“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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
This scripture was directed to Israel, but it can be applied to any nation. There are several points that we need to understand.
- The first point is: “If my people.” If you are a Christian, you are one of God’s people. You need to heed what this scripture is saying. Far too often we have been arrogant and have shut God out of our lives. We want to do everything for ourselves. We say that we don’t need God’s help. When we do this, we will fall on our face and fail. This scripture is asking us to do several things.
- The second point is to humble ourselves. Being humble means not to be proud or self-serving. God wants us, when we come before Him, to humble ourselves leaving pride at the door. We must recognize our failures and have sincere sorrow for our sins.
- The third point is to pray. No matter how often you pray, it is important to come with humility. Remember that we depend on the Lord for everything. Put your trust in Him and have faith that he will provide for your every need. Our prayers have to be sincere and continual until He answers them.
- The fourth point is to “Seek His face.” This means we have to seek Him with our entire being. We have to long for Him to have more of a presence in our lives. We often shut Him out and only pray when we get into trouble.
- The fifth point is “Turn from our wicked ways.” Do we still sin? Do we conform to the world and its ways? We are all guilty of this in some way. We will no longer be guilty of these things when we leave this world. Until that day comes, I urge you to draw closer to Him. Confess your sins and ask for mercy, forgiveness, and a spiritual cleansing.
When we do these five steps, then God will do these things. First, He said that He will hear from Heaven and forgive our sin; without forgiveness we are lost and will face His wrath. God will correct us when we go astray in order to bring us back into the fold. Hearing from God is an important aspect of our lives. He wants to restore us with His presence, peace and most of all with His love.
The next thing that He will do is heal us. Several aspects of God’s healing are to heal our land by sending rain to a drought-stricken area. He is able to heal our physical, financial, spiritual, and any other needs according to His will. We are still in this world and not all of us will receive total healing until we get to Heaven. Don’t give up in your prayer life; keep your faith—He will answer your prayers.
This scripture needs to be applied now more than ever before. We are at a crossroads today. Christians are losing faith and are leaving the church. We need to hold up our brothers and sisters in Christ as many throughout the world are being murdered, driven from their homeland, and censored for talking about Jesus. We need a worldwide revival and it is going to require us to follow this scripture. When we do, God will intervene and put a stop to this evil.
If you are not a Christian, I hope that you will seek God and ask for forgiveness. Seek Him while you still can. Tomorrow may be too late. He is faithful and just to forgive you of all your sins through His Son Jesus Christ.
