2Chronicles 7:14- “If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and
pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from
Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land”.
Most Christians have heard of 2 Chronicles
7:14 when things with the church start to go very bad or when there is an
outbreak of evil throughout the nation and there is the need for a revival. In
such cases, we desperately search through the scriptures for some insight about
our needs, and usually somehow end up at 2 Chronicles 7:14. Thereafter, we
carryout nice prayer sessions presenting our requests to the Lord and genuinely
expect to receive a true revival which sometimes eludes us.
2Chronicles 7:14 says “If My people, who are called by
My name, shall humble themselves
and pray, and seek My face, and turn
from their wicked ways, then I will
hear from Heaven and will forgive
their sin and will heal their land”.
Many
people are ignorant where this promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14 actually came from. Such great
care and insight was at the formation of this promise by God. The noble action
of a certain man brought God to issue forth a promise that would shape the way
He would respond to a people who acted on these words.
God gave this promise to Solomon and the people
of Israel after Solomon had completed the house of the Lord (Temple) and its
dedication, to His acceptance. In 2Chronicle 7:13-14, God assured Solomon and Israel
that “If I (God) shut up heaven that
there be no rain, or if I (God) command the locusts to devour the land, or if I(God)
send pestilence among my people; v14 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 (God) hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
As Christians
We are the people of God. We are Christians,
known by the name of Jesus. We need to pray for a revival, we as the people of
God need to humble ourselves, repent, and seek God. We need to be in right
relationship with our God, so He gets ALL the glory and so He can move. We need
to turn from our sinful ways so that people will see our good works and honour
our Father in Heaven, then He will forgive our sins and “heal our land”
(fulfill our requests).
Prayer is one of the most important tools
of the Christian. Prayer is not an end in itself, but a means to an end; a
means to communicate with our God through Jesus Christ and seek His face. Prayer and holy living
are prerequisites to revival. When God brings revival to His people,
then tremendous attention is given to Christian living and all of its consequences.
Dedication is the key to
knowing God. Apart from proving our great love for God, we will not be able to
know God well. Consecration and sacrifice leads us to God's presence and
promises.
The
famous 2 Chronicles 7:14 promise of revival is a result of Solomon's unselfish
prayer found in 2 Chronicles 6:14-42. As long as we seek our own welfare, we
simply have not understood how much God distastes our unholiness. We are not
grieved about God's people leaving God and running after their own pleasures.
God knew the true heart condition of His people. Solomon amazingly understood
this too. This is why God was willing to pledge to His people that on certain
conditions His people can always seek and find Him.
Things
will get so bad, so despairing in fact, that even God's people will think that
God has given up hope for them. He will faithfully send His prophets who will
tell God's people, "Didn't God say that when things get so bad, there is
still hope?!" Then they will speak on 2 Chronicles 7:14, "Revival, in
the midst of Despair."
Having witnessed
many revival prayer meetings, it seems that many times we think that we are
really seeking God. We are humbled. We seem to be broken. We pray. We even
might pray for long regular times. But then after awhile, WE FAIL TO TURN FROM
OUR OLD WICKED WAYS.
Though
we grieve over our sins, we’re still too consumed with getting a better life
for ourselves. We cannot break through and make that complete step forward to
God's throne where genuine repentance could be found. We normally go back to our
sins. During such revival prayer times, most of us are broken before God, but
not deep enough to bring that long lasting change. We still clung to our old
individual lives- the politician, the
engineer, the health worker, the social worker, the NGO executive, the
Journalist, etc. If we really would change sincerely, the whole nation
would have been greatly impacted, but we failed. When we reject God's grace, we suffer greater consequences.
The Lord speaks of our sins, but we
just weren't moved enough to change. If God's Words don't change us, then a
series of calamities will arise. Some hearts are not prepared to receive the
words right before verse 7:14. Many Christians do not have a proper
understanding of God. They don't think He would bring disaster or have His hand
in tragedies. Some go a bit further and say that God would tolerate it but not
do it. We forget that we are dealing with the God who allowed all of Israel
delivered from Egypt originally to perish in the wilderness and not step foot
on the Promised Land because of their sins.
As we fast and pray seeking the face of God for our woes as a church
and nation; as we raise our hands towards heaven to ask for a revival in our
land, we have to understand that this revival will not happen in the midst of
our wickedness and disobedience. Our land shall not experience this promise of
healing, if
we do not turn from our wicked ways.
How are we turning away from our greed, mischief,
deception, pride, cheats, lies, backbiting, turning one person against the
other, adultery, fornication, coveting and extorting in the name of God
(2Pet.2:2-4)?
As a Politician: How
truthful are you to the people? How do you spend the budget of the people? How
do you ascend to the position you occupy? Is your parliamentary debate based on
facts or mischief? As a Teacher: Do you teach your students
faithfully? Do you fail a student because he failed to buy your pamphlet? As a journalist:
What agenda do you set for the day? An agenda for mischief or for the nation’s
growth? Are you exposing the ills of society or doing mischievous ‘Public Relations’ for
people or groups? Is what you say or write bringing peace to the nation? As a design/
construction worker: Are you churning the rightful
designs? Are you ensuring the contractor is following the right specifications
or you are sharing in his profit, at the expense of good job that will last? As a Pastor: Are you preaching God’s word for good or pastoring
with the nicolaitan spirit? Are you taking advantage of the flock to amass
wealth through covetousness and extortion? (2Peter 2:2-4kjv)? As NGO Officer: Are you amassing wealth by deceiving your
donors with the proposal at the expense of the poor in society? As
Procurement person: Are you procuring the goods and jobs
according to the rules to save for your company or country or making money into
your personal accounts? As a security person: Are you taking
bribes to survive? Are you aiding the arming and aiding the armed robbers to
terrorize the people? Are you hiding the evidence to free the drug baron? As a Tax
collector: How faithful are
you in your tax collection? The list can go on and on and on…
The God of Heaven is ready to heal our land as HE
promised Solomon and Israel in 2chron. 7:14. Isaiah 55:7 says "Let the
wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord,
and He will have mercy on him and to our God, for He will freely
pardon." 2 Corinthians 7:10 says
"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no
regret." And Joel 2:12 says “Return to Me with all your heart, with
fasting and weeping and mourning."
If we Christians, which have God’s name,
shall humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways
then He will hear from Heaven and will forgive our sins and he will heal our
land of the drought, of the pestilence, of locusts devouring our land, of the
persecutions, of the poverty, of the chronic diseases, of the barrenness, of
the unemployment, of the failures and anything that is denying our peace.
As we lift up
our voice and hands towards heaven, Let us ask ourselves, “have I repented from my wicked ways so that the Lord will hear
from heaven our prayers, and will forgive our sins, and will heal our land. Amen!
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