1 King 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43
Psalm 84
Ephesians 6:10-20
“O Lord, Hear Our Prayer”
Throughout history, human beings from every corner of the world have set apart places of prayer and developed rituals and routines for reaching out to the Creator of all things, and talking to God.
We bow our heads, we clasp our hands, we kneel, or lie prostrate, or stand with our arms raised up towards heaven. We light candles, burn incense, or make offerings. We use memorized prayers, or speak from our hearts, or simply sit in silence before the One who made us, and who we hope is still watching over us and caring for our lives.
From the time of Abram and Sarai, the Hebrew Scriptures tell us about people who set up places of prayer. Not yet temples or synagogues or churches, but wherever they travelled in their nomadic lives, they set up stone altars – places to honour God and express their prayers.
In the time of Moses, God’s presence became associated with the Ark of the Covenant – the beautiful carved box containing the stone tablets with the ten commandments – and God went along with the people as they continued their journey to find the land of promise that would be their home.
In the time of King David, there was consideration of the idea of settling God (or at least the Ark that assured God’s presence) in a permanent dwelling place. But at that time, God said “No, I don’t need a temple.”
If you were here for the sermon on that story a few weeks ago, you may remember that God said, “I don’t need you to build me a house. I’m going to build a house for you – a line of descendants for David, a People who would be God’s people forever.”
But now, in the next generation, under the leadership of David’s son, King Solomon, the house for God, the temple is built with God’s approval. Our text from 1 Kings has Solomon assembling all the elders and leaders of the Israelites for a special ceremony to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the temple, into the inner sanctuary of the house, the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.
And then King Solomon stands before the altar of the Lord and spreads out his hands to heaven, and he prays. He praises God for God’s faithfulness and steadfast love. Specifically, he thanks God for fulfilling God’s promise to King David to give him a successor and build him a house.
And then Solomon starts to talk about the “house” that he has just built for God – the temple. But even though he’s just finished constructing the most massive, elaborate, beautiful structure that anyone could imagine as a place for the Ark of the Covenant to rest, he knows that God won’t really “live” there.
Solomon prays, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built.”
I think that Solomon understands his place in relation to God. He has not built this temple because God needs a place to live. But rather, he has put all this time, effort, and money into building this house because God’s people need a place to encounter God.
Solomon’s prayer continues with a request to God, and his plea is that God will hear him, and that God will hear the cries and prayers of the people who will pray in this place.
“Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today, that your eyes may be open night and day towards this house… Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; hear and forgive…”
In the book we’re reading for our September Book Club meeting, “The Aerialists” by Katie Munnik, one of the main characters is an acrobat, hanging from a hot air balloon as it floats across a city. Looking down from above, she notices the churches standing out above the houses and shops, and she begins to count them as she passes by. She ponders why the churches are built so tall, with their spires reaching up to the sky. Perhaps they are trying to reach up to heaven, to be noticed and heard by God from heaven above.
And although we know and understand that God hears our prayers wherever we speak them in our beds, or on the road, or by the lake, or in a dark corner… these places that are set apart for prayer are a gift for us, whether we gather in community to pray for one another, or we come here quietly and alone to light a candle and make our prayers, and be assured that God does indeed hear us and care for our needs.
You probably noticed that the lectionary for today did not include the whole of chapter 8 from 1st Kings. It is super long, and includes lots of details about the elaborate ceremony and prayers of King Solomon as he dedicates the temple for God’s glory. But after the main part of the story in verses 22-30, the lectionary jumps to include verses 41-43, which I think are very significant.
After asking God to hear his prayers and the prayers of his people Israel, he adds a request for any foreigners who might also come and offer prayers in the temple. Although Israel has a special relationship with God, it is not an exclusive one. Even the special place of prayer that Solomon has built is not intended to be reserved for one group of people. He knows that God is the Creator and Lover of all people, and foreigners are welcome to come and to pray and to be heard.
I wish that we lived in a place and time where we could leave our sanctuary open and people could just come in whenever they wanted to rest or pray or just be in this place where God’s presence and listening care is assured. Still, in this time of worship we can take the time and effort to offer our prayers for one another and for our neighbours near and far. And today, rather than just choosing the words of the Prayers of the People myself, I want to invite all of you to share actively in lifting up our prayers to God.
As you consider what prayers you want to offer today, you might begin by thinking about the five-finger prayer that I talked about with the children this morning. Pray for those closest to you. Pray for those who point you in the right direction, your teachers or mentors. Pray for our leaders within the church, the community, and the world. Pray for people who are weak – the hungry, the homeless, and those broken down by hard circumstances. And pray for yourself as well, whatever needs, worries, or hopes you hold in your heart today.
I want to give you some options for ways to make your prayers today. You can choose to write them down on a slip of paper. Sometimes the act of writing out the names of people we care about or the concerns that we hold in our hearts can be a helpful way to pray.
Then you could tuck that paper in your pocket, take it home, keep it, or recycle the paper later. Or, if you want me to include your prayer request out loud in this service, you can bring it up and place it in the offering plate in a few minutes. If you’re worshipping with us live online today, you’re welcome to add a prayer request to the comments on YouTube.
Another way you can choose to make your prayer will be to come up and light a candle (or light a candle at home). Some of us do this at our Blue Christmas service each year, when we light a candle and remember a loved one who has died. But we can also light a candle as we give God our worries and concerns. We can light a candle as we pray for peace in our families and in our warring world.
We can light a candle and remember Christ’s presence in our midst, shining light and hope into our deepest struggles. We can light a candle and remember that God is with us in this place of prayer, that God hears our prayers however we offer them, and God cares.
We’ll take some time now for writing our prayers, and whenever you’re ready, you’re welcome to come up and put your written prayers in the offering plate and/or light a candle as you make your prayer to God.
Will plays “O Lord, hear our prayer” as we offer our prayers.
The Apostle Paul, writing to the Christians at Ephesus, encouraged the people to pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. He told them to keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints – for all God’s beloved children. Paul asked them also to pray for him, because even as a leader of the church, as an Apostle of Christ, he also needed prayer.
So let us continue to pray for one another today. We are blessed with this beautiful place of prayer that are ancestors built and set apart as a place to meet God. God is not contained or limited by this space, but we are assured that God is with us by the power of the Holy Spirit, and God does hear our prayers.