Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Pray Like Solomon | Historical Books | 1 Kings 8:22-53

Episode Date: August 11, 2025

Do you know God, or do you just talk about him? What's your prayer life like? What's the best gift God can give us? In today's episode, Keith shares how Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings 8:22-53 reveals God's power and love. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Kings 8:22-53

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. H.G. Wells is a famous British author, and he really didn't like Christianity. He was for sure no friend of the church. But in a magazine called The New Yorker, he told a story about an Episcopalian clergyman. I don't think he was picking on Episcopalians. It's probably just the people he knew.

It could have been told about any denominations pastors. But in the story, this Episcopalian bishop was the kind of. kind of man who always said pious things to people. When troubled folks came to him, he found that a particularly helpful thing to say, if said in the right tone of voice, was, have you prayed about it? According to H.G. Wells, if that phrase is said in just the right way, it kind of settles people down. The bishop himself didn't pray much. He had life wrapped up in a neat little package. But one day, his life tumbled in on him, and he found himself overwhelmed. It occurred to the bishop that maybe he should take some of his own advice.

So one Saturday afternoon, he entered the cathedral, went to the front, knelt on the rug. There he folded his hands before the altar. And he prayed, oh God, and suddenly there was a voice. It was crisp and businesslike. The voice said, well, what is it? And next day when the worshippers came to Sunday services, they found the bishop sprawled face down on the carpet.

When they turned him over, they discovered that he was dead. lines of horror were etched upon his face. What H.G. Wells was saying in that story is simply this. There are folks who talk a lot about God, who would be scared to death if they saw him face to face. How do I know if I'm like that preacher who talked a lot about God but doesn't really know God? There are probably a few ways to answer that question. Like we could ask, do I trust God?

Do I obey God? Do I love God? All those things are things that people who know God do. If you know him, you trust him, you obey Him. you love him. But I think there's at least one more way we can tell whether we really know God or we just know about him. And that thing is what we're going to talk about in 1st Kings chapter 8. We can tell a lot about what kind of relationship with God we have by how we pray. Let's pray for our time together. God, I pray that we would know you, that we wouldn't just settle for intellectual knowledge or that we

and just talk about you, but that we would deeply know you in our heart, in our whole life. Amen. All right. In 1st Kings chapter 8, we read about Solomon, dedicating the temple that it had taken him seven years to build. Here's verse 20. I have built this temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. And that's what Solomon said.

And then he goes on to pray one of the most theologically rich, beautiful, and moving prayers recorded in the entire Bible. And at the core of the prayer is the... the question that Solomon asks God. He asks him, but will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built. See, all the way back in the Garden of Eden, God had lived with Adam and Eve. We're told their relationship was so close that they used to go on walks in the cool of the day together. But when Adam and Eve sinned and rebelled against God, they were banished from the garden in God's presence. God assigned sword-wielding angels to guard

the entrance to the garden to prevent them from re-entering. One of the main questions the rest of the Bible wrestles with is how do sinful people reconcile their relationship with God? How do they meet with God? Or to paraphrase Solomon, will God really live with his sinful people? God calls Abraham and says that he will reboot this project through him. God told Abraham that through him and his descendants, he would bless the entire earth, and that they would be his people and he would be their God. But Abraham ends up having the same sin problem that Adam and Eve had. So God raised up Moses to lead the people out of Egypt and through the sea. He takes them to Mount Sinai where God descends to meet the people. And God promises that if they keep the covenant, he will make them into a people that he specially treasures.

They will become to him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. But just a few chapters later, and the people are worshipping a golden calf. They have the same sin problem Adam and Eve had. Now God has made a covenant with David, and at the core of that covenant is the promise that one of David's descendants would sit on an eternal throne and rule forever. But how will this happen? How could a holy God dwell with his sinful people? The other reason it's hard for Solomon to believe that God will dwell with them is because God's eternal. Solomon knows that the heavens can't contain God, much less the temple he just built. So Solomon acknowledges that God is high above the heavens, which leads him to ask, how could he ever be able to be? be contained on earth. Solomon knows that God fills the entire universe. So how could it be held

within the four walls of any building? Solomon knows that God is everywhere at all times. So how could he limit his presence to just one place on earth? It reminds me of what Paul said to the court in Athens in Acts 17. He says, he is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man-made temples. And nonetheless, Solomon invites God to do. well with them. Here's verse 28. Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea. Oh, Lord, my God, hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making you today. May you watch over this temple night and day, this place where you have said, my name will be there. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place. May you hear the humble and earnest request for me and your people Israel when we pray toward

this place. Yes, here is from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive. So Solomon recognizes there's two problems with expecting God to live with them. One is that God is eternal, and the other is that God is holy. It's the holiness of God and the sinfulness of people that consumes most of Solomon's attention and the rest of First Kings 8. In the rest of the prayer, Solomon makes seven requests centered around Israel's sin and future confession. Let's just run through them briefly. I mean, we only have ten minutes together, so we can't take too long on each one.

first Solomon prays for future justice in personal disputes verse 31 if someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this temple then hear from heaven and judge between your servants the accuser and the accused punish the guilty as they deserve acquit the innocent because of their innocence so Solomon asked God to ring justice in the countless personal disputes that people have that we know nothing about out. Solomon knows that God reigns on high. He sees all. And because of that, we should pray for justice to reign. Second, Solomon prays for God to rescue his people from the consequence of their sin. Verse 33. If your people, Israel, are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people, Israel, and return them to the the land you gave their ancestors. So we follow Solomon's model when we pray that sinners would make their way back to God. God is the father of the prodigal. He's ready and eager to throw a party

when a lost sinner returns home. Third, Solomon prays for God to provide for his people, even when they don't deserve it. Verse 35, if the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them. Then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servant, your people, Israel. Teach them to follow the right path and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession. It is right and good and biblical for us to pray that God would bless us with earthly gifts as long as our gifts remind us of the giver. If our gifts become our end, then we've sinned. That's idolatry. But if our gifts cause us to praise

the giver, then that is worship. And never forget that the best gift that God can give us is himself, a deeper relationship with him. Solomon's fourth request is a lot like the third one. He prays that God will deliver them from disaster. Here's verse 37. If there's a famine in the land or a plague or a crop disease or attacks or locusts or caterpillars, or if your people's enemies are in the land besieging their towns, whatever disaster or disease there is, and if your people is, and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this temple. Then hear from heaven where you live and forgive. Give your people whatever their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.

See, I think when Solomon asked God to give them what their actions deserve is because God is the only one who really knows a person's heart. It means that God is the only one who knows if our repentance is genuine. The fifth request, and this might have been the most surprising to the people who were listening to this prayer at the temple, was a prayer for outsiders. Here's verse 41. In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people, Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name. They will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven where you live and grant what they ask of you.

In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you. just as your own people Israel do, they too will know that this temple I have built honors your name. See, God has always had a missionary heart. Remember that he told Abraham that all the nations would be blessed through him? And on Mount Sinai, he wanted Israel to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation that served as his ambassador in the world. We follow Solomon's model prayer when we pray for people to come to faith, whether they are our friends or family or people living all around the world.

6th Solomon prays for victory. Verse 44, if your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to the Lord by turning toward this city you have chosen, and toward this temple I have built to honor your name, then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause. Now, remember, this is written to God's people, not a nation. When we pray that God would fight our enemies, we do well to remember what Paul says in Ephesion 6,

that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this dark world against the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms. Finally, seventh, Solomon prays for forgiveness. Verse 46. If they sin against you, and who has never sinned, you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive in their land far away or near. But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray.

We've sinned and done evil and acted wickedly. If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their enemies and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, if they pray toward this city you have chosen and toward this temple, I have built to honor your name, then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live and uphold their cause. Forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the offenses they've committed against you. Make their captors merciful to them. For they are your people, your special possession, whom you brought.

out of the iron smelting furnace of Egypt. See, King Solomon knew that God's grace and mercy is greater than our sin. God is gracious and compassionate. God loves to forgive his people, but we must turn from our sin and return to him. Are you captive to any sin right now? Are you flirting with any sin, tolerating a sin? Do you feel shame and guilt? Confess your sin to God.

1. John 1.9 tells us, if we confess, our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. Father, I ask that you would teach us to pray like Solomon did, to bring our requests to you, to come not in our name, not in our righteousness, but in the righteousness and in the work of Jesus. Amen.