The Church Prays
2 Chronicles 7
11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said:
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’
This past Sunday, as we focused our worship on prayer, we saw the teaching of the Catechism on prayer. We looked at Q&A 116, “Why do Christians need to pray?” The question itself could lead us to a concept that we don’t really believe. We could take it as telling us that prayer is an obligation for us. We need to pray; it is a command of God. And there is truth in that statement, that we need to pray. And it is true that prayer is commanded by God. But we should take it as the voice of a parent telling us to do the things that are good for us. Eat your supper. Tie your shoes. Commands, but for the good of children. And we can hear in this command to pray even more that it is for our good, but also that it is a command that invites us.
In 2 Chronicles we see that Solomon has finished the construction of the temple. Not on his own, but he is the king. He has commanded, invited, the people to take part in giving to, and working on, the temple. Now that it is finished, we hear God’s promises to Solomon, and to all the people. An invitation to pray as God will hear the prayers of Solomon, and all people. An invitation to pray and to be in relationship with God as the Father. Promises about the kingdom, the throne, and the good of the nation. An invitation to be a people of prayer.
We heard those words on Sunday as well. Before one of our members prayed, she spoke about the great gift that God gives us in prayer. To be able to talk with God, to walk with God and commune with God. That God invites our prayers and listens to our prayers. God commands our prayers as an invitation. Telling us the thing that will serve us for our best. Inviting us to talk with him and walk with him as he does the same with us.
God invites us to prayer. Make time to talk with God today. Likely right now is the best moment. Tell him the joys and struggles of this moment. The ones in our lives, the ones in our families, our neighbours, our world. He promises to hear us and to use our prayers as part of the work he does in us, through us, among us. God has made a promise of hearing our prayers. We should take up that promise and speak with him for the good of the church and community here today.