Part 9: Great Prayer Lessons From King Solomon Series

Great Prayers of the Old Testament

Part 9: Great Prayer Lessons from King Solomon

1 Kings 3:1-13

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared November 30, 2024)

BACKGROUND:

*Last time in 1 Kings 3, we started studying one of the most important prayers we can ever pray. Shortly after he became king, King David's son, Solomon, prayed to the LORD for wisdom, and he teaches us to pray for wisdom. But before we studied Solomon's prayer, we needed to learn more about his life. And one of the most important things we learned about Solomon was that He loved the LORD God.

*Verse 3 tells us that "Solomon loved the LORD." But 2 Samuel 12:24 shows us that the LORD loved Solomon first. This has always been the case. As John 3:16 says, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." The Lord always takes the first step in our everlasting love relationship with Him. That's why 1 John 4:19 tells Christians, "We love Him because He first loved us." By His grace, God reached out to reveal Himself to Solomon. And the same is true for us. You see, Christianity is never about us earning God's love. It's about us responding to the love God already has for us! It's about us responding to the love God had for us before the beginning of time!

*And why does the LORD love us? Simply because "God is love". The Bible declares this truth in 1 John 4:8. And 1 John 4:16 tells Christians that "we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him."

*The writer of Psalm 116:1-2 said, "I love the LORD, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live." And Zephaniah 3:17 says, "The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you in His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.''

*Christians: How could we not love the Lord God who loved us first? And when it comes to our prayer life, we should certainly express our love for the Lord. We also should put a priority on worship. Solomon is a good Old Testament example for us in vs. 2-4. There God's Word says:

2. . . The people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days.

3. And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

4. Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

*Remember that this was early in Solomon's reign, before he began to worship idols. 2 Chronicles 1:3 tells us that "Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness." Also, the Temple had not yet been built in Jerusalem, so the high place at Gibeon was a proper place to worship the LORD. (1)

*But notice Solomon's devotion to worship the LORD. The new king offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar! Then about ten years later, in 1 Kings 8:63, the ark containing the Ten Commandments was brought into the new Temple. And at that dedication, Solomon offered a sacrifice to the LORD of 120,000 sheep! King Solomon was passionate about worshiping the LORD. (2)

*Untold millions of lambs were sacrificed in Old Testament times. Over and over, countless times, God was reminding His people that the wages of sin is death. And every one of those lambs was pointing to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the only lamb who could ever take away the sins of the world. Jesus had to take the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross for us. So, when Jesus began His ministry, John 1: 29 tells us that "The next day John (the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" That is the only way we could receive the mercy of God.

MESSAGE:

*Christians: We are so blessed to live on the resurrection side of the cross! Now we can worship God anywhere any time day or night. And it is always a good thing for us to worship the Lord! Worship puts our focus on God. Worship also elevates our thinking, and in worship we draw closer to God. That is crucial, because James 4:8 tells us that when we draw near to God, He draws near to us. And it's all because of the cross of our risen Savior Jesus Christ.