Temple Prayer in Ancient Times

After the construction of the First Temple of Jerusalem, Solomon either stood or knelt down* upon a platform in the sight of the whole congregation, spread out his hands toward the heavens, and offered a dedicatory prayer. Repeatedly, Solomon called the Temple "the house I have built for your name"** (cf. 2 Chronicles 6:34, 38). Even the foreigner who implored Yahweh was to know "as your people Israel do" that this house "bears your name." The exact Hebrew reads "that your name has been called over"*** (2 Chronicles 6:33). The temple is "the place where you promised to put your name, so that you may hear [KJV reads "hearken unto"] the prayer your servant offers toward this place" (2 Chronicles 6:20; 1 Kings 8:29).
Notes:
* Both standing and kneeling are represented on ancient monuments. See Jacob Myers, II Chronicles, Anchor Bible, 2 vols. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965, 1974), 2:36.
** On building a house to the name of the Lord, see 2 Samuel 7:13; 1 Kings 3:2; 1 Kings 5:3, 5; 1 Kings 6:1—38; 1 Kings 7:13—51; 1 Kings 8:16—18, 20, 29, 43—44; 1 Kings 9:3, 7; 1 Kings 18:32 ("an altar in the name of the Lord"); 2 Kings 21:4; 1 Chronicles 22:7—8, 10, 19; 1 Chronicles 28:3; 1 Chronicles 29:16; 2 Chronicles 2:1, 4; 2 Chronicles 6:5, 7—10, 20, 33—34, 38; 2 Chronicles 7:16; 2 Chronicles 20:8—9; Ezra 6:12; Nehemiah 1:9. The people of Israel and the Holy City itself also bear the name.
*** See Jacob Myers, II Chronicles, 2:35, n. 33.
See: Putting on the Names: A Jewish-Christian Legacy by Trueman G. Madsen; Notes 21-23.

From then on, prayers were directed to the temple in the belief that God's presence was there as it was in heaven. Covenanters spoke of "seeing God" as an extension of worshipping in the temple (Isaiah 6:1; Psalm 24:3—6; Matthew 5:8).

The Jews, during the period of the Second Temple, faced the dilemma of avoiding the pagan idolatrous practices of "placing" statues or idols in their sacred structures. For the Jews, the belief that a temple was dedicated to Yahweh, and that his presence was somehow localized therein, confronted the commandment to avoid images or statues. In Deuteronomy, and especially Jeremiah, the name became a substitute, a legitimate replacement for forbidden images or replications of the deity. Somehow, it was believed, the name brought the presence of the kavod or glory—a tangible and visible presence—within the most sacred place. A cluster of interrelated expectations revolved around this presence: the priestly literature speaks of the light, the aura, the perpetual flame of tabernacle and temple. Thus, the use of the name of deity in the temple setting helped to reconcile the ideas of divine transcendence and immanence in the setting of the temple, for the name could be present within the temple while the power of God extended everywhere.

by John A. Tvedtnes
Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant. (Psalm 135:2—3)
Among its other functions, the ancient Israelite temple was a place of prayer. See Temple Prayer in Ancient Times