233. The Name will be there
2 Chronicles 7:15, 16 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
The Lord says to Solomon again that His eyes will be open and His ears attentive to the prayers made in this place. For us, “this place” is the presence of God on the earth, which in the hearts of believers. The body is a temple and the Lord hears the prayers that come from this place. We do not actually pray to the “ceiling” or to the “sky,” although God is there, too. We pray to the God within, and He sees and hears.
The Lord God has chosen and sanctified this house. The Body of Christ and the body of the Christian is “this house,” for that is the place that holds the living God on the earth. He is so close to us, as close as the lips and the hearts that confess and believe. Our human bodies and souls have been chosen and sanctified. We have been set apart as holy unto the Lord so that He has a spiritually clean and holy place to reside in and rule from.
God promises that His Name will be there forever. We pray, “Hallowed be Thy name.” The name is the presence of God, who has sanctified a holy place to dwell. The Holy Spirit made a place there through the Gospel. Jesus is our sanctification. We are made holy. Of course, it is still true that sin remains and we still live in “this body of death.” Two beings are at work in us: flesh and spirit, old man and new man, sinner and saint. We see the one, but we believe the other. Believe the promise: God sanctified a house in our bodies for Himself, and that place is forever.
The eyes and the heart of God will be there perpetually. Take that promise to the bank, and take it to the grave. “Perpetually” does not only mean all the time, but it also means every place. No time or place, no situation or circumstance, is away from the Lord. His eyes and His heart are as close to us as our own eyes and heart. Confess and believe Jesus is Lord. He is present to hear your prayers, whether prayed out loud, sung, whispered, or even just thought about. The promise is sure; the promise is close.