PRAYER + PRAISE
Humble, Pray, Seek, Repent = Renewed
- Adam Cole // May 21, 2010
“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will 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 heal their land.” —2 Chronicles 7:13-14:
In the early chapters of Second Chronicles, the narrator takes us through the building process of the temple, the magnificent architectural wonder that was built in order to house the presence of God. At the end of the building process, a seven-year endeavor, King Solomon dedicates the temple to the Lord and asks for His presence to enter into it. The Lord, in His all-mighty power, lets down a fire from heaven, one that consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and right after His glory filled the temple.
Following that divine moment, when God’s power is unleashed for all to witness, the Lord appears to Solomon at night, speaking to Him in a personal way. He instructs Solomon about the nature of His covenant with His people, where people of God must continually right their hearts, must continually come to the Lord for all things, must passionately seek the Lord in order to stave off the harshness that is inevitably cast upon this world.
The particular elements are thus: humility, prayer, repentance, bowing before Him in complete reverence.
God is saying to His people, this is the way you come to me: humble, pray, and turn your hearts.
Many of us are seeing the world’s storms before our eyes, experiencing drought and pestilence and the like. But God is giving us a path, as He did Solomon and the people of that day.
His temple now is each of our souls – and if we do as He calls, He will bring just as much of His presence and glory into it as He did in the grand structure that was the holy temple of that day.
What is He telling you to turn from so that You can closer to Him? Are we too self-righteous? Are we too greedy? Are we not being faithful to the tasks that He has for us?
Through Christ, we always have forgiveness and an intercessor for all our pains. But we have to come to Jesus with a full heart and be ready to be healed, transformed, and renewed.
Praise: That the Lord hears our hurts and heals them, as long as we come to Him in the manner in which He proscribes to us.
Prayer: That we act as He calls, to seek Him, to humble ourselves, to pray with an earnest heart.
Prayer for Today: Lord, we know that life is not easy. That we are given over to the drought and pestilence in both physical, mental and spiritual terms. But You do not hold a deaf ear to us we humble ourselves like Christ, turn our hearts in a direction that is pleasing to You and pray for Your perfect deliverance. Thank You, Lord for always hearing our prayers and acting on our behalf. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.