II Chronicles 7:14: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (KJV)
Who are His people? This is an O.T. verse, but Christians are the people that are called by HIS name. In this verse, we are commanded to do four things.
Humble ourselves.
Webster defines humble as: "To make humble or lowly in mind; to abase the pride or arrogance of; to reduce the self-sufficiency of; to make meek and submissive." Have we become proud and arrogant? Do we depend on God or have we become self-sufficient? Are we submissive to the Word?
James 4:4-10: Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world's friend makes himself God's enemy. Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, "The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning"? But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble." So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into despair. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. (NETfree)
Pray.
How should we pray then?
Matthew 6:1: "Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven." (NETfree)
Matthew 6:6: "But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you." (NETfree)
Matthew 6:9-13: "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." (KJV)
Seek my face.
How are we to seek the Lord? Webster defines seek as: 1. To go in search of; to look for; to search for; to try to find. 3. To try to acquire or gain; to strive after. God desires that we pursue Him with our whole being, nothing held back. Although we are not to seek Him in our own way, but through obedience to the Word.
Deuteronomy 4:29-30: But if you seek the LORD your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, if you return to the LORD your God and obey him (NETfree)
Mark 12:30: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. (World English Bible)
I Samuel 15:22: Then Samuel said, "Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience? Certainly, obedience is better than sacrifice; paying attention is better than the fat of rams. (NETfree)
Turn from our wicked ways.
Ephesians 4:22-32: You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man who has been created in God's image - in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. Do not give the devil an opportunity. The one who steals must steal no longer; rather he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need. You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk. Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. (NETfree)
Colossians 3:1-11: Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him. So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. You also lived your lives in this way at one time, when you used to live among them. But now, put off all such things as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices and have been clothed with the new man that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all. (NETfree)
God says that if we will humble ourselves, pray, seek Him, and turn from our wicked ways, THEN, He will hear, He will forgive, and He will heal our land. Christianity is not the Shriners or Kiwanis. We have not joined a club, we have joined a way of life! We are in an endurance race to the end of our lives here on this earth. Has Christianity lost its influence over society? If the answer is yes, then is it because the world can no longer see a difference between them and us? Have we made becoming a follower of Christ so easy that it no longer has any real meaning? Jesus said to "count the cost" of becoming a disciple of His. What does it cost us today to be a disciple of Christ Jesus?
Let us strive to be disciples of Christ Jesus and God will bring healing to our land!
Hebrews 10:19-24: Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works (NETfree)
