“Lord Hear Our Prayer, Forgive Us And Put Your Name On Us!”

“Lord Hear Our Prayer, Forgive Us And Put Your Name On Us!”
Israel was initially a theocracy. God was the monarch and his prophets were his mouthpiece on earth. The people saw the kings of other lands and asked that they needed one. God told Samuel to give them one. Eventually the state and the worship of God were not outrightly seperated.
David gathered material for the temple. And his son Solomon built the temple. In our text for today we read about the bringing of the ark of the covenant to be placed in the temple. When the ark was placed in the Holy Place, “the king turned around and blessed” the whole assembly of Israel who were standing there.
Solomon in his prayer to God and blessing of the people “spread out his hands towards heaven…” Among other things he acknowledged that God cannot dwell on earth when even the highest heavens cannot contain him.
Solomon asked God, “May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays towards this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive”(I Kgs 8:6-14&22-30).
Yes, it is not that any church house is a dwelling place of God, but when the children gather there and pray, God hears and answers them.
Importantly it is not so much about gathering in the house of worship that God hears the prayers. As mentioned in the prayer of solomon, “when they pray toward this place…” The Israelites prayed wherever they were, but they prayed facing towards the temple (Jerusalem).
Jesus filled this with new content when he told the Samaritan woman, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worship my Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshippers must worship him in spirit and truth”(Jn.4:21-24).
Paul tells us further, “… your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…”(I Cor.6:19).
God hears us wherever we pray to him, not necessarily in or facing toward the place of worship, but he wants us in the place of worship where his chosen and anointed ones would raise their hands and bless us so that his name is put on us.
Prayer: Lord God hear me while I pray and forgive me and bless me. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!