![Praying Toward God's Interests so that God would Listen to Our Prayer [in the picture: 1 Kings 8:48-49, praying toward God's land, His house, and His city]](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/1kings8-48-49-pray-toward-gods-house-gods-interest.jpg?resize=700%2C518&ssl=1 "Praying Toward God's Interests so that God would Listen to Our Prayer [in the picture: 1 Kings 8:48-49, praying toward God's land, His house, and His city]")
Have you ever wondered, What kind of prayers does God listen to and answer? As Christians we pray for a lot of things, but how do we know that God will listen to our prayers?
In the Bible we see a very important principle concerning prayer: God will listen to our prayers if our prayers are toward God’s interests (signified by the holy land, the holy city, and the holy temple, see 1 Kings 8:48).
In other words, if we pray for things, people, situations, etc, but we pray with God’s interest in view, if all our prayers are aimed at Christ and the church as God’s heart’s desire, God will listen to our prayers.
In a sense, we should not even pray directly toward people but we should pray toward God’s house, His city, and His land – all of which are Christ and the church – and aim our prayers at the interests of God for the fulfilling of His economy.
We need to learn how to pray so that God would listen to our prayers! And we need to have a daily living that would match our prayers, a living one with God and even in God by abiding in God.
When we abide in God, when we are one with Him, we can literally ask whatever we want and He will do it for us (John 15:7).
Lord, teach us how to pray prayers that You may be pleased with and listen to. Save us from praying toward people directly. Lord, may we see what You desire, Your Christ and Your house, and may we pray toward Your interests so that You may fulfill Your economy!
Praying Toward God’s Interest
Daniel in Babylon prayed three times a day, as it was his habit, having his windows opened toward Jerusalem (Dan. 6:10) – and God listened to his prayer, since it was toward God’s interest, His holy land, His house, and His city.
This is what king Solomon saw and prayed for – whenever God’s people return to God from any captivity they are in, and they pray toward God’s holy land, His chosen city, and His holy habitation, God will listen to them (1 Kings 8:48).
The Holy Land typifies Christ as the portion allotted by God to His believers (see Deut. 8:7), the holy city signifies the kingdom of God in Christ (Psa. 48:1-2), and the holy temple – God’s house – signifies the church as God’s habitation on earth today (Eph. 2:21; 1 Tim. 3:15).
God will listen to our prayers when they are toward Christ, the kingdom of God, and the house of God. No matter for what we are praying of for whom we are praying, our prayers should not be aim at people, things, or situations, but at God’s interest, God’s house, God’s kingdom.
A man of prayer prays toward Christ as God’s interest – he prays for Christ to grow in others, for others to be brought into a deeper enjoyment of Christ as the good land, and for others to enter fully into the church life as God’s kingdom and house today.
The Aim of Our Prayer
When we pray, there are three parties involved: God, Satan, and us. If we pray directly toward people, if we pray for a certain person (yet we don’t pray for God’s interest for that person), Satan can have the ground to come and attack Him.
All our relationships, communications, and fellowship of life in the Body of Christ is not DIRECT, from member to member, but it is through the Head.
In other words, when we pray for someone because he is ill or has a great need, we need to aim our prayers at Christ as the Head, and we need to pray for God’s interest being manifested and developed in this person.
No matter for whom we are praying or for what we are praying, we need to aim our prayers at the Christ of God and the church of God. Why not pray,
Lord, may this one enjoy You more for Your house. In his sickness, Lord, come in and comfort him and be with him so that he may enjoy You more and grow in You more. May this turn out to his salvation for the building up of the Body. Lord, cause him to enjoy You as the all-inclusive One, the good land, so that he may be a good material for Your building!
Our interest in praying should not be merely natural, Lord, heal him! Lord, have mercy on his family! – these are all “good prayers”, but they are not aimed at God’s interest.
What is God up to, what is His interest, in this particular person? What if God wants this person to go through some things so that he may enjoy God in a deeper way? We need to aim our prayers to God’s interest, God’s Christ, and God’s house, and He will listen to us!
Seeking God and His will
As men of prayer, we need to follow the Lord’s pattern of seeking God and His will. Even when facing death, the Lord Jesus chose God’s will and not His own will (Matt. 26:39).
The Lord’s food was to do the will of the Father and to accomplish His work (John 4:34). He didn’t come to do His will but the will of the Father (John 5:30; 6:38).
This One, Christ as the life-giving Spirit, is now in and with our spirit, and the more we enjoy Him and the more we are one with Him, the more our food will also be to do God’s will.
Abiding in the Lord and Living in God
![What God desires is men of prayer, some who live in God and who always have fellowship with Him (John 15:7; 1 John 1:3). He wants us to abide in Christ and let His word abide in us, and then whatever we ask, He will do it! We as regenerated human beings have God's life in us, and this life is a life of prayer. [in the picture: John 15:4, Abide in Me and I in you]](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/john15-4-abide-in-christ-living-in-god.jpg?resize=450%2C312&ssl=1 "What God desires is men of prayer, some who live in God and who always have fellowship with Him (John 15:7; 1 John 1:3). He wants us to abide in Christ and let His word abide in us, and then whatever we ask, He will do it! We as regenerated human beings have God's life in us, and this life is a life of prayer. [in the picture: John 15:4, Abide in Me and I in you]")
God does not desire to have some people on earth who bring all their needs to Him so that He would have mercy on them and heal them, give them this or that, and make their life better.
What God desires is men of prayer, some who live in God and who always have fellowship with Him (John 15:7; 1 John 1:3). He wants us to abide in Christ and let His word abide in us, and then whatever we ask, He will do it! We as regenerated human beings have God’s life in us, and this life is a life of prayer.
The primary function of the Spirit in us is to lead us into prayer. As we turn to our spirit and take care of our spirit, we will be led by the Spirit to pray. A man of prayer is one who abides in God and in whom the Spirit of God has room.
The divine Spirit is continually flowing in our spirit, and when we turn to Him and abide in Him, we have a continual fellowship with God! We need to be those who live in Christ to the extent that wherever we are and whatever we are doing, our spirit is free to pray!
The Spirit with our spirit is a spirit of prayer, and it is even a law of prayer – He is ready to pray all the time. When we practice abiding in the Lord and living in Him, He as the Spirit will spontaneously pray in us, and He will motivate us to enter in and pray with Him!
All we have to do is abide in the Lord, live in God, and we will have continual fellowship with Him – He will then lead us in this living to make us a corporate man of prayer!
Lord, keep us turning to our spirit. We want to be those abiding in You by constantly turning to You and giving You more ground in us. Lord, today we want to practice abiding in You and being one with You. May our whole living be in God. Bring us into a continual fellowship with You, so that we may pray in You for Your interest. Lord, make us a corporate man of prayer!
References and Further Reading
- This portion is inspired from brother Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message and portions in, Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings (msg. 6), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Prayer and the Lord’s Move, week 2 (entitled, A Man of Prayer).
- Further reading: Lessons on Prayer (by Witness Lee, pages 34-36);
- Hymns on this topic:
# Full enjoyment had David, ate the life-giving tree. / Daniel prayed to his God and lived by Him constantly. / Jesus lived by the Father to be life complete; / Now as His living Body of the life tree we’ll eat.
# I have learned the wondrous secret / Of abiding in the Lord; / I have tasted life’s pure fountain, / I am drinking of His word;
# If you abide in Me and my words abide in you / Ask whatever you will and it will be done for you. - Pictures credit: the first via, Hidden Roots, the second here.
About aGodMan
First Kings 8:31-48 mentions seven conditions concerning God’s listening to the prayers of His elect. In this, the last, condition three things are stressed (v. 48): the Holy Land, typifying Christ as the portion allotted by God to the believers (see footnote 1 on Deut. 8:7); the holy city, signifying the kingdom of God in Christ (Psa. 48:1-2); and the holy temple, signifying God’s house, the church, on the earth (Eph. 2:21; 1 Tim. 3:15). These are the three crucial things regarding God’s economy. During the Babylonian captivity Daniel prayed toward the Holy Land, the holy city, and the holy temple three times a day by opening his window toward Jerusalem (Dan. 6:10). This indicates that God will listen to our prayer when our prayer to God is toward Christ, the kingdom of God, and the house of God as the goal in God’s eternal economy. This means that no matter for whom we are praying, our prayers should be aimed at the interests of God, that is, at Christ and the church as God’s interests on earth, for the fulfilling of God’s economy. (1 Kings 8:48, footnote 1)
No matter for whom or for what matter we are praying, we should aim our prayer at the interests of God – at CHRIST and the church (the building of God) as God's interests on earth, for the fulfilling of God's economy.
It is not enough for a Christian to live before God; he must also learn to live IN God. This morning I enjoyed a stanza from a hymn concerning living and abiding in God:
As I’m loving You and enjoying You, Lord,
You become in me the rhema word.
Here I’ll pray in You as You pray in me.
You’ll bear fruit in me, Lord, abundantly.
Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/lb/23
1 Kings 8:48 …If they return to You with all their heart & with all their soul…& they pray to You towards their land that You have given to their fathers, the city that You have chosen, & the house that I have built for You name.
Dan 6:10 …Daniel…Went to his house (in his upper room He had windows open towards Jerusalem) & three times daily he knelt on his knees & prayed & gave thanks before his God, because he had always done so previously.
‘…our prayers should be aimed at the interests of God, that is, at Christ & the church as God’s interests on earth, for the fulfilling of God’s economy. We must pray in the name of the Lord Jesus (John 16:24)…He (Jesus), fellowshipped with God the matter of His death saying, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me,” But then He also said, “Yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mat 26:39). Three times He told God, I want Your will, not Mine.’
Even when we pray for others we need to pray for them because of God’s interest.
Oh Lord, I pray for all the saints to be strengthened with a great enjoyment of You today that they might be brought more fully into Your Kingdom thereby hastening Your return! Your Kingdom come, Your will be done…! Amen
A man of prayer must become such that in all the universe he only cares for God and His will, having no other desire besides this! Make me a man of prayer – one that prays according to Your interests on the earth, one that only cares for You and Your will!
Amen Lord – make us those who co-operate with You in prayer Lord, for Your interest. Unveil us Lord to see the vision that is on Your heart and to lay the tracks for Your kingdom to come, Your will to be done and Your name be sanctified. Oh Lord Jesus make us those who are fully consecrated and fully obedient to You to be one with You in prayer. Oh Lord Jesus!
Very helpful, accurate, heart-opening fellowship concerning being men of prayer. Are our prayers up to what is needed to meet God's needs? Read and receive the wonderful help!
To pray in the name of the Lord Jesus does not mean to end the prayer with, "In Jesus' name". What it really means is to pray for the interest of God on earth, which is Christ as God's portion to us, as God's kingdom, and as God's dwelling place. Our prayer should be altogether for God's interest to fulfil God's economy.
Praise the L0rd,being j0ined t0
G0ds desire thr0ugh this w0rd,c0operating with G0d thr0ugh prayers and n0t caring f0r 0nes life.
In the prayer of King Solomon (1 King 8:22-53) shows us that Jehovah’s eyes are open toward His house night and day and hear in His dwelling place in the heavens the prayers offer up to Him. But these prayers must be related to His interests, typified by 3 things: the Holy Land, the Holy City and the Holy Temple.
Our God will forgive when we repent (v31), for the interest of Christ.
Our God will bless and send rain for the interest of Christ (vv35-36).
Our God will deal with the famine in the land, the locust, the enemy in the land, and will heal the sickness or plaque (v 37), when we spread out our hands toward His house and pray toward His interest.
God will hear the prayer of the seeking foreigners when he comes and pray toward His house, and call upon Him, because God desires all the peoples of the earth know His name and fear Him (vv41-43) and be saved and comes to the full knowledge of Him (1 Tim 2:4).
God will keep those He sent to go out to battle against their enemy when they pray to Jehovah toward His city and His house (vv44-45).
God will hear those who were carried away captive unto the land of the enemy when they repent and return to God with all their heart and with all their soul and they pray toward His Land, His City and His house (vv46-50).
We are His people, whom He has brought out from Egypt, and He has separated us from all the peoples of the earth to be His inheritance, and He brought us into Christ, Who is the Land, the City and the House (vv51-53).
O Lord, make us those who live in God and always having fellowship with God and care only for His will and His interest. Amen!
The three characteristics of a man of prayer praying genuine prayers:
1) one who prays himself into God to receive the life supply from the Father, as depicted in Luke 11:1-13. Such a life supply is realized by our enjoyment of the Spirit as the totality of the riches of the land (loaves), of the sea (fish) and the combination of both in the air and on the earth (eggs).
2) one who prays, realizing that he is nothing and can do nothing. This implies that prayer is the real denial of the self (Mark 8:34; 9:29), where we declare “Not I, but Christ” and where we do not exercise our self-effort to deal with any situation (Gal. 2:20).
3) one who prays toward God’s interests, signified by the Holy Land, -Christ as the portion allotted by God to the believers (Col. 1:12; 2:6-7; Deut. 8:7), by the holy city -the kingdom of God in Christ (Psa. 48:1-2), and by the holy temple -God’s house, the church, on the earth (Eph. 2:21; 1 Tim. 3:15) -(1 Kings 8:48).
Amen,.thnks L0rd f0r the divine dispensing and thank y0u L0rd t0
refresh us always by Y0ur w0rd L0rd apart fr0m Y0u we can d0 n0thing and in an 0urself we can d0 n0thing but Y0u 0h L0rd Jesus.
I appreciate seeing that our prayer should have a particular direction. We don't pray aimlessly – or carelessly. Sometimes our prayers may be unanswered because we are praying in the wrong direction. But, if we take 1 Kings 8:48 as a guideline, we can learn to direct our prayer toward Christ, God's house, and God's city. In this way, our prayer will be aligned with God's will, and God will surely move in response to our prayer.
The devine spirit is continually living in our spirit.The spirit with our spirit is a spirit of prayer.