Addressing God in Prayer (2 Chronicles 6:12-21)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:03.919 Well, if you're able to, please remain standing and let's gear give our 2 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:10.750 attention to God's word and second chronicles chapter six, second chronicle six, versus 3 00:00:11.189 --> 00:00:17.070 twelve through twenty one. Last time we were in this chapter we heard of 4 00:00:17.429 --> 00:00:23.059 Solomon's a blessing, the way he was blessed the people by Blessing God. 5 00:00:23.940 --> 00:00:31.660 This is all following the construction of the temple. And now we read Solomon 6 00:00:31.940 --> 00:00:36.649 Turning in prayer to the Lord and we're going to read the beginning of this 7 00:00:36.850 --> 00:00:42.929 prayer. So this is second chronicles chapter six, Verse Twelve Through Twenty One. 8 00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:48.530 Then the Lord are then Solomon. Rather then Solomon stood before the altar 9 00:00:48.570 --> 00:00:51.960 of the Lord, in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and 10 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:57.640 spread out his hands. Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, 11 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:02.920 five cubits wide and three cubits high, and in set it in the court 12 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:06.590 and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees and the presence 13 00:01:06.629 --> 00:01:11.510 of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven and said, 14 00:01:14.109 --> 00:01:19.140 oh Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in 15 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:26.180 heaven or on Earth, Keeping Covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who 16 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:30.620 walk before you with all their heart, who have kept with your servant, 17 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:34.530 David my father, what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth 18 00:01:36.209 --> 00:01:40.409 and with your hand. Have fulfilled it this day. Now, therefore, 19 00:01:40.609 --> 00:01:44.930 O Lord God of Israel, keep for your servant, David my father, 20 00:01:45.650 --> 00:01:49.480 what you have promised him, saying you shall not lack a man to sit 21 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:53.079 before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention 22 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:57.879 to their way, to walk in my law, as you have walked before 23 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:01.390 me. Now, therefore, O Lord God of Israel, Let your word 24 00:02:01.549 --> 00:02:07.430 be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant, David. But Will 25 00:02:07.469 --> 00:02:12.550 God indeed dwell with Man on earth? Behold Heaven, and the highest heaven 26 00:02:12.669 --> 00:02:17.500 cannot contain you how much less this House that I have built yet have regard 27 00:02:17.620 --> 00:02:21.979 to the prayer of your servant and to his plea. o Lord my God, 28 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:25.740 listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, 29 00:02:27.620 --> 00:02:30.210 that your eyes may be opened, day and night toward this house, 30 00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:35.650 the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen 31 00:02:35.729 --> 00:02:39.330 to the prayer that your servant offers toward the plot this place and listen to 32 00:02:39.370 --> 00:02:44.680 the please of your servant and of your people, Israel, when they pray 33 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:50.319 toward this place, and listen from heaven, your dwelling place, and when 34 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:55.439 you hear forgive, you may be seated. When Martin Luther stood before the 35 00:02:55.919 --> 00:03:00.990 die of to verms in fifteen twenty one, we know the story. He 36 00:03:01.110 --> 00:03:08.189 stood strong before the Lord and his reply to the pressure that the council was 37 00:03:08.349 --> 00:03:15.580 pressing on him to recant views that were true to the Bible and true to 38 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:23.979 the Gospel were and are famous. His reply, unless I am convinced by 39 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:29.610 the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason for I do not trust either 40 00:03:29.770 --> 00:03:32.770 in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they 41 00:03:32.810 --> 00:03:38.610 have often aired and contradicted themselves. I am bound by the Scriptures I have 42 00:03:38.689 --> 00:03:44.000 quoted and my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and 43 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:49.840 I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go 44 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:57.349 against conscience. Well, this is Martin Luther's famous response, his famous reply 45 00:03:57.550 --> 00:04:01.229 in which he stood strong for the Lord. But what is not as well 46 00:04:01.389 --> 00:04:05.069 known, or perhaps what is known but forgotten, is the way that this 47 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:11.539 reply. This stand for the Lord Finishes. It finishes with a prayer. 48 00:04:12.419 --> 00:04:16.019 There's one more line I didn't read. So Luther says, since it is 49 00:04:16.139 --> 00:04:20.139 neither safe nor right to go against conscience, I cannot and I will not 50 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:27.290 retract anything. I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand. May God help 51 00:04:27.449 --> 00:04:34.009 me. Amen. Luther's stand for the Lord was also a stand before the 52 00:04:34.170 --> 00:04:39.879 Lord. Luther stood not just for God, but he stood before God. 53 00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:46.439 And he concludes this stand with a prayer. In an essay by Brian G 54 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:53.430 Naja, before he quotes another author, Martha Martin e Lehman, who's writing 55 00:04:53.470 --> 00:05:01.269 on Lutheran prayer, and Mr Lehmann concludes this about Martin Martin Luther. It 56 00:05:01.470 --> 00:05:08.180 is clear that his understanding of prayer can in no way be isolated from the 57 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:13.819 totality of his theology. Indeed, it can be said that prayer is an 58 00:05:13.939 --> 00:05:20.379 intrigral and significant part of his entire theology. What this author goes on to 59 00:05:20.449 --> 00:05:26.689 argue is that to understand Luther's theology, you have to understand how he thought 60 00:05:26.730 --> 00:05:30.649 about prayer. Well, this should be true for all of our theology. 61 00:05:31.649 --> 00:05:38.600 Thinking about God in a way that is abstracted from a relationship with him turns 62 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:45.439 God into an object to be controlled, as opposed to a being to be 63 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:51.709 loved, serve, feared worshiped. That's why theology has all should be always 64 00:05:51.790 --> 00:05:59.389 done in prayer. It should always be done with an understanding towards who we 65 00:05:59.470 --> 00:06:05.500 are speaking about, to whom we are concern praying, who it is we 66 00:06:05.579 --> 00:06:13.779 are obedience to. Well, tonight our passage teaches us a lot about prayer. 67 00:06:14.699 --> 00:06:18.009 It focuses our minds on this, as we see a Solomon lifting up 68 00:06:18.089 --> 00:06:25.170 this prayer before the Lord. It is a model of prayer, and in 69 00:06:25.329 --> 00:06:30.769 it we also see the theological foundations of prayer, and that's what I want 70 00:06:30.810 --> 00:06:35.879 to focus on this evening. God showing us how and why we should pray. 71 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:45.279 So first, the how of prayer, particularly the beginning of prayer. 72 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:51.110 Prayers should begin in a particular way. Now, of course, not always 73 00:06:51.670 --> 00:06:57.269 this is true. There are all kinds of situations we find ourselves in and 74 00:06:57.350 --> 00:07:00.389 we don't need to follow any kind of rigid system. If we need to 75 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:03.980 say something the little Lord, we should just say it. But there is 76 00:07:04.139 --> 00:07:11.220 an appropriate way of framing our lives of prayer, and even particular prayers, 77 00:07:11.740 --> 00:07:15.540 and it is the way that Solomon demonstrates here. It is the way that 78 00:07:15.620 --> 00:07:19.410 our Lord speaks when he gives us what we call the Lord's prayer. The 79 00:07:19.529 --> 00:07:24.930 Lord's prayer begins how, our father who are in heaven, how would be 80 00:07:25.089 --> 00:07:30.720 thy name? It begins by addressing God and adoring him for who he is, 81 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:34.720 by considering his attributes. And these are the kinds of things that Solomon 82 00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:41.439 does as well. So how should we pray? Let's I want to address 83 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:46.589 this in in four points. First, we are to address God appropriately. 84 00:07:48.230 --> 00:07:54.550 This involves acknowledging the one to whom we are praying in a way that fits 85 00:07:55.230 --> 00:07:59.779 his nature. How does Solomon do this? Well, for one, he 86 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:05.100 uses his name. He calls him Yah Way. Here it's written in small 87 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:09.459 capital letters in our Bible several times. As Lord, he calls Him Yeah 88 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:13.889 Way or Jehovah. This is God's name that he gave to his people. 89 00:08:15.810 --> 00:08:20.370 It is the name that God has given to Moses and to all of Israel 90 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:24.649 and to us to use, to call him by, to address him by. 91 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:30.319 This is echoed not only it's said, not only in the name itself, 92 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:33.120 Yeah Way, but it's echoed in the following phrase that Paul Uses or 93 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:39.120 sorry, Solomon uses, speaking about Paul this morning, a little tongue tied. 94 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:45.789 He says he addresses Yah Way, but then he says God of Israel. 95 00:08:46.509 --> 00:08:50.070 It's a way of echoing what that name itself means, that God is 96 00:08:50.269 --> 00:08:56.539 not just odd, but he has his particular eye on this people. He 97 00:08:56.740 --> 00:09:01.100 loves them, and Solomon has this in mind. He has from the very 98 00:09:01.179 --> 00:09:07.980 beginning of his prayer, from the very first words, the relationship with God. 99 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:16.090 Another part of addressing God appropriately, and not only in his titles, 100 00:09:16.690 --> 00:09:20.809 is honoring his unique nature. This is another appropriate way to begin our prayers 101 00:09:20.850 --> 00:09:26.159 as we address God. So, for example, notice what Solomon says. 102 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.559 He says Oh Lord, or Oh yeah, Wagh, God of Israel. 103 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:33.399 There is no god like you. You see what he does. He distinguishes 104 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:39.070 in his mind and he speaks to God in a way that distinguishes him from 105 00:09:39.070 --> 00:09:43.509 all other gods. There is none like you. And then he gives some 106 00:09:43.629 --> 00:09:50.070 specifics. He says in heaven or on Earth, Keeping Covenant and showing steadfast 107 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:56.899 love to your servants. In this we see Solomon addresses not only his unique 108 00:09:56.940 --> 00:10:01.860 nature as being the only one and true God, but also unique in his 109 00:10:01.980 --> 00:10:09.169 works. He is God who keeps covenant, who shows steadfast love to his 110 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:16.450 servants. Solomon even focuses in on particular works, which is appropriate for us 111 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:20.769 to do on our prayers, to bring to our mind particular attributes of God, 112 00:10:20.889 --> 00:10:24.080 odd to think about who he is, in his uniqueness, in not 113 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:28.039 being an idol but being the one true God, but also thinking about his 114 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:33.960 particular works. So what is Solomon Mentions mentioned? Well, he talks about 115 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:39.909 keeping word with your servant, David, my father, what you declared to 116 00:10:39.990 --> 00:10:43.110 him. This is in Verse Fifteen. You spoke with me your mouth and 117 00:10:43.669 --> 00:10:48.669 with your hand. You have fulfilled it this day. So this is the 118 00:10:48.750 --> 00:10:52.940 way, a good way, a holy way and an appropriate way to begin 119 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:58.539 our prayers by addressing God in a way that is fitting for who he is 120 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:03.220 and what he has done. The second point I want to make and how 121 00:11:03.289 --> 00:11:09.289 we should pray is that we should address God not just appropriately or respectfully, 122 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:16.090 but adoringly. When we use these titles for God, when we say our 123 00:11:16.210 --> 00:11:20.679 father, who arn't in heaven, we're not just jumping through a hoops. 124 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:26.559 We're not addressing him in a way to kind of check a check a box, 125 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:31.480 like saying Sir to someone that you don't really respect at all. We 126 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:37.269 say these things because this is who god is. We don't just address him 127 00:11:37.269 --> 00:11:41.710 in a way that's appropriate. We address him in a way that involves adoration, 128 00:11:41.750 --> 00:11:48.419 adoring which is love and and worship. Notice how we see this in 129 00:11:48.700 --> 00:11:52.980 Solomon. First of all, I think you hear it in his words, 130 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:56.059 but you also see it in his posture. We read that at the beginning 131 00:11:56.100 --> 00:12:01.929 of this prayer he is on his knees, his hands are lifted up to 132 00:12:01.090 --> 00:12:07.690 heaven. He is acknowledging him self as one who is low and God, 133 00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:15.409 who is high. This great king who has built this great temple, does 134 00:12:15.529 --> 00:12:20.559 not have his greatness in mind, but only the greatness of God. As 135 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:26.679 he gets on his knees and he prays, it is perhaps the first act 136 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:33.830 of any true worship to start with wonder, to wonder at the glorious self 137 00:12:33.990 --> 00:12:39.830 revelation of God. To pray properly and truly is to stand in awe before 138 00:12:39.870 --> 00:12:46.460 him, to consider all his perfections, to take note of his attributes, 139 00:12:46.539 --> 00:12:54.100 his selfsufficient existence, his covenant love toward us, and to bow our hearts 140 00:12:54.299 --> 00:13:01.970 down before him in love and in worship. Isaac Watts, in his book 141 00:13:01.970 --> 00:13:07.450 a guide to Prayer says wisely that, though we are creatures and we stand 142 00:13:07.730 --> 00:13:13.240 far off from God, the more that we speak and consider his attributes, 143 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:20.519 the more we realize that this glorious God whom we pray to has worked for 144 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:26.559 us on our behalf. The more we consider these things, the nearer we 145 00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:31.190 will feel toward him and the better we will be prepared for confessing our sins, 146 00:13:31.190 --> 00:13:39.710 for making requests, for professing our love and forgiving thanks. Well, 147 00:13:39.789 --> 00:13:43.299 the third thing to mention that we see in this passage about how we ought 148 00:13:43.340 --> 00:13:46.940 to pray is that it is I in the nature and the work of God. 149 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:52.259 It is, or rather it is the nature and work of God, 150 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:58.809 on which we base our requests. In other words, we bring supplications and 151 00:13:58.970 --> 00:14:03.610 petitions to this God because of who he is. We learn this from verse 152 00:14:03.690 --> 00:14:11.440 sixteen with two words. Now, therefore, Psalomon lifts up the Lord, 153 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:15.600 Oh Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you and Heaven 154 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:20.240 on Earth, Keeping Covenant and Showing Stats Steadfast love to your servants who walk 155 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:24.429 before you with all their heart. He mentions the specific covenant with David and, 156 00:14:24.549 --> 00:14:28.309 on the basis of all of that, on who God is, and 157 00:14:28.429 --> 00:14:31.710 what he does. That's when he says now, therefore, Oh yeah, 158 00:14:31.870 --> 00:14:37.429 way, God of Israel, keep for your servant David, my father, 159 00:14:37.710 --> 00:14:41.980 what you have promised him saying. And then he says the promise, the 160 00:14:43.100 --> 00:14:46.620 promise that David shall not lack a man to sit before God odd on the 161 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:52.139 throne of Israel, if his sons will pay close attention to their way and 162 00:14:52.259 --> 00:15:00.289 walk in his laws, as David walked before him. This teaches us that 163 00:15:00.370 --> 00:15:05.090 we, when we pray, we base our requests not on our will but 164 00:15:05.289 --> 00:15:11.360 on God's will. We base our requests not on the strength of our desires 165 00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:16.360 and the things that we want, but on the promises God has made, 166 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:22.789 and we seek him and no other, because there is no other. There 167 00:15:22.870 --> 00:15:28.429 is nowhere else to go. There is no other God to save, no 168 00:15:28.590 --> 00:15:33.669 other God to speak to, no other God who has promised himself to us 169 00:15:33.429 --> 00:15:39.460 in His grace. This is why we go to God and give him and 170 00:15:41.179 --> 00:15:46.340 make our requests. We ask of him as our father, because he is 171 00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:54.649 our father. Lastly, the other the last thing I want to mention about 172 00:15:54.649 --> 00:16:00.970 how we to pray is that all of these things are done the all of 173 00:16:00.049 --> 00:16:06.600 these things are done in a way that is humble. You hear this in 174 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:11.519 Solomon's words, you see it in his posture and you notice how he doesn't 175 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:15.200 demand for the things that he asks on the basis of what he wants, 176 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:22.350 but on the basis of God's promises. You could also adverse eighteen to see 177 00:16:22.350 --> 00:16:26.549 the humility of Solomon in his prayer. He says, but will God indeed 178 00:16:26.590 --> 00:16:30.870 dwell with man on the earth? Behold Heaven, in the highest heaven, 179 00:16:30.990 --> 00:16:37.419 cannot contain you, how much less this house I have built. Solomon recognized 180 00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:42.379 as though he has built this Glorious House, God's presence doesn't depend on what 181 00:16:42.580 --> 00:16:49.730 he's done. Solomon confesses that he knows he cannot control God, he cannot 182 00:16:49.889 --> 00:16:56.049 contain God. This is a very different view from the nations around him, 183 00:16:56.649 --> 00:17:02.399 where the gods are viewed is as these movable objects, these controllable objects that 184 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:04.960 can be bound to a time and to a place and to a people. 185 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:11.720 Solomon recognizes that he belongs to God, not because he's captured God and brought 186 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.829 him into a temple, but that God, who cannot be contained in a 187 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:23.470 place like this, nevertheless has condescended to us and and is present with these 188 00:17:23.589 --> 00:17:32.420 people. Solomon pleads before the Lord in Verse Nineteen. Yet have regard to 189 00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:40.940 the prayer of your servant. Have regard to his plea. He considers himself 190 00:17:40.980 --> 00:17:45.250 a servant. He recognizes that everything that he has from God, anything that 191 00:17:45.410 --> 00:17:51.650 he will be given, anything that he asks for, will come only by 192 00:17:52.569 --> 00:17:57.680 the grace of God. We add to that one more thing, and that 193 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:03.440 not only does it come by God's grace. In other words, Solomon isn't 194 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.119 owed these things, but in fact he is owed the opposite of blessing. 195 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:11.799 We get this from the last few words that we read in Verse Twenty One. 196 00:18:11.950 --> 00:18:17.069 He says, Solomon says, and listen from your heaven, your dwelling 197 00:18:17.150 --> 00:18:22.589 place, and when you hear, forgive. Solomon recognizes that he does not 198 00:18:22.829 --> 00:18:29.740 stand before the Lord as equals. These are not too equal conversation, partners 199 00:18:30.059 --> 00:18:37.180 trading favors. He also recognizes that he has not an unequal partner, as 200 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:41.329 simply a servant who who he can go to and ask things of God. 201 00:18:42.730 --> 00:18:47.369 No, he recognizes that not only are they unequal, but that he and 202 00:18:47.690 --> 00:18:53.970 the people are sinners in need of forgiveness. And this is true when we 203 00:18:55.089 --> 00:19:00.039 approach God, we not only approach him humbly, but we approach him as 204 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:04.400 sinners, as those who need not only good gifts or desire good gifts, 205 00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:11.430 but he need forgiveness. In other words, before we can even approach God, 206 00:19:11.910 --> 00:19:15.069 before we can even add is can these things, we need to be 207 00:19:15.750 --> 00:19:22.509 reconciled to him. That's a part of the true humility which is required in 208 00:19:22.670 --> 00:19:27.420 prayer. So here we learn how our prayers should begin, some of the 209 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:33.700 things that they should contain. They should addressed God in a way that is 210 00:19:33.779 --> 00:19:41.690 prop appropriate, a way that honors him and his most holy name. It 211 00:19:41.769 --> 00:19:48.210 should also be filled with adoration and love and humility, confession and Fort of 212 00:19:48.369 --> 00:19:55.039 sin, and all of this relying on his nature, his works and his 213 00:19:55.279 --> 00:20:00.359 promises of grace. On the basis of those things, we go confidently before 214 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:04.319 the Lord and we ask him to hear us and to answer us. This 215 00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:12.630 is how we pray. Now, why do we pray? What is the 216 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:18.630 foundation that we on which we go to God? Well, one of them 217 00:20:18.670 --> 00:20:22.099 we've already spoken of. I'm going to mention two. The first is there 218 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:27.819 is this personal relationship that we have with God. Prayer is a very personal, 219 00:20:27.859 --> 00:20:34.579 relational kind of speech and it has a particular flavor to it. When 220 00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:41.009 we address various people in our lives, we address them according to that relationship. 221 00:20:41.490 --> 00:20:45.049 So you speak to your sister one way, your neighbor another way, 222 00:20:45.650 --> 00:20:52.000 your boss yet another way, and the same is true with God. This 223 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.240 means that true prayer is built on an understanding and a faith in God. 224 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:03.990 This means that to know him better is to pray better. And what do 225 00:21:04.069 --> 00:21:07.789 we learn of God here? What is it? Who is the god to 226 00:21:07.910 --> 00:21:15.789 whom we pray? Well, we learn that he's all glorious. We learned 227 00:21:15.829 --> 00:21:18.940 that he is a lover of good things, that he has a promise keeper, 228 00:21:18.059 --> 00:21:22.019 that he is mighty, that he is powerful, that he has worked 229 00:21:22.059 --> 00:21:27.059 in History Making Covenant Promises With these people, that he is poured out His 230 00:21:27.220 --> 00:21:33.490 grace on US and calls us to to depend on him for these things. 231 00:21:33.890 --> 00:21:37.809 When we go to the Lord in prayer, we go because he truly is. 232 00:21:40.130 --> 00:21:42.569 That is why we pray the way that we pray, but, even 233 00:21:42.609 --> 00:21:48.119 more basic, it's why we pray at all. We go to God because 234 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:52.759 he's revealed himself to us. We speak and call out to the Lord because 235 00:21:52.799 --> 00:22:00.359 he has first spoken to us. The second reason and the last thing I 236 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:04.509 want to mention about why we pray is that there is a kind of covenantal 237 00:22:04.670 --> 00:22:11.109 action, a covenant that is established. Prayer, I should say, is 238 00:22:11.150 --> 00:22:15.509 a covenantal action. Let me put it this way. I've said that in 239 00:22:15.710 --> 00:22:19.740 prayer there is a relationship involved. Right, there's a relationship between us and 240 00:22:19.900 --> 00:22:25.259 God. But when we speak of covenant, when Solomon Speaks of covenant, 241 00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:30.250 he tells us that we have a particular relationship with him. In other words, 242 00:22:30.289 --> 00:22:34.690 God is not just someone we know, or even someone we know well, 243 00:22:34.890 --> 00:22:41.609 like a colleague or an acquaintance. He's more like a spouse. We 244 00:22:41.809 --> 00:22:47.400 have this obligation to one another, him to us and US to him. 245 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:53.480 We have this agreement, a contract, a promise that has been made, 246 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:59.150 not, of course, because we forced God into it or tricked him into 247 00:22:59.190 --> 00:23:04.390 it, but because he's graciously made this relationship with us. And this is 248 00:23:04.430 --> 00:23:08.910 what Solomon has in mind when he talks about God as the one who keeps 249 00:23:10.269 --> 00:23:14.420 his covenant, and it's what we should have in mind too when we pray 250 00:23:14.500 --> 00:23:18.539 to him. We pray to him in the way we do because there are 251 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:26.250 these covenance in place, these this relationship that God has established, and this 252 00:23:26.450 --> 00:23:32.690 is our starting place to just as it is for Solomon, except that for 253 00:23:32.849 --> 00:23:38.049 us it's even stronger, as strong as Solomon's relationship is with the God, 254 00:23:38.170 --> 00:23:42.440 God of Israel, because of the covenants that have been made with Abraham, 255 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:49.240 with Moses, with David. We come to God not only on the basis 256 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:53.440 of these covenant promises, but also on the covenant that he has made with 257 00:23:53.599 --> 00:24:00.509 his son and with us in him. We come to the Lord in prayer, 258 00:24:00.990 --> 00:24:06.349 remembering not just these covenants in the past, but the new covenant which 259 00:24:06.549 --> 00:24:12.140 holds all of them together, which brings all of them into completion. God 260 00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:18.660 has answered indeed, Solomon's prayer in the person and work of Christ, when 261 00:24:18.779 --> 00:24:25.130 Solomon Praise and ask that know that David would not lack a man to sit 262 00:24:25.210 --> 00:24:30.250 on the throne, that God would provide a son of David who would sit 263 00:24:30.410 --> 00:24:34.970 on that throne and would stable it and would be established as Israel's ruler forever, 264 00:24:36.769 --> 00:24:41.160 as a son who would play close attention to his walk, that would 265 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:45.000 walk in the law of God and walk in holy ways and in the ways 266 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:49.839 of David. We have not only one who has done that, but one 267 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:56.349 who has superseded David in every way, the son that God has provided is 268 00:24:56.390 --> 00:25:00.789 not only the son of David, but the son of God. And so 269 00:25:00.990 --> 00:25:04.950 when we pray as Solomon was praying, and when we consider the Covenant that 270 00:25:06.029 --> 00:25:11.940 God would made with David, we don't have to hope in some future king 271 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:18.220 that might do the things that the Lord Commands, knowing that very possibly he 272 00:25:18.339 --> 00:25:25.049 might not and we might all suffer on behalf of that King and his actions. 273 00:25:26.410 --> 00:25:30.849 No, we pray knowing that God has provided the final king, the 274 00:25:30.049 --> 00:25:34.720 final son. We come into the presence of the Lord, we depend on 275 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:41.039 his covenant promises, knowing that they have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the 276 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:48.680 son of David. We pray knowing that Jesus himself intercedes for us at the 277 00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:56.029 right hand of the Father in heaven. We pray knowing that Jesus has fulfilled 278 00:25:56.069 --> 00:26:06.099 all of these things more than Solomon could have ever imagined or experienced. All 279 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:11.140 of this means that Christian prayer is not a set of techniques or Mantras, 280 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:18.539 nor is it some kind of ecstatic experience that we search for. Nor is 281 00:26:18.650 --> 00:26:25.170 prayer some kind of thing that we use to prove our holiness. No, 282 00:26:25.369 --> 00:26:30.650 prayer is, as I said this morning, a simply faith in the mouth. 283 00:26:30.849 --> 00:26:37.039 It's a verbal expression of the Covenant, in which we stand its knowledge 284 00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:44.000 of God as it is revealed in Jesus Christ, and living our lives praying 285 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:49.829 continually in confidence that this vision that God has given to us in his son 286 00:26:52.069 --> 00:26:57.430 is one in which we come to know God as perfect as saving, as 287 00:26:57.549 --> 00:27:03.500 covenant keeping, as unique in all the universe, and one who uses all 288 00:27:03.619 --> 00:27:11.299 of this glory and this power to save you, to grab you into his 289 00:27:11.500 --> 00:27:18.250 arms, to fold you into his flock and to carry you to heaven itself 290 00:27:18.930 --> 00:27:25.009 and to see it to you with Christ in the heavenly places. Christian prayer 291 00:27:25.329 --> 00:27:32.240 is not just speaking with God, but communing with him, trusting him, 292 00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:40.640 him knowing him. This is how we pray. It begins by understanding who 293 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:45.829 God is and how he has revealed himself to us, and then responding in 294 00:27:47.109 --> 00:27:53.190 faith, in love and in worship. May God grant to us a greater 295 00:27:53.349 --> 00:28:00.740 understanding of him that we might pray prayers that are more worthy of his name. 296 00:28:00.779 --> 00:28:03.700 Let us pray