I’m very glad that God doesn’t keep secrets from us about what he intends to do in our lives. The gift of prophecy is his way of letting us know what he knows about the future that is of concern to us. More than 20 years ago, I had a dream, I believe a prophetic dream, about my future. Although I didn’t understand everything the dream was communicating to me, I knew it was intended to be a guide that I could follow to assure me that God’s will was being carried out.

It is clear that Solomon was familiar with the books of Moses because most of the content of his prayer of dedication of the temple can be found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. In particular, Solomon focused on prophecies that were given to Moses about Israel after they had settled in the Promised Land. The key issue in Solomon’s intercessory prayer was Israel’s repentance. He prayed to the LORD God of Israel:

If they sin against thee,  (for there is no man that sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; and so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive…Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee. (I Kings 8:46-50)

It was no secret that the Israelites would go into captivity, therefore, Solomon prayed as if it had already happened and asked the LORD in advance to forgive them.