THAT THINE EYES MAY BE OPEN TOWARD THIS HOUSE NIGHT AND DAY
The prayer of King Jehoshaphat that is recorded in the 20th chapter of the second book of Chronicles in the Bible is extraordinary in its directness, honesty, simplicity, and power. In his prayer Jehoshaphat references another powerful prayer that was offered by an earlier king of the Israelites; and that prayer, in turn, represents an important provision that God has made that affects all of our prayers from that time till this, and even till the end of this world.
Jehoshaphat
was a good king whose heart was after God.
He wasn’t a perfect king, but he was open to the Lord’s correction, and
therefore God was able to direct him and bless him in marvelous and miraculous
ways.
Jehoshaphat
had reigned in Jerusalem for about 16 years when a report came to him that the
Moabites and the Ammonites were coming against him to war with a great
multitude of armed men. Scripture
reveals to us what Jehoshaphat’s reaction was to this news: “And Jehoshaphat feared…” (2 Chronicles
20:3). This great king reacted in the
same way that you or I might react when we receive very bad news: with fear. What he did with his fear set Jehoshaphat
apart from many other kings that reigned before and after him. The Bible account goes on to say that Jehoshaphat,
“…set himself to seek the LORD, and
proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” (2 Chronicles 20:3). This is what we, as believers, must do when
we are afraid or full of anxiety: we must seek the Lord, and even fast if need
be, to focus our attention on the One Who can make a difference in our
circumstances. It was this crisis that
drove Jehoshaphat to pray this powerful prayer, and to see the miraculous
results of God’s response.
Jehoshaphat’s
proclamation of a time of fasting, and his example of whole heartedly seeking
the Lord, had a positive result among his people. “And Judah gathered themselves
together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they
came to seek the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 20:4). We shouldn’t ever be shy about asking for
God’s help in our lives. Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and
ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that
asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it
shall be opened.” (Matthew 7:7,8), and the Apostle Paul also encourages us
to, “Come boldly unto the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”
(Hebrews 4:16). God is always moved to
action when we trust Him completely and ask Him for His direction and help in
every situation that we face. There is
nothing too small for God to deal with.
We think it is a sign of our maturity as Christians to not take things to God in prayer and,
instead, try to handle them ourselves; but it was Jesus Who taught His
followers to become like little children if they wanted to enter the Kingdom of
Heaven. (Matthew 10:15). Jehoshaphat was
very transparent about his fear, powerlessness, and indecision. He didn’t even try to act like he had it all
together for the sake of the people – he just wanted to be real with God and
with man, and he believed that was what God wanted him to be.
The
portion of Jehoshaphat’s prayer that references an earlier prayer by another
great king is found in the seventh through ninth verses of 2 Chronicles
20. It reads, “Art not Thou our God, Who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land
before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend
forever? And they dwelt therein, and
have built Thee a sanctuary therein for Thy name, saying, if, when evil cometh
upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this
house, and in Thy presence, (for Thy name is in this house,) and cry unto Thee
in our affliction, then Thou wilt hear and help.” Jehoshaphat is here referring to the
prayer of King Solomon which he prayed upon the dedication of the first
permanent temple that was built at Jerusalem.
On that day, when the house of God was completed and the priests had
offered their many offerings and the ark of the covenant of God was brought
into the Holiest Place, the Spirit of God descended upon the temple in the form
of a great cloud and the priests had to flee the building because the glory of
the Lord was so fearsome. It was at that
time that Solomon offered his prayer.
You can find his prayer in 1 Kings 8:12-53. Starting in verse 29, Solomon prays some very
specific things regarding this house and the prayers that would be prayed
toward this house from that time forth.
He asks, “That Thine eyes may be
open toward this house night and day.”
He reminds God that He said, “My
name shall be there [on this house],”
and asks “that Thou mayest hearken unto
the prayer which Thy servant shall make toward this place.” Solomon then lists a number of scenarios
in which God’s people would be asking for the Lord’s blessing and help. He mentions trespasses between neighbors and
asks that God judge between the wrongdoer and the righteous man and deal with
each accordingly. He asks that when
Israel’s enemies best them in battle because God’s people have sinned against
Him in some way, that if they will confess their sin and turn again to the Lord
that He would hear and forgive them. He
asks God to hear the prayers of His people when they are experiencing draught,
pestilence, insect infestation, besieging armies, or sickness of any kind. He also asks that God will hear the prayers
of strangers who are not of Israel when they prayed to Him in this house. Finally, Solomon asks that God would hear the
prayers of Israel when they go against their enemies and give them victory; but
if they have sinned against the Lord and are carried away captive by their
enemies, that if they will confess their sins and humble themselves before
their Maker, that God would forgive and restore them.
When King
Solomon had finished his prayer, then God spoke to him and said, “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.” (1 Kings 9:3). What a glorious statement God makes here, but
He then qualifies it with some conditions.
He tells Solomon, “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.” (vs. 4,5a).
God then continues by saying, “But
if ye shall at all turn from following Me, ye or your children, and will not
keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and
serve other gods, and worship them: then will I cut off Israel out of the land
which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for My name,
will I cast out of My sight.” (vs. 6,7a).
All of God’s promises are contingent on man’s faithfulness in serving
and following Him.
It was
this prayer of King Solomon that Jehoshaphat refers to in his prayer. He reminds God of this fantastic promise to
hear and respond to the prayers that are prayed to His house and in His
name. As amazing as Jehoshaphat’s prayer
is, God’s response is even better. The
Spirit of the Lord fell upon one of the Levites who were praying along with
Jehoshaphat and the rest of the people who were gathered in the temple. This Levite began to prophesy God’s answer to
the people. He said, “Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not
afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chronicles
20:15). Israel did not even have to
fight in this battle, but God caused their enemies to slay one another before
Jehoshaphat even got on the scene!
As I read
and meditated on this story and the great prayer of Solomon, I thought about
this: Solomon and the children of Israel were not very faithful in following
the Lord’s ways. They fell into idolatry
and immorality over and over again until God was forced to bring judgment upon
them. Even the glorious Temple of
Solomon which his father David had prayed and prepared for was utterly
destroyed by the Chaldeans. Thus, in the
natural realm of things, Solomon’s prayer was nullified because there was no
temple then to pray in or toward. But
then I thought of the many things that are written concerning the temple of God
in the New Testament. First, we Christians are referred to as the
temple of God: “Know ye not that ye
are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, Him
shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
(1 Corinthians 3:16, 17). And in
Ephesians, “Now therefore ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the
household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in Whom all the
building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in Whom
ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
(Ephesians 2:16-22). Peter also teaches
that believers make up this new spiritual House of God, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house.”
(1Peter 2:5). And finally, John says, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in
the temple of my God.” (Revelation 3:12).
I realized that, as all earthly things will one day fail and pass away,
so must even those things that were blessed by God for a time to serve as types
and shadows of more enduring, heavenly things.
God’s temple on earth was just a foreshadowing of a much more glorious
temple that is made without hands. The
Church of Jesus Christ, the Body of Christ universal, is that temple. All believers, both Jews and Gentiles are
built together as stones in a building to form a spiritual house which God
recognizes as the place where His glory will rest. Because of this, Solomon’s original prayer –
and God’s answer to it – takes on a whole new significance.
When God
said to Solomon, “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.” He was ultimately referring to the
Church that Jesus built when He called the Apostles and asked them to follow
Him.
We,
therefore, as members of that Church, and Lively Stones in that glorious
Temple, have received a great promise.
God’s eyes and His heart are always open to the prayers that we pray as
members of His Church, His Temple, His Body!
There is great power given when God’s people join together in prayer in
Jesus’ name. “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open
unto their prayers. (1 Peter 3:12).
Believers
in Jesus Christ are His body on earth.
We are called to be the expression of Christ’s will on earth, just as
Jesus expressed His Father’s will when He walked on earth in flesh and
blood. It behooves us not to take this
responsibility lightly. We must follow
the Lord’s example in all things so that we can be examples to the world. We do despite to the spirit of grace when we
live lives that are no different and no more righteous than the unbelievers
around us. It is time that we Christians
wake up to the fact that God wants to purify to Himself a peculiar (unique)
people who are zealous of good works. Jesus
gave Himself for our sins so that He might deliver us from this present evil world
(Galatians 1:4). He has given us power
to become the sons of God!
The power
that God has given His people when they pray as His Body and as His Temple is
unprecedented. When they pray in the
Father’s will, they will see extraordinary things take place. We as ministers of the Gospel have been given
authority in Christ Jesus to heal, to deliver, and to remit and retain sins. “Then
said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so
send I you. And when He had said this,
He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye
retain, they are retained.” (John 20:21-23). I believe that the church today is living far
below its potential in Christ. As our
eyes are open to the possibilities and promises that are given to us in
scripture, I pray that our faith will be inspired in greater ways and we will
believe God for the miraculous. Nothing
has changed from the first century church that had such great power to the
present day church except the lack of faith that present day Christians have. “Therefore
the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain.”
(Jeremiah 3:3). Just as God told Solomon
that if he would not remain faithful to him, then God would cut him off and not
honor His promise to him; even so, God is under no obligation to honor His
promises to us if we will not follow Him.
God spoke through the Prophet Isaiah and said, “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither
His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between
you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not
hear” (Isaiah 59:1, 2).
It is
time for the Church to rise up and be the Church! It is time for God’s people to purify their
hearts through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is time for Christians to embrace all that God has promised to them
if they will only be willing and obedient.
It is truly extraordinary that God has given His Church such power, but
it is even more wonderful to know that our names have been written in heaven,
and that He will call us home one day to be with Him forever!
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