of our Christian walk? It tells us in 1
Kings 9:1-3—“And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the
building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all
Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do, That the LORD appeared
to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.
And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy
supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this
house, which thou hast built, to put my name there forever; and mine
eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.” Solomon has just
completed a great work for the Lord, but the question is, why did the
Lord appear to him a second time? Truly I believe it was to assure
Solomon that His presence, power, and provision would be with him
as he continued to serve the Lord. The great work of building the
templewas completed but there was greater work still to be done.
Friends, is this not the one of the reasons we are to pray? Is it not
throughprayer that we fellowship with the Lord and keep that
childlike trust and true dependence upon the Lord awakened as we
serve HIM? As the Lord answered Solomon’s prayer and appeared to
give him assurance let us see that there is much we can learn here.
We do well when we pattern our prayers after successful intercessors.
Let us consider tonight, KEY POINTS IN PRAYER as we follow the
Lord’s own description of acceptable prayer given in these verses. Let
us see…
(1) OUR PROPER POSITION IN PRAYER
1 KINGS 9:3a—“And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer
and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me…”
*I want you to note two words that speak of the proper position we should have
in prayer. The Lord says prayer should be—“before me.” This means:
A. HUMILITY MUST BE OUR MINDSET. The place to pray is clearly before
the Lord. But we must make sure that we when approach the throne of
grace we do it deliberately and reverently. When Jesus spoke about the
Pharisee and the publican in prayer in Luke 18 it is clear that the Pharisee
did not pray before God. In fact, Jesus said of the Pharisee—“The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself…” (Luke 18:11). The Pharisee prayed in
hisown self-confidence, self-interest, and self-esteem. He had not really
prayed at all nor had he prayed before God. Friends, let me say this evening
that you can come to Church and pray and still not pray before the Lord.
Praying before the Lord is serious business but also spiritual business.
Sadly, many find it easy to pray but yet they do not pray before the Lord.
Our prayer should be offered in the power of the Holy Spirit letting him
guide our thoughts and words and frame our petition before the Lord.
Psalm 62:8 says—“Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart
before him: God is a refuge for us.” Praying before the Lord is the place of the
outpouring of our souls and when we find this place we are truly blessed!
This means that:
- OUR PRAYER MUST DIRECTED TO THE LORD.Indefinite praying is a waste of time. Someone has said, “general prayers are generally powerless.” We should be specific when we pray. Like an archer who takes bow in hand and aims for the bulls-eye we should direct our prayers to the Lord.
- OUR PRAYER MUST BE DEPENDENT UPON THE LORD. Someone has said, “Between the humble and contrite heart and the majesty of heaven, there are no barriers; the only password is prayer.” --Hosea Ballou (1771-1852) (Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry #8771). When we pour our hearts out to the Lord we are trusting our all to HIM. We realize that everything depends on HIM. We acknowledge that if He doesn’t intervenenothing can or will be done!
B. HEEDING MUST BE OUR MOTIVE. When we pray our motive must always
to do the will of God which He reveals to us in prayer. The Lord told
Solomon in vv. 4-5—“And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father
walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I
have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: Then I
will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever…” . By these
words God is inferring to Solomon that if he wanted to continue to know
successand experience the Lord’s presence and power he must remain
obedient and heed the Lord in all! Charles Spurgeon said, “If you desire
Christ for a perpetual guest, give him all the keys of your heart; let not one
cabinet be locked up from him; give him the range of every room and the
key of every chamber. --Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) (Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of
Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992).Entry #8092).
OUR PROPER POSITION IN PRAYER the Lord says is “before me” which means HUMILITY MUST BE OUR MINDSET and HEEDING MUST BE OUR MOTIVE but let us also see…
(2) OUR PROPER PETITION IN PRAYER
I KINGS 9:3b—“…I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that
thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou
hast built, to put my name there forever; and mine eyes and mine
heart shall be there perpetually.”
*Earlier Solomon had offered his prayer to the Lord and now the Lord appears
to him this second time to assure Him that his prayer has been heard and that
request has been granted. In the Lord’s words to Solomon we see two things that constitute a proper petition to the Lord. We should always pray that:
A. GOD’S PRESENCE BE WITH US. God told Solomon—“I have hallowed this
house…mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.” This was in
answer to Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8:28-29—“Yet have thou respect
unto the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to
hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee
today: That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even
toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that
thoumayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward
this place.” Friends, when we go to the Lord in prayer we should be able to
speak to Him in the same manner as we would a friend. When we have
finished praying we should be able to say I truly have communed with the
Lord! He spoke to me and I listened. I poured out my heart and He heard
me! We are truly praying to God when we realize His presence! To know that
God knows our heart and to pray in such a way is to truly pray before God.
B. GOD’S PURPOSE BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH US. God told
Solomon—“I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name
there forever…”. God promised that His name would be there forever. God’s
only condition was that God’s people remain faithful to Him. But the
unfaithfulness of God’s people can drive His presence away (vv. 6- 9).
Friends, when we pray our prayer should always be, “Not my will, but thine
be done, Lord!”
ILLUS: Your own efforts "did not bring it to pass," only God--but rejoice if God
found a use for your efforts in His work. Rejoice if you feel that what
you did was "necessary," but remember, even so, that you were simply
the instrument by means of which He added one tiny grain to the
Universe He has created for His own purposes. -- Dag Hammerskjold, a Christmas
Eve reflection, quoted in Dag Hammerskjold: The Man and His Faith. Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no. 10.
(3) OUR PROPER PURITY IN PRAYER
1 KINGS 9:4-5—“And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father
walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to
all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my
judgments: Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon
Israel forever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There
shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.”
A. OBSERVANT TO OUR WALK. God told Solomon, “And if thou wilt walk
before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in
uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt
keep my statues and my judgments: Then will I establish the throne of thy
kingdom upon Israel forever...”. What was God trying to tell Solomon?
WATCH OUT FOR YOUR WALK. Friends, it does matter how I live my life. If
I want to have power with God and be assured that He will hear and
answer my prayers then I must walk close to the Lord! Andrew Murray
said, “The effective prayer of faith comes from a life given up to the will and
the love of God. Not as a result of what I try to be when praying, but
because of what I am when I'm not praying, is my prayer answered by
God.”-- Andrew Murray in With Christ in the School of Prayer. Christianity Today, Vol. 36, no. 8.
ILLUS: When an observatory is about to be built, the site selected is always on
some high mountain. The aim is to find a place where there is a clear,
unobstructed view of the heavens. Similarly, faith requires for its
heavenly vision the highlands of holiness and separation, the pure sky
of a consecrated life. -- A. B. Simpson inALarger Christian Life. Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no.
8.
B. OBEDIENT TO HIS WORD. Solomon was not only instructed to “walk in
integrity of heart, and uprightness,” but also the Lord told him “to do
according to all that I have commanded thee, and...keep my statutes and my
judgments.” The presence of the Lord nor His mighty power can never be
realized by one who is unfaithful to His word! Someone said, ”Living the
Word of God is much more basic to helping people than psychology will ever
be.” -- Frank Minirth, Leadership, Vol. 1, no. 4.If we do not obey His Word:
- OUR PRAYERS WILL BE HINDERED.
- OUR POWER WILL BE HAMPERED.
- OUR POTENTIAL WILL BE HANDICAPPED.
CLOSING: Our greatest desire in prayer is the same as what God said unto
Solomon—“I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou
hast made before me.” (1 Kings 9:3a) but to see our desire fulfilled
we must realize OUR PROPER POSITION IN PRAYER, OUR
PROPER PETITION IN PRAYER, and OUR PROPER PURITY IN
PRAYER.
Friend, let me ask you tonight, “Is prayer for you a blessing or a
burden? Do you anticipate with joy those times alone with the Lord
or do you dread them?” May we always look at prayer as an
opportunity to spend time with the most important person in our
lives!
Prepared by Brother Bryan L. Browning, Pastor of Beechmont Baptist Church, Beechmont, KY for Sunday Morning, March 11, 2007.