1 Kings 8:38

38 - any prayer that's prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, hearts penetrated by the disaster, hands and arms thrown out to this Temple for help,

1 Kings 8:38 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:38

What prayer and supplication soever
On account of any of the above things, or any other:

be [made] by any man, or by all the people Israel;
by a private man, for such an one might go to the temple and pray by himself; see ( Luke 18:10 Luke 18:11 ) or by the public congregation:

which shall know every man the plague of his own heart;
be sensible of his sin as the cause of his distress, and own it, though ever so privately committed, which none knows but God and his own heart; and which may be only an heart sin, not actually committed; as all sin is originally in the heart, and springs from it, that is the source of all wickedness; it may respect the corruption of nature, indwelling sin, which truly deserves this name, and which every good man is led to observe, confess, and bewail, ( Psalms 51:4 Psalms 51:5 ) . In ( 2 Chronicles 6:29 ) it is,

shall know his own sore and his own grief;
what particularly affects him, and gives him pain and sorrow, as every man best knows his own affliction and trouble, and so can best represent his own case to the Lord:

and spread forth his hands towards this house;
pray with his face towards it, and his hands spread out, a prayer gesture, and what was now used by Solomon, ( 1 Kings 8:22 ) .

1 Kings 8:38 In-Context

36 isten from your home in heaven, forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Then start over with them: Train them to live right and well; send rain on the land you gave your people as an inheritance.
37 When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses - calamity of any sort
38 - any prayer that's prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, hearts penetrated by the disaster, hands and arms thrown out to this Temple for help,
39 Listen from your home in heaven.
40 so that they'll live before you in lifelong reverent and believing obedience on this land you gave our ancestors.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.