Saturday, November 15, 2008

IF MY PEOPLE WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES

If my people who are called by my name
will humble themselves and pray and seek my face
and turn from their wicked ways,
I will hear from heaven
and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
~~~~~~~

Our nation is facing huge, serious economic and moral challenges at this time. We need help. Help that goes beyond anything a political administration can provide. We need divine help!

Today’s scripture promise gives us instruction as to how we can obtain the help we so desperately need. The promise starts out with “If” which makes it a conditional promise. Some conditions must first be met before it can be fulfilled. These conditions are not directed to the general public but specifically to believers, God’s people; “my people who are called by my name.”

The first condition God’s people are called upon to meet is to humble themselves and pray.” The clear implication is, their pride and self-sufficiency stands in the way of God restoring their land. We need to admit that our need is beyond human help and start crying out to God in prayer - telling Him what our needs are and asking Him for help.

But God requires more of us than just making requests of Him. He says “seek my face;” by which I believe He is calling us into an intimate relationship with Him where we become aware of His purity and holiness. In such intimacy, we also become painfully aware of impurities in our lives. Sins we have ignored or even made excuses for in the past, but now we see them in all their wickedness.

This brings us to the final condition in today’s promise which is God’s call to His people to “turn from their wicked ways.” This is a call to repentance – a 180° turn from our sin. We see the moral decay throughout our land and we grumble and complain – “Isn’t this awful! What is this world coming to? These people need to repent!” But God says: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

Let’s Pray-
Dear Father, please help us as your Church to repent. As you promise, in your mercy, hear from heaven and forgive our sins and restore our land.”
In Jesus name,
Amen

If today’s promise and comments have been meaningful to you – don’t hesitate to leave a comment. (Single space gives best appearance.)

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Iver, for your blog. I do enjoy getting them Saturday morning, and it helps start my day a bit more contemplatively. A good starting point for meditating on God's word.