Some of the most exemplary praying in all the Bible is that of King Solomon, David’s son and successor to the throne. Unlike David’s prayers, very few of Solomon’s prayers are recorded, but for each recorded prayer, there is also a recorded answer. The earliest account of his praying is found in 1 Kings (see also 2 Chron. 1:7–13).
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, O LORD, my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:5–9).
Of particular interest is God’s Word to the young king: “ ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you.’ ” Asking is important both to us and to God, to us because it acknowledges dependence upon God and to God for in some way He has made His working contingent on our exercise of faith. Jesus instructed, “ ‘Ask and it will be given to you’ ” (Matt. 7:7). But the receiving is dependent upon the kind of asking. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14). “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives [badly]” (James 4:3).
Before Solomon ever launched his petition, he made several notable acknowledgments:
1. God had shown great mercy and kindness to his father, David (1 Kings 3:6).
2. It was God who had made him king in his father’s place (v. 7).
3. He was utterly unable to lead God’s chosen people, “too numerous to count” (vv. 7–8).
It is quite understandable that Solomon should feel overwhelmed by his responsibility. To his credit, however, he did not reckon his heritage (son of the mighty King David) as ample enablement for the task. What a lesson to be learned by the sons and daughters of prominent and able parents when in one way or another the children become heirs to their parents’ roles of leadership!
Note Solomon’s petition (v. 9). God’s attention is gained not only by a humble attitude but also by unselfish petition. A lesser individual might have asked for that which would bring personal benefit: riches, power, honor. But not Solomon. His prayer was concerned solely with the welfare of his people. He did not consider the people his, but God’s. He took the place of an under-shepherd, willing to carry out God’s will and work in behalf of God’s people. He desired wisdom so he could judge with discrimination and administrate with fairness the affairs of the kingdom. And “the Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this” (v. 10). To an affirmative answer to Solomon’s request, God also added what Solomon had not asked for: “riches and honor” and “a long life” (vv. 11–14).
After the completion of the temple of the Lord, which took seven years, Solomon had the priests place the ark of the Lord in the inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place (1 Kings 8:6). When the priests left the sanctuary, a cloud filled the temple so that the priests couldn’t perform their service. Then Solomon offered a prayer of dedication (1 Kings 8:22–53), which is one of the longest recorded prayers in Scripture. It should be read in its entirety, but for this discussion, selected portions provide its tone and content:
Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven and said:
“O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
…
“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 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 toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
“When a man wrongs his neighbor … then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty.… Declare the innocent not guilty, and so establish his innocence.
“When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers.
“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live …
“When a prayer or plea is made by any of your people … spreading out his hands toward this temple—then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart …
“As for the foreigner … when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.…
“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly;’ and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul … then from heaven your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you … and cause their conquerors to show them mercy.…” (1 Kings 8:22–23, 27–36, 38–39, 41–43, 46–50).
Solomon’s prayer has three readily identifiable divisions:
1. A general appeal that God would honor His word to David and heed the prayer of His servant Solomon (vv. 22–30).
2. Seven special petitions (vv. 31–50). These were expressed in poetic parallelism. His “ifs” are balanced by “thens,” his “whens” by “thens.” (Each paired statement reveals a profound theology of prayer; any student of prayer would profit by thoughtful attention to each petition.)
a. When a man is required to take an oath, then hear from heaven and act (vv. 31–32).
b. When the people confess their sin, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin (vv. 33–34).
c. When the people turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin (vv. 35–36).
d. When the people examine themselves in times of famine or plague and pray, then deal with each individual according to what action or forgiveness is needed (vv. 37–40).
e. When a foreigner comes and prays toward the temple because of your great name, then do whatever the foreigner asks (vv. 41–43).
f. When you send your people to war and they pray, then hear from heaven and uphold their cause (vv. 44–45).
g. When the people sin and you send them to be held captive and they turn from their sin and pray, then hear them and forgive them (vv. 46–51).
3. A concluding appeal for God’s careful attention to His separated (chosen) people (vv. 51–53).
Paramount in Solomon’s praying was his awareness that God’s blessings and provisions are related to actions and to meeting divine requirements and conditions. To forget this is to pray in vain.
Solomon’s prayer posture and physical actions are not without significance. He “spread out his hands toward heaven” (v. 22) and “rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling” (v. 54). The hands stretched out toward heaven show he was open to receiving God’s blessing and help. By humbly kneeling (though he was king and could sit before the Lord, cf. 2 Sam. 7:18), he acknowledged God’s sovereignty as the divine King and his own unworthiness and total dependence on God.
Verse 27, acknowledging God’s omnipresence as it does, reveals Solomon’s perception of God’s greatness and infinitude, certainly a vital ingredient in effective praying. How completely gratifying to turn from our human limitations to the mighty God who has no equal, who is at once infinite and eternal, who cannot be contained in a mere earthly house, nor even in the highest heaven, who knows no constraint of time. He inhabits limitless time and endless years. What a great God is our God!
Few people have gained such recognition for their praying as did the prophet Elijah. For when he prayed to his God (the name “Elijah” signifies “My God is Yahweh [Jehovah]”), the results were remarkable.
One of the reasons for this kind of results must have been a relationship of regular communication between him and God, a relationship implied in 1 Kings 17:1: “Elijah the Tishbite … said to Ahab, ‘As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.’ ” The phrase “whom I serve” indicates at the very least Elijah’s personal relationship to, and his standing as a representative of, God. It suggests also Elijah’s communion with Him, as well as his habit of receiving direction from Him.
God’s hand or His purposes in life’s vicissitudes are not always accurately assessed—as in the story of the widow’s son who died only to be raised again to life (read 1 Kings 17:8–24)—for we see only “a poor reflection as in a mirror” (1 Cor. 13:12).
He [Elijah] cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived (1 Kings 17:20–22).
From the widow’s viewpoint, her only son’s sudden death was punishment for some sin of her youth, long buried in memory’s secret chamber; and who is to say that God does not in some cases employ such means for obtaining necessary repentance, thereby freeing the soul for loftier heights? Yet it should be remembered that Satan is a master strategist who delights in taking advantage of life’s untoward circumstances by using them to induce condemnation for sins long since forgiven and cleansed (cf. Rom. 8:1, 33–34).
As Elijah prayed, he may have also wrongfully charged God with slaying the widow’s son. Both mother and prophet were subject to human feelings and limitations. It is quite possible that neither assumed cause of death was totally accurate, that in this instance God’s sole purpose was to demonstrate His miraculous power to bring glory to himself (cf. John 9:3; 11:4). But regardless of our assessment of God’s reasons for causing or allowing a tragedy to happen, it is certainly within proper bounds to implore God for a solution to the problem. Our error may easily be that we draw our own conclusions, and then pray. Yet the reverse order might spare us from unnecessary anguish and deter us from wrongly accusing God.
Some speculate on Elijah’s reason for stretching himself upon the child; it is sufficient to understand that in this act the prophet revealed his intensity and total involvement in gaining the necessary divine intervention. Certainly here is faith in action; the humanly impossible becomes reality as the God of the impossible freely demonstrates His unlimited power. Elijah’s unusual behavior was not the cause, but the medium through which the prayer was answered.
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Elijah was an excellent example of the validity of that inspired statement. He had a single passion as he pled with God for the dead child; he was consumed by his desperate petition. His cry left no doubt about the end he pursued: “ ‘O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!’ ” (1 Kings 17:21). Elijah’s prayer may not conform to our concepts of acceptable prayer; it was a prayer for a temporal miracle, without conditions or alternatives. Yet the Lord heard and answered it.
Elijah and 450 prophets of Baal stood before the people to prove who was God, the Lord or Baal. The people decided this would be a good test and made the preparations. Although the prophets called on Baal from morning until evening, they received no answer. Then Elijah stepped forward and began to pray:
O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again” (1 Kings 18:36–37).
How God is addressed is of no little consequence. It can arouse faith in those praying and awaken the hearts of those hearing. Recognizing who God is builds faith in what He can do. He is not a god like Baal, who could give no answer even though his prophets sought his response with utmost earnestness and importunity. In contrast, Elijah’s God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; each of these patriarchs had received supernatural answers to prayers. Only once before in Scripture is this identification of God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob used; and in that instance it was God himself who used it, at the burning bush (Exod. 3:6). Our prayers can be enriched by addressing God for who He is. (Note, for example, Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:17: “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father.”)
The content of Elijah’s simple prayer, which obtained heaven’s immediate and undeniable response (vv. 38–39), reveals the chief passion of the great prophet. Prayer, for us as well as for Elijah, mirrors the heart. From Elijah’s perspective, Israel had to know two things: (1) the identity of God and (2) the source of Elijah’s authority. They had to know the God of Israel, for the folly of their king had brought utter confusion to the people: “ ‘Let it be known today that you [the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel] are God in Israel.’ ” It had to be understood, too, that Elijah was not on some self-appointed mission, but that he was merely the servant of God, doing as he had been commanded: “ ‘[Let it be known] … that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.’ ”
Elijah’s sole purpose was to turn the heart of this people back to the true God (18:37). What will it take today for a similar turnaround in the hearts of people the world over? It may require supernatural manifestations, as in Elijah’s day. What followed did turn the heart of the people back to the true God. The fire fell and consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, even the water. “When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!’ ” (18:39). Literally, they said, “The LORD—He is the God” (i.e., the one true God). Conversely, they recognized that Baal was no god at all.
After God’s sovereignty over Israel was demonstrated and established, Elijah could announce with confidence that rain to break the drought was on the way. Though the words of his prayer are not recorded, he must have prayed with fervor for God to send the rain:
Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ” (1 Kings 18:42–44).
The posture of the praying prophet denotes the intensity of his prayer. James describes this intensity by using the Greek word energeó (from which we get the word “energy”), translated by the KJV as “effectual” and “fervent” and by the NIV as “effective” and “powerful.” It has been suggested that Elijah’s posture was like that of an Israelite woman in the travail of birth; such a view is not inappropriate, for surely he did travail for the spiritual rebirth of his people.
But the question can be raised: Since God had told Elijah, “ ‘Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land’ ” (1 Kings 18:1), why did he have to pray at all? Had not Elijah obeyed? Indeed he had. Yet there was a time lapse between the promise and the fulfillment. We may well ponder the reason for the delay. God must somehow limit His intervention in human affairs to the active involvement of His servants. He looks for their faith and prayers and then releases His benefits. We must conclude that He desires, if not needs, our prayers. How much more glory might come to Him, and how many more might turn to Him, if we rightly and consistently prayed!
Here also is a lesson on persistence and perseverance, as well as a gentle rebuke of those who insist that praying for a thing more than a single time indicates a lack of faith. Elijah’s unrelenting travail and his repeated command, directing his servant to look for the first hint of an answer, were the exact opposite of unbelief. He knew it would rain, but he also perceived that there was an essential role he must play in making it possible. Would that everyone today might pray with the same awareness.
Here again is illustration of James’ assertion that Elijah was human just like us. Here again is our opportunity to identify with him as a person of prayer. One day he can pray down fire and rain, and the next, he can pray to die. (Read 1 Kings 19:1–7.)
He … went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors” (1 Kings 19:4).
There is a time to pray, and (as we noted with Moses before the Red Sea) there is a time not to pray. Prayer when exhaustion and depression have invaded our earthly frame may easily become prayer that is contrary to the Creator’s gracious will. It is our good fortune that God knows our humanity, remembering how he formed us (Ps. 103:14). He does not condemn us for our misguided prayers when life has overwhelmed us, nor, thankfully, does he answer them. Had He answered the distraught prophet’s plea, think of the loss. God had planned for Elijah to escape earth without dying (2 Kings 2:1); but at this point, Elijah sought to escape earth by dying.
It is for our edification that the Bible tells the whole story, speaking not only of someone’s mighty exploits, but also of his frustrations, failures, and defeats. Unlike God, who changes not, people on successive days can be both “the glory” and “the scandal” of the universe. The Bible does not whitewash its heroes. It lets us see them as they were, so we can learn from their episodes of weakness as well as from their episodes of success.
As we have observed, the results of Elijah’s prayers were remarkable—so remarkable, perhaps, that they intimidate, instead of inspire, us. Therefore, in addition to studying the recorded prayers of Elijah, we have considered other pertinent biblical comments about him: for example, that of James, the Lord’s brother, illustrating effective praying by referring to Elijah (James 5:16–20). The Holy Spirit—as if bent on getting rid of any misconceptions about him—inspired James to encourage us by noting, “Elijah was as completely human as we are” (James 5:17, LB). And so we have seen that he too had to contend with his own humanity and with the lingering passions of the fallen nature that war against the soul.
Elisha was a remarkable man of prayer, like Elijah, his predecessor. He received a “double portion” of the spirit of Elijah, that is, the portion of the heir. Consequently, he was recognized as taking Elijah’s place as leader among the prophets (2 Kings 2:9, 15). Also like Elijah, Elisha experienced an answer to prayer that seldom comes to mortals:
When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy’s body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes (2 Kings 4:32–35).
Raising the dead is certainly not the order of the day. Never has it been, nor ever will it be. But this is not to say that it cannot happen. God has not changed, nor has His power diminished. Through His might, people have been raised from the dead and will yet be raised from the dead. “ ‘Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?’ ” (Acts 26:8). Elijah had been used in such a miracle. And certainly Elisha had heard the account from his mentor; consequently his faith rose as the opportunity for a miracle presented itself. His ministry followed the pattern of his predecessor. One can scarcely pray effectively without provoking friends to emulate the practice.
“He … lay upon the boy” (2 Kings 4:34) as if to communicate some of his vital heat or spirit to him. In this way Elisha, like Elijah (1 Kings 17:21), after asking God for a miracle, expressed the earnestness of his desire and of his trust in that divine power he depended on for the accomplishment of this great work.
He then turned away from the boy (the Hebrew may indicate he went down into the Shunammite’s house), pacing back and forth as one full of concern, wholly intent upon the miracle he was seeking. A second time he stretched himself upon the child (2 Kings 4:35). Those who earnestly desire to impart spiritual life to dead souls must likewise labor fervently in prayer and direct encounter. “Natural means are in our power; those that are supernatural belong to God. We should always do our own work, and beg of God to do his.”1
A Request for Spiritual Understanding
The king of Aram wanted to capture Elisha because his every secret plan against Israel had been thwarted by God’s telling Elisha and Elisha’s telling the king of Israel. So one night Aram’s men surrounded the city of Dothan, intent on taking Elisha. Elisha’s servant was fearful, but Elisha told him not to be afraid. Then he prayed for the man:
“O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Strike these people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked (2 Kings 6:17–18).
For the seasoned servant of God to see is one thing; for the beginner to see is another. Therefore, the elder must bear the burden of the younger. Elisha felt none of the hopelessness and despair his servant experienced; his spiritual senses discerned the presence of the hosts of heaven. His servant needed the same vision, and for that Elijah prayed, with remarkable results.
But in the next breath Elisha prayed, “Strike these people with blindness.” What an irony! For his servant he requests sight; for his enemy he requests blindness. And God answered both prayers of His faithful prophet.
On the surface, these answers to prayer may seem to have been capricious. But when viewed against the background of the national political situation they were acts of mighty deliverance. Elisha did not lead the Syrians to Samaria for them to be murdered.… Elisha advised the king of Israel to free them and to treat them well. This in turn brought national deliverance because “the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory” (2 Kings 6:23).2
David also prayed that he might understand the deep things of God: “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Ps. 119:18). Satan is a master at blinding human eyes to reality (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4 and Eph. 4:18). It is of utmost importance that God’s servants see clearly and truly. The God-ordained means to this end is prayer.
Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you” (2 Chron. 14:11; see also 14:9–15).
Human comparison is often the parent of fear, and exaggeration is the enemy of faith. When Israel’s 12 spies compared themselves with Canaan’s giants, 10 of them saw themselves as mere grasshoppers and became victims of their own exaggeration. Asa could have failed in similar fashion, for his army was scarcely half the size of the enemy army. He had 580,000 compared with 1,000,000 Ethiopians. But to Asa, numbers were not significant, because God’s people had a supernatural resource. “There is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty.” Faith alters our perspective and brings into play, by the process of prayer, the power of the One against whom the multiplied powers of humanity are no match.
As Asa prayed, he confessed his faith: “We rely on you.” Resting, leaning, or relying is a demonstration of active faith. And Asa’s declaration “In your name we have come against this vast army” was the hallmark of confident reliance (cf. 1 Sam. 17:45 and Acts 3:6).
Only fools are fearless. And although fear can paralyze us, it can also be our friend, especially when, as with Jehoshaphat, it drives us to God. Some men had come to Jehoshaphat to inform him that a vast army was approaching.
Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard and said:
“O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
“But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”
All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD (2 Chron. 20:3–13).
Here we have the earliest record of a general fast proclaimed by royalty, and evidently kept by all of Judah. The entire nation was aware of the desperate plight that had befallen them, and for no apparent reason. But such is life, whether of a nation, a church, a family, or an individual.
In some wholly unexpected quarter a grave difficulty arises. That power which should have been an ally suddenly becomes an enemy; that very institution which had been the source of sustenance threatens to drag us down with itself into financial ruin; the very men who promised to be, and who were, our best friends on whom we could rely, turn into our opponents and thwart our purposes; the bright, the brilliant morning has become a clouded noon, and a severe storm impends.3
Jehosphaphat’s prayer (2 Chron. 20:6–12), though unpremeditated, is one of the most elegant prayers of the Old Testament, truly an exemplary model. Addressed to Jehovah, the Self-Existent, the Eternal, the Covenant-Keeper, the ever-present God, this prayer extols God in five ways:
1. He is the [faithful] God of our ancestors (20:6).
2. He is in heaven but rules over all the earth (20:6).
3. He is omnipotent (20:6).
4. He gave the land to His people Israel (20:7).
5. He is their only hope (20:12).
Solomon’s dedicatory prayer (1 Kings 8:33–45) is the reference point for Jehoshaphat’s impassioned plea (2 Chron. 20:8–9). Note the three divisions of Jehoshaphat’s prayer: (1) a reminder of Israel’s past mercy toward Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir according to God’s instruction, (2) a cry for God to consider how the Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites are now returning evil for good, and (3) a petition for God’s help and intervention in the light of Judah’s present dilemma and her admitted helplessness.
Noteworthy also is Jehoshaphat’s confession and affirmation of trust and dependence: “ ‘Our eyes are upon you’ ” (20:12). When one prays for divine intervention, eyes fixed on God rather than on the threatening circumstance, God is certain to answer. Then God’s Spirit came upon Jahaziel, who passed along God’s directions to Jehoshaphat, which brought victory and rejoicing (20:14–28).
Much is to be learned from Hezekiah’s praying (see 2 Kings 18 through 20:11; 2 Chron. 29 through 32; Isaiah 36 through 39). Here is a man who once yielded to the enemy instead of praying to God. “Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: ‘I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me’ ” (2 Kings 18:14). But the enemy is never satisfied with a little yielding; he always demands more.
Hezekiah had learned his lesson: to surrender to difficulties is folly. All must learn this lesson. If we yield to our difficulties, they will return, and with renewed force. Surrendering to one difficulty makes the next one harder to resist. Resisting one difficulty makes the next one easier to overcome. And prayer is the indispensable key to overcoming.
Hezekiah’s approach to God is a model for all who would secure an answer from the Lord. Faith rises as one recognizes and proclaims the God to whom prayer is directed.
Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear, open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
“It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God” (2 Kings 19:15–19; see also the rest of chapter 19; cf. Isa. 37:14–20).
Note how Hezekiah identifies and proclaims his God:
1. Hezekiah addresses the “LORD God of Israel”—the very God ridiculed by the enemy (cf. 2 Kings 19:10–12).
2. Hezekiah prayed in the house of the LORD, where God was “enthroned between the cherubim” (2 Kings 19:15). How blessed is the person who is aware of the presence of the divine.
3. Hezekiah recognized God as the supreme potentate: “You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.” For Hezekiah, this comprehensive view of God included his present enemy, Assyria, and encouraged his faith greatly.
4. Hezekiah identified God as the Creator: “You have made heaven and earth.” At least ten times in Bible prayers (mainly in the Old Testament) God is identified as the “Maker of heaven and earth”; but this faith-building confession seems also to have been common in the Early Church (cf. Acts 4:24), and has inspired contemporary songwriters as well (e.g., “How Great Thou Art!”).
Hezekiah’s plea for God’s attention was a mark of His trust in God. He had received a boastful letter from Sennacherib, king of Assyria, casting aspersions upon God and in effect saying that Sennacherib was greater than any god. Hezekiah had seen revival early in his reign; he knew the majesty of the Lord. He also knew that his army could not withstand the Assyrian forces. In faith he immediately took the letter into the temple and spread it out before the Lord (2 Kings 19:14; Isa. 37:14). The handling of threatening letters demands sensitivity to God’s leading.
Hezekiah was not inclined to deny facts. “ ‘It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands’ ” (2 Kings 19:17). Some today would label Hezekiah’s words a negative confession and an enemy of faith. Yet little is to be gained by a head-in-the-sand attitude. That will not solve the problem. Only God can perform the miracle, and the sooner that reality is acknowledged, the sooner His help will be forthcoming. In the face of the facts (the superiority of Assyria over the gods of the nations), Hezekiah voices his worthy and jealous concern that “ ‘all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God’ ” (19:19).
Difficult Times Amidst Victory
Possibly the most memorable of Hezekiah’s prayers is recorded in 2 Kings 20. (See also 2 Chron. 32:24–26 and Isa. 38:1–22.) Isaiah had just told Hezekiah, who was very ill, to put his house in order because he would not recover.
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, “Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly (vv. 2–3).
Great victories for God’s servants and great defeats for their enemies often include difficult times for God’s servants. When Hezekiah took gold from the temple to give Sennacherib as tribute, Hezekiah became “ill and was at the point of death.” But his prayer brought assurance that God would deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrians. We may wonder why God allows difficult times; perhaps it is the divine wisdom guarding us lest we become boastful and take to ourselves undue glory (cf. 2 Cor. 12:1–10). (It should be noted here that the Bible finishes up the story of Sennacherib’s invasions, then goes back to tell of Hezekiah’s sickness, which occurred early in 701 B.C.4 It is obvious from the Assyrian field commander’s comments in 2 Kings 18:29–31, 33, that God had already given Hezekiah the promise of 2 Kings 20:6.)
Note two things about Hezekiah’s praying: (1) he “turned his face to the wall” and (2) he “wept bitterly.” The turning of his face to the wall no doubt reflected his awareness of a need for privacy and for intense personal communion with God. It is easier to find God in solitude than in company with the multitude. Jesus himself often sought solitude in the mountains or deserted places (e.g., Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35). Weeping and praying mingle well. It need not be considered unseemly to express our deepest emotions with tears, especially at the altar. Of our LORD it is written that he too “offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears” (Heb. 5:7).
Hezekiah’s earnest prayer brought him a fifteen-year extension of life. They were years of great blessed revival. The war party had been discredited by the miraculous defeat of Sennacherib. The people had taken a stand of faith and obedience (2 Kings 18:36). God gave them comfort (Isa. 40:1). Then Isaiah was able to give the wonderful prophecies of Isaiah 40 through 66.
Ezra was a spiritual adviser to the Jewish exiles who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem in 457 B.C. As such, he voiced an amazing prayer of confession on behalf of the people.
One commentator has labeled Ezra’s prayer in Ezra 9 “a most pathetic address,” springing out of Israel’s utter failure and unbearable burden. In it is to be found no petition whatever, but a vicarious confession, one of the most profound ever recorded. The prayer voices an intense travail:
Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the LORD my God and prayed:
“O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we … have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.
“Though we are slaves, our God has not deserted us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins.…
“But now, O our God, what can we say after this? For we have disregarded the commands you gave through your servants the prophets.…
“What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved.… Shall we again break your commands …? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? O LORD, God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence” (Ezra 9:5–7, 9–11, 13–15).
Such a confession, when disobedience has brought the judgment of God, is the divinely appointed remedy for what may seem a hopeless situation. Genuine confession cracks the door of mercy.
From Ezra’s example in prayer, we can learn some important lessons on approaching God in repentance:
1. He approached God not with haughtiness but with utmost humility and sorrow, which he expressed by tearing his tunic and cloak (9:3).
2. He displayed total subservience and submission by falling on his knees (v. 5).
3. He understood that no human means was adequate to the overwhelming situation at hand. His only hope for his people, who had invited the rightful wrath of the just God, was the undeserved mercy of that same God. So, like earnest men before him (see Exod. 9:29; 1 Kings 8:22), he spread his empty hands out to the generous Lord God of heaven (v. 5).
The attitude of the person is of more consequence than that of the prayer itself, though the prayer reflects the inward condition of the person. Ezra’s embarrassment is acute: “O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you” (9:6). What an indictment upon a generation such as ours, where many seem to know no shame, having a conscience so seared that the ability to blush is completely dead! (Cf. Jer. 6:15; 8:12.)
Ezra’s prayer might well be called a prayer of recognition as well as of confession. In it he recognizes five things:
1. The continuing transgression of Israel “from the days of our forefathers” had led to “the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings” (v. 7).
2. God, in His divine grace, had left a remnant of Israel, manifesting his kindness in their bondage and giving them “new life to rebuild the house” of God in Jerusalem (vv. 8–9).
3. God’s patience had been shown by punishing the flagrantly disobedient less than they deserved, and His kindness had been shown by sending unearned deliverance (vv. 10–13).
4. If Israel were to again break the commands of God, God’s justice rightfully required that the disobedient be destroyed (v. 14).
5. Israel, because of their guilt, had no defense and no claim to make. They were not worthy to stand in God’s presence (v. 15).
Ezra’s prayer, then, is a pattern for the truly penitent, whether the disobedient individual engaged in deplorable behavior or the selfless intercessor who, like Ezra, approaches God on behalf of his own nation or people.
God does His greatest works through people with burdened hearts. Nehemiah, like his predecessor Ezra, was such a person. He grieved deeply for his fellow Jews. Public leaders who truly have their people at heart experience sorrows that others escape. God grant us more leaders who experience such sorrows.
Nehemiah was a man given to prayer. His intimacy with God is evidenced by his repeated personal reference to “my God.” Effective prayer avoids starchy formality in favor of warm and loving familiarity. That familiarity, however, must never be allowed to become irreverence. Our Maker is our Friend, but our Friend is never anything less than our Maker.
While in captivity, Nehemiah discovered that the Jewish remnant had returned to Jerusalem, but its gates had been burned and its walls broken down (Neh. 1:1–3). He became burdened with the plight, the lack of security, of his city and its people. His praying was no lighthearted, soon forgotten activity. Rather, it was a most demanding and serious occupation, involving weeping, mourning, fasting, and praying.
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said:
“O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
“They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man” (Neh. 1:4–11).
All true prayer, like Nehemiah’s prayer, proceeds from a right perception of God (see v. 5). God is divine, exalted, faithful, and powerful. The more we know of God, the more effective and acceptable our worship and prayer will become. Nehemiah not only knew his God intimately but also how to approach Him:
1. With sorrow (v. 4). Prayer was intended to be glad communion with God, but sin brought to it a mournful sound. Now it is often bathed with tears; yet the day is coming when without tears (Rev. 7:17; 21:4) we will rejoice in God. Even today, however, the sorrows of prayer are more victorious than the rejoicing of sin.
2. With importunity (vv. 5–6). Nehemiah implored God to hear his prayer. His entire being voiced his devotion. Spiritual realities must be earnestly sought.
3. With persistence (v. 6). Nehemiah prayed day and night. His persistence mirrored that of Jacob: “ ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me’ ” (Gen. 32:26).
4. With confession (vv. 6–7). Nehemiah’s confession was individual, corporate, and open.
5. With supplication (vv. 8–11). Prayer usually voices some specific petition. It may relate to a divine promise or to a divine mercy.
A Prayer for Judgment against Evil
Nehemiah had received permission from the king, Artaxerxes, to go and rebuild Jerusalem. When Nehemiah and the Jews began to be opposed and ridiculed for their work by the “neighboring peoples” (cf. Ezra 9:1), he went to God: “ ‘Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders’ ” (Neh. 4:4–5).
From a New Testament perspective, praying for judgment to fall on evil persons seems inappropriate. Did not our Lord instruct us, “ ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ ” (Matt. 5:44)? And did not the apostle Paul echo the same sentiment when he taught, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.… Do not repay anyone evil for evil.… Do not take revenge, my friends” (Rom. 12:14, 17, 19)? How then do we account for such unmerciful imprecations from the lips of this God-fearing man of the Old Testament?
We need to remember that the guidelines from both Jesus and Paul are, and must always be, the general rule; but at the same time there is allowance for the exception. We do have the revelation that “There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying … pray about that” (1 John 5:16).
And we have an insight regarding a depravity so severe that “God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity” (Rom. 1:24) and “a depraved mind” (Rom. 1:28). Further, there is the Pauline instruction to “hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5).
Nehemiah’s prayer for judgment on Israel’s enemies was not necessarily the fruit of an overheated spirit; it seems rather to have been provoked by a holy jealousy for God and His cause. David prayed similarly (see Ps. 109:7, 14–15). A believer should never, of his own volition, exclude any sinner from his prayer; but on a rare occasion the Holy Spirit might restrain a believer from praying for a sinner’s salvation—if the sin that leads to death has been committed. Nehemiah may well have prayed in harmony with God’s will, for only God knows when evil people have crossed the line to eternal hopelessness.
Having endured opposition of hostile neighbors, the Jews then experienced a famine and economic hard times. It was brought to Nehemiah’s attention that the people were also being taken advantage of by their own officials who were lending money at an exorbitant rate and accepting various family members as slaves. When confronted, the nobles and officials took an oath to give back what they had taken and to not practice usury any longer. Nehemiah explained what took place next:
I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!” At this the whole assembly said, “Amen” and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised (Nehemiah 5:13).
At first glance, this verse seems more a solemn pronouncement of a curse than a prayer. But a closer look reveals Nehemiah’s expectation of God to execute judgment on any who might fail to fulfill their promise to the Lord. Nehemiah was keenly aware of his own inability to enforce the people’s promises; but he knew God was abundantly able to, and for this he prayed.
At times it may seem that faithful service as well as outright defiance go unnoticed by God. Nehemiah felt that God might not have taken proper note of his faithfulness as well as of the evil deeds of his enemies. Two verses capture his complaint:
Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people (Neh. 5:19).
This first petition seems to reflect Nehemiah’s feeling that the people he had worked for so diligently were ungrateful for his labor. (Such a feeling is not uncommon even in our day.) Even so, Nehemiah relieved his pain by a simple prayer that God, who is not like unappreciative people, would in due time reward him.
The second prayer is the very opposite; it asks that God duly reward the evildoers Nehemiah had to contend with.
Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who have been trying to intimidate me (Neh. 6:14).
Both political leaders and errant prophets were hindering the work of God. What a valuable lesson for us. God should be implored to “remember” and do something about those who try to intimidate us, be they human or devil. It is not for us to avenge ourselves, though that may be our natural bent (see Rom. 12:19). God has reserved the right to execute vengeance, and when He does it, it is done justly (see Lev. 19:18; Deut. 32:35; Ps. 94:1).
The Book of Nehemiah records an unusual prayer. It is unusual for two reasons: (1) It is the longest recorded prayer in the Bible and (2) it is voiced by eight people, Levites: Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah.
It is unlikely that these Levites prayed in unison. Although it is not so stated, it is more likely that they each prayed a portion of the entire prayer. What an inspiration it must have been to the people to hear eight spiritual leaders voice expressions that merged into a single cry to God! Only selected portions of the corporate prayer can be included here; however, a full reading of Nehemiah 9:5–38, with an awareness of the distinctiveness of the prayer, can provide new insights into the possibilities of public prayer.
“Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”
“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
“You are the LORD God, who chose Abram.… You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him.… You have kept your promise because you are righteous.
“You saw the suffering of our forefathers in Egypt; … You sent miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, … for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them.… You divided the sea before them.… By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.
“You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good.… In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
“But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands.… [I]n their rebellion [they] appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them.…
“You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. For forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.…
“But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they put your law behind their backs. They killed your prophets, who had admonished them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
“But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight.… And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.
“You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them … and refused to listen.… But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
“Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all the hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings and leaders, upon our priests and prophets, upon our fathers and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong.…
“But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our forefathers so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces.… We are in great distress.
“In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it” (Neh. 9:5–13, 15–17, 20–21, 26–29, 31–33, 36–38).
A great portion of this lengthy prayer is a recital of Israel’s early history and a recognition of God and His dealings with His people. Prayer takes on a whole new dimension when God is properly acknowledged—when His mercies, provisions, chastening, and blessings are recounted. In the prayer, God is acknowledged as the only Lord (v. 6); Creator and Maker of all things (v. 6); Preserver of all (v. 6); the One worshipped by heaven’s hosts (v. 6); the One who chose Abram (v. 7); the Name Changer (v. 7); the great, mighty, and awesome God (v. 32); the Covenant Keeper (v. 32); and the God of mercy (v. 32).
After an extended rehearsal of Israel’s disobedience and rebellion, and of God’s patience, mercy, and chastisement, the prayer concludes with a petition (“do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes”), a confession (“you have been just, … while we did wrong”), and a covenant (“In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement”). What a pattern for God’s people at any time! There is a proper course of action even amid sin and failure; there is a way back to God.
Nehemiah was indeed a man of prayer; his example was reflected even in the duly constituted spiritual leadership of the Levites. Godly leadership is a profound blessing in any nation or government.
Nehemiah returned at some point to King Artaxerxes. But while he was serving in the king’s court, God’s people in Jerusalem once again became complacent in their worship. When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem (Neh. 13:6–7) he “learned about the evil thing Eliashib [the priest] had done,” defiling the temple by allowing Tobiah to store his household goods in the room which was supposed to be used to store the temple articles. (Tobiah had been one who had opposed the Jews at the rebuilding of the city [see Neh. 4:3; 6:19] and was also an Ammonite [see 13:1–2].) Nehemiah also discovered that the house of God had been neglected (Neh. 13:10–11). He put things back in order and then prayed for God to remember his faithfulness:
Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services (Neh. 13:14).
Then Nehemiah saw the people working and selling on the Sabbath. He rebuked them and warned them of the calamity they were bringing on themselves. He reminded them of when their forefathers had done the same thing. So he commanded them to “keep the Sabbath day holy” (Neh. 13:15–22). Then he prayed from a heart that loved God and desired to keep His Word:
Remember me for this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love (Neh. 13:22).
Finally, Nehemiah saw some of the men of Judah who married pagan women. The influence of these mothers was so great that the children could not even speak the language of Judah. Because he recalled how Solomon’s wives had led him astray, Nehemiah rebuked the men and called down curses upon them. To emphasize the seriousness of what they were doing, he even beat some of them and pulled out their hair. Then he made them take an oath not to let their children marry outside the faith (Neh. 13:23–28). Then, for the third time Nehemiah prays, “Remember me” (13:14, 22, 31).
Remember me with favor, O my God (13:31).
Nehemiah’s task had been to restore not only the city of Jerusalem but the relationship of its people to God. Under his spiritual leadership, we see one of the greatest spiritual renewals in the history of Israel. Nehemiah’s requests for God’s attention were not prompted by pride or boasting, but were humble appeals for God’s faithfulness in noting his obedience and diligent labor.
That is, when Nehemiah asked God to remember him, he was not merely asking God to keep him in mind. God never forgets. But when the Bible speaks of God remembering it always means that God steps into the situation and does something about it that is in line with His promises. Nehemiah was expressing his faith that God would continue to show favor to him in an active way. He was also expressing his personal relation with the Lord when he ends by calling God, “My God.” We recall Peter’s admonition that believers cast all their anxious worry and care upon God, “Because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). What a great consolation is derived from the knowledge that God is a personal God and does indeed care about us!
1. What do Solomon’s prayers show us about the kind of God we serve?
2. What were the chief characteristics of most of Elijah’s prayers?
3. When are we most likely to pray prayers contrary to God’s will?
4. What was unusual about Jehoshaphat’s prayer?
5. Why would some label Hezekiah’s prayer in 2 Kings 19:17 a “negative confession”? Why was Hezekiah right in praying this way?
6. When would a prayer like Ezra’s (9:6ff.) be appropriate today?
7. How did the prayer of the eight Levites show they were concerned about finding a way back to God?
8. What prompted Nehemiah’s “remember me” prayers?