A Wise Model Prayer. (1 Kings 8: 1-66)

Three thousand years ago, a very wise man prayed a prayer. Not just any prayer—the longest recorded prayer in the entire Bible. And we still have it. Preserved word-for-word and spoken by a man that scripture says was the wisest on earth.

 Solomon also prayed this prayer on one of the most significant days in Israel’s history: the dedication of the temple. And because of when he prayed it and why he prayed it, and what he prayed, this chapter is by nature one of the richest lessons in the bible on how to talk to the Lord…

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Three thousand years ago, a very wise man prayed a prayer. Not just any prayer, it's actually the longest recorded prayer in the entire Bible. And we still have it today, preserved for us word for word, spoken by a man that Scripture says was the wisest man on earth. Solomon also prayed this prayer on one of the most significant days in Israel's history, the dedication of the temple. And because of when he prayed it and why he prayed it and what he prayed, this chapter is by nature one of the richest lessons in the Bible on how to talk to the Lord. And that's what we're going to try and learn today in today's massive episode of the Bible Project Daily Podcast. Now, this is a very long chapter today, 66 verses, and I do as always want to trace the entire flow of the chapter and cover it verse by verse, because that is the mission of this project. Today, about 50% of what I'm saying is just going to be reading the text itself. But as we go through, I will survey through the key moments of the prayer and draw out what I believe Solomon can teach us about how we should approach God. Because at the heart of today's episode is a very simple question. What can we learn about prayer from the wisest man who ever lives? So let's kick straight off, and the first eleven verses cover the gathering of the people. It says, Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and chiefs of the Israelite families to bring up the Ark of the Lord's covenant from Zion, the city of David. All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ithain, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, and they brought up the Ark of the Lord, and the tent of meetings, and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and the Levites carried them up, and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted. The priests then brought the Ark of the Lord's covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the most holy place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. These poles were so long that the ends could be seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the holy place, and they're still there today. There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horab, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt. When the priests withdrew from the holy place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord, but the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple. We'll pause there at verse eleven. Now this chapter opens with Solomon summoning in effect the entire nation to witness the installation of the ark and the dedication of the temple. We've just had two chapters describing the building of it. And we're given the timing as well. This is occurring in late September or early October, roughly that time of year, by the months that are identified. We are then told that everything from the old portable tabernacle is now brought into the new temple. The table of showbread, the altar, the incense, the lampstands, and of course, most importantly, the Ark of the Covenant is placed in the Holy of Holies. It then describes for us sacrifices so numerous that they could not be counted. A phrase meant to convey the sheer magnitude of this moment. But the heart of this opening section, I think, is in verse 10 when it says, When the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord. Now the word used and translated cloud for us today in the original language was the term Shekinah, the visible symbol of God's presence. The word simply means to dwell. God was dwelling amongst his people. And that of course was the whole point of the tabernacle in Moses' day, and it is now the whole point of this temple that has been raised in Solomon's day. And in fact, I would add it is still the main point for us today. Only now God does not, of course, dwell in a building. We know that he dwells in you and I. You see, if you've trusted in Christ, then we're told the presence of the Lord and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit comes to you and goes with you everywhere you go. When you wake up in the morning, he's there. When you pray before your feet even hit the floor, he hears you. And when you talk to him, even in the shower, yes, he's even there. When you're in the car, when you're at work, when you're simply searching for somewhere to park, he is with you. The temple was symbolic of it, but we are able to live in that reality. But before Solomon begins his prayer, he speaks a sort of benediction, and in that, in the ver verses twelve to thirteen, he'll address the Lord, and then in verses fourteen to twenty-one he addresses the people. Let's hear the section and what it says. Then Solomon said, The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud, and I have built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell for ever. While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. Then he said, Praise be to the Lord the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, Since today I brought my people, Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my name might be there, but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel. My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to my father David, You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my name. Nevertheless you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood. He is the one who will build the temple for my name. The Lord has now kept the promise he made. I have succeeded David my father, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, and I have provided a place there for the ark, in which the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt. Now did you notice one word kind of dominates that section? Name. We hear it over and over again, the name of the Lord, that my name might be there, it says in verse 16, for my name's sake in verse 19, for the name of the Lord, verse 20. In fact, fourteen times in this chapter, Solomon will refer to the name of the Lord, that meaning his reputation, his character, and his glory. And now Solomon stands before the altar, lifts his hands to heaven, and he begins his prayer. Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on the earth below like you. You who keep your covenant with and mercy with your servants who work before you with all their heart. Now the prayer itself begins in verse twenty two. The very first movement of the prayer is this phrase of praise. There's no requests here, there's no needs, no problems being offered, simply praise. And this I think is the very first lesson that Solomon's prayer teaches us about the principles of prayer. To begin with praise. Not because God needs it, but because we need to do that to get our focus right. Praise is the thing that lifts our heart. Praise reorders our thinking, and praise reminds us of who God is before we even speak to him of what we might need. There is a difference between thanksgiving and praise. Thanksgiving is gratitude for what God has done. Praise is simple adoration for who God is. Now both matter and both belong in prayer, but Solomon begins where all true prayer should begin by focusing on the character of God. He praises him because he's unique, there's no God like you, he says, and he praises him for keeping his covenant and for showing mercy. He says, You're always merciful, Lord. Solomon begins his prayer with praise. Praise for the God who is, not merely for what God has done. And I would say if you really want to appreciate this distinction and what on what this means, then just spend some time meditating in the Psalms. The Psalmists repeatedly thank God for his works. Yes, of course they do, but they also spend the majority of his time praising him for who he is and his character. You are good, they say. You are faithful, you are merciful. There is no God like you. And Solomon is doing the same here. He praises God because of who he is, his uniqueness, and he praises him because he keeps his promises, and he praises him because he is always merciful. And when you let that type of thinking shape your own prayer life, something changes. You actually start to begin to say, Lord, thank you, and you are good, and you are gracious and you are faithful, and thanksgiving becomes naturally a posture of praise, and praise naturally then becomes a posture of worship. Now, in this prayer we will see laid out before us seven petitions, and I think we can learn how to pray by listening to Solomon's prayer. So after praise come these petitions, seven of them, and as I'm going to walk through them one by one, I'm not saying that you should apply them all or every time, not even any time, but one or two may directly speak into your own prayer life. Some today, some on other occasions, but let's run through and survey all of them. The first petition is to the Lord himself to keep his promises. Verses twenty-four to twenty six. He says, You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father, with your mouth, you have promised and with your hand, you have fulfilled it as it is today. Now, the Lord God of Israel, keep for your servant David, my father, the promises you made to him when you said, You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel. If only your descendants are careful in all they do and walk before me faithfully as you have done. And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised, your servant David, my father, come true. Well, Solomon begins by acknowledging God's faithfulness, yes, but he and but then he reminds him and says, You have kept your promise to David, my father. Then he says something that almost sounds a bit bold, arrogant. He simply says to God, Now keep what you've already promised. He reminds God of his own word and he asks him to fulfill it. Now, some of us may feel a little uncomfortable with that. We would hesitate perhaps to speak to God in that way. But I have to say, in all honesty, Scripture is full of that kind of praying. The psalmists again are seen to do it repeatedly. They take God's promises and they simply turn them into prayers. And I believe that we can do the same. For example, when anxiety rises in your heart, you can say, you can claim, Lord, you have said in Philippians 4 that I can bring my requests with thanksgiving before you, and you will give me peace. And I'm asking you now to keep that promise. That is not being irreverent, that is simply being biblical and praying in a biblical matter. The third is of a similar tone. He says, Lord, hear my prayers. Verses twenty-seven to thirty, it says, But will God really dwell on the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built? You give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy. Lord my God, hear the prayer and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be opened towards this temple night and day, this place of which you said my name shall be there, so that you will hear the prayer of your servants as they pray towards this place. Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place. Hear from heaven, hear your in here your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. Okay, so Solomon acknowledges that God cannot be contained by any building, not even this magnificent building he's just had constructed. He actually says, Heaven and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain you. You see, he is understanding that this temple is symbolic. God's true dwelling place is in the heavenlies, but then Solomon says, Regard the prayer of your servant here on earth, in this temple, before this temple, hear the prayer and hear it in heaven and from heaven. Now there's a tone here that kind of sounds a little bit like a conversation between two people. He's kind of saying, Lord, you're listening. Lord, will you hear me when I speak? And again the psalmist pray like this constantly, saying things like, Give ears to my cry, Lord, incline your heart to me, hear me when I call. So again it's perfectly legitimate to say to the Lord, I'm praying, Lord, please help me. It's not irreverent, it's not disrespectful, it's simply honest. The third petition is for God to act with justice. Verses thirty one and thirty two. When anyone wrongs their neighbour and is required to take an oath, and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act, judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence. So Solomon here is an imagining a dispute between two people, one is right and one is wrong, and he says, Lord, judge between them, and condemn the wicked and justify the righteous. Now he's asking God to act according to righteousness, and again this is exactly how the psalmist pray. We heard David say, Lord, I am righteous in the matter, now vindicate me. And other times he says, Lord, this is my fault, so have mercy on me. And both those positions, although very different, are both biblical, and both belong in our prayers. You see, when you're right, you can ask God to act in righteousness and to bring fruit to that action in your life. But when you are wrong, you can still go to God, but this time you ask Him in mercy. Which leads us neatly into the next petition. Lord forgive us when we sin. Verses thirty-three and thirty-four. He says, When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy, because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in the temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors. So Solomon is moving here through the idea of justice into the idea of a supplication for mercy. He knows Israel will sin and he knows they will fail. They did in the past, they will in the future. He knows they will still always need forgiveness. And of course we can learn from this that so will we. This in fact is the rhythm of biblical prayer being revealed here. When we are righteous, we have the right to ask for God's justice. But when we are sinful, we need to ask for God's mercy. But in both cases we ask, we pray, we petition that God will hear us. So these first four petitions we've looked at are already giving us the basis, the model of a rich pattern of prayer. Praise God for who he is, pray God's promises back to him, ask him to hear you, ask him to act in justice in justice, but also ask him to act in mercy. Solomon is really teaching us here how to talk to the Lord. And there isn't any there isn't much formality about it, is there? It's more about honesty. There's not a distance here, there is a reverence, but there is also a relationship. Okay, Solomon now moves into the next set of petitions, each one interestingly, beginning with the word when. These are the prayers for moments when life breaks down for us, when sin has its way or its consequences, and when God's people or any of us desperately need his mercy. And I think what's striking in this next section is how honest Solomon is about the reality of sin and the reality of divine discipline. He doesn't pretend Israel will always walk faithfully. In fact, he assumes they won't. And he teaches us how to pray when we don't also. Next petition is when there is doubt, forgive. Verses 35 to 36, Solomon prays, When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray towards this place and give praise to your name, and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land to give your people an inheritance. Now the previous petition was dealing with the issue of a military defeat. That was verses thirty-three to thirty-four. But here in thirty-five and thirty-six the issue is drought. Now both are being positioned here as sort of forms of divine discipline. Both are said to be the consequences of sin, and in both cases Solomon prays the same thing, simply, Lord, forgive us. He's pleading, petitioning God's mercy. And notice again, even though they are they've dedicated this temple now, Solomon is still repeatedly saying, not hear it in the temple, the people are here in the temple, gathering there, but you, Lord, hear it in heaven. So I am suggesting here that Solomon knows the temple is ultimately symbolic. God's true dwelling place is in heaven, and that's where these petitions will land. He continues. Verses 37 to 40, praying when there's situations like famine, pestilence, praise. Again, it's all about asking for forgiveness. He continues. When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel, being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands towards the temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive and act, deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts, for you alone know every human heart, and that they will fear you all the time that they live in the land of your ancestors. So this petition covers pretty much every natural disaster imaginable. When each of us reach a position when we know ultimately that the plague lies within our own heart, then hear it in heaven and forgive. This is a really profound statement. Solomon understands something here, that the land or society can be afflicted, and indeed sometimes the body can be afflicted, but beneath both of these is the true source, which is the plague of the heart. Now, when the heart turns to God and the prayer is petitioned as a simple forgive, we have the rhythm of biblical prayer being portrayed for us. You see, when we're right, we can ask God for his justice, but when we're wrong, we should ask God for mercy. And in both cases, we should pray as Solomon did here and simply ask that God hears us when we come to Him and pray in these situations. So these three when situations we just covered in 33 to 40, in them Solomon has given us three scenarios, each beginning with a when when Israel is defeated militarily, when there is drought, and when there Is famine or plague, and in each case it's all about saying that sin has consequences, and God disciplines his people when they sin, and Solomon simply prays that forgiveness be granted when they repent of that. Now, how does that apply today? Well, there is a slight difference, I believe. In the Old Testament, we see God's discipline often came through the land that he gave them. Things like drought, famine, field crops, even military defeat. Israel's relationship was very much tied to the land, the promised land he'd given them. But in the New Testament, God has not promised us a physical land. So the question asks, well, how does he discipline his children today who fall into sin? Well, thankfully, Paul answers that in his first letter when he writes to a church in Corinth on this very issue. In chapter 1130, he points out to them that for this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. Now, clearly, obviously, not all sickness is a form of God's discipline, and not all weakness is a sin. Sometimes, friends, you can simply catch a virus. But scripture is very clear. The principle here is that sin can affect the body. The book of Proverbs in the Old Testament tells us the same thing. And when a believer strays, God may discipline them physically, not to destroy them, but to restore them. Sometimes that discipline might simply be handing us over to the very consequences of the sinful lifestyle we're choosing to live. But there's a remedy offered here, and it's the same one as we see in Solomon's prayer. It's simply about confession and cleansing. John, again in the New Testament, in his first letter, wrote, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. You confess the sins you know, and God will forgive them, and as a bonus, he'll also forgive the sins that you don't even know about or don't even remember. You see, forgiveness is what God does in heaven, but the cleansing is what God does on earth in its entirety, and he will do it in your heart as well. So part of prayer, regular, honest prayer, must be confession. Lord, I have sinned. I shouldn't have done that, Lord. Forgive me, cleanse me from the effects of that wrong choice. The quicker you come before him and confess, stand before him, then the quicker you'll be restored. And note it's talking about standing before God, not confessing to another human being. There is a call to confess to one another, where we share our weaknesses and our problems, but that's not the same as going to another individual believer and asking for them to be a mediator of that forgiveness. Pray before Him and He will forgive us and restore us. And the quicker you do that, the quicker you can be restored. So I think Solomon is teaching us something really essential here. Prayer is not only praise and petition, it's actually meant to lead us to a point of confession and returning to fellowship with him. But from this point Solomon will now turn outward. He's been praying for himself and for Israel, but now he's actually going to pray for the foreigner, the visitor, the outsiders amongst us, the one who have heard of Israel's God, and perhaps even come seeking him. Verses forty-one to forty-three. As for the foreigner, who does not belong to your people Israel, but has come from a distant land because of your name, for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, and when they come and pray towards the temple, then hear from heaven your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of 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. Now verse forty-one begins with that familiar word again, name, one of sixteen times, as I said, it's used in this passage, it says, When a foreigner comes before you because of your name. Now Solomon wants the whole earth to know the Lord, and he wants the temple, the nation to be a beacon of God's reputation, and he prays that when outsiders come seeking the Lord, that God will hear them. This is intercession, but this time it's about praying for others. This is a heart, a believer's heart that is actually choosing to look beyond itself, and it raises that simple question, should you pray for people who don't even know the Lord? Well the answer is clear, yes, you should. In fact, some people I know would say you should have a list, whether it's written or unwritten isn't the point, but you should have a list of people in your mind or on paper that you bring before the Lord. People who don't even know him yet, people who need grace, people who need salvation, people maybe who need help. Solomon had such a list, and so should we. Okay, let's go on to petition number six. Lord give us victory in battle. He continues, verses forty four and forty-five. When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the Lord towards the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea and uphold their cause. Now in Solomon's day, of course, this meant literal physical warfare, but less so in our day, the battle that we face as Christian believers is actually more spiritual in the New Covenant context. The battle names the enemies that we battle for us. It tells us we battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Well, now we of course we also have to battle against our own fallen human nature, our impatience, our anger, our judgmental attitudes, our lack of compassion. These are battles too, but all of these require prayer. Jesus taught us to pray by saying, Lead us not into temptation. So praying that we might not fall into temptation, praying before it arises. So when you wake up in the morning, you can pray for victory over the sins that might come along in the day on the temptations and try to defeat you. And you should do that daily, praying honestly and praying specifically. Okay, verses forty six to fifty-three, the seventh and final of the petitions is Lord, forgive and restore. Let's hear what he says. 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 their enemies who take them captive in their own lands, far away or near, and if you have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, and say and acknowledge we have sinned and have done wrong, and we have acted willedly, and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul, even in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and prayed towards the land of your ancestors, towards the city you have chosen, the temple I have built for your name, then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayers and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, those people who have sinned against you, forgive all the offences they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy, for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of the iron smelting furnace. May your eyes be opened to your servant's plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out for you. For you singled them out from all the nations of the world, to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt. Okay, so it ends with this very long, compassionate petition, a call to forgive and restore people who have fallen into captivity. A call is given to forgive and restore, not just to pardon, not just to show mercy, but a request for full restoration. And this is, I think, where Solomon's heart really shines through here. He's not saying, even when he recognizes that these are people who have gone wrong, he's not saying, Lord, give them what they deserve. He's saying, Lord, help them repent and then bring them home again. Now, I think from a spiritual perspective, when we see this played out for us today in our everyday lives, I think this is one of the types of prayers we struggle with the most. When someone sins, and perhaps even sins against us, and they suffer the consequences, we're inclined to think, well, they had it coming. But I think Solomon is teaching us to try and pray differently about these things, to pray for the forgiveness of others and pray for the restoration and do it with a sense of compassion. A judgmental spirit is not a spiritually minded spirit. A critical tongue is never a Christ-like tongue. Paul actually said, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but only what is edifying, and that you can magnify to the power of ten when talking to the Lord your God. And edifying means building other people up, not tearing them down. And Solomon's prayer here is full of a call to build people up. It's full of mercy, it's full of a of cause for restoration, it is full of compassion. So there we have it. Seven petitions. Solomon begins with praise, then moves through seven specific prayer requests. One, keep your promises, two, hear my prayers, Lord, three, practice justice, four, forgive people when they repent, five, bless others, especially outsiders, six, give us victory in our battles, and seven, restore those who have fallen around us. That's it. And then the chapter ends with this long section which really just expresses the joy of the people and the joy of the Lord. I'll read it for you. 54 to the end of the chapter. When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out towards heaven. He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying, Praise be to the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us, and he who is with our ancestors, may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep his commands, decrees, and the laws he gave our ancestors. And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other, and may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands as at this time. Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord, twenty two thousand cattle, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple to the Lord. The scale is staggering, isn't it? Continuing. On the same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold all the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat and fellowship offerings. So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him, a vast assembly, people from Libo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven more, fourteen days in all. And on the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king, and then they went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel. Okay, that final verse says the people went home joyful, joyful because when we praise the Lord, pray for others, do these things in these ways, seek forgiveness, restoration of other people. All these types of petitions mean that joy, great joy will follow. So I think this has been a lengthy, wordy chapter, but there is within it real genius in it that gives us a model for prayer, a template for a wise way to prayer. And remember that the prayer included three main things. Three people, if you like. The Lord Himself, we have to praise Him, thank Him, honor Him. Then we pray for ourselves, asking us to confess, seek forgiveness, ask for strength, etc. And then the closing sections was about praying for others. Prayers of intercession, prayers to bless people, and prayers to restore people who have fallen away. Now, in truth, when most of us pray, I suggest that we are inclined to reverse that order rather a little. We start with ourselves, sometimes we then stay with ourselves, and then sometimes we end with ourselves. But Solomon is trying to tell us there's a much wiser way here. Think about how we do this. Pray to the Lord first, thank him for who he is, worship, praise, and thanksgiving, then pray for others, and then and only then maybe pray for yourself. And that prayer should be praise, intercession, confession, and restoration. That, my friends, I believe is the rhythm of a wise, God-centered prayer life revealed for us here. And when you pray like that, when you choose to do that, when you choose to honor the Lord and bless others and walk humbly before him, I think you'll find what Israel found on that day. We've just seen it in the conclusion. You'll find joy, real joy, this day and every day. And thanks for being with me this day. Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcasts from. If you want to complete the whole thing from Genesis to Revelation, join that journey. If you're not seeing all the back episodes, then you can simply do that by signing up and following me for free on Patreon, and you'll have access to the whole back catalogue there. And if you want to keep up to date with everything I'm doing across all five of my podcast episodes, this daily one, the monthly ones, and the bi-weekly one on different subjects in different areas. Well, I'm not going to go into it now, but I put a weekly prayer letter out with a short devotional and an update of everything I'm doing across all these areas of ministry in my life. Thanks again for being with me. Thanks particularly for those for you who are praying for me at this time because I'm in a very difficult personal season of my life again. I'll say no more, but just leave that with you and covet your prayers in that, and I'll see you back here again tomorrow on the Bible Project Daily Podcast. Bye-bye for now.