If… My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray ...

2 Chronicles 6:12-7:22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ¹³ Now Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. ¹⁴ He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart; ¹⁵ who has kept with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him; indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. ¹⁶ Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’ ¹⁷ Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David.

¹⁸ “But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built. ¹⁹ Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You; ²⁰ that Your eye may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which You have said that You would put Your name there, to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. ²¹ Listen to the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; hear and forgive.

²² “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house, ²³ then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

²⁴ “If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.

²⁶ “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them; ²⁷ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance.

²⁸ “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, ²⁹ whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house,³⁰ then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men, ³¹ that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

³² “Also concerning the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your great name’s sake and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house, ³³ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that ^[l]this house which I have built is called by Your name.

³⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

³⁶ “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near, ³⁷ if they take thought in the land where they are taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have committed iniquity and have acted wickedly’; ³⁸ if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

⁴⁰ “Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.

⁴¹ “Now therefore arise, O Lord God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might; let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good.

⁴² “O Lord God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; remember Your lovingkindness to Your servant David.”

7 Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. ² The priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. ³ All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord, saying, “Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”…

¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ¹³ If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ¹⁵ Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. ¹⁶ For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. ¹⁷ As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances,¹⁸ then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’

¹⁹ “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ²⁰ then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ²¹ As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ ²² And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.’”

How often do we hear people lament over the state of our culture’s morals and values? How often do we hear people say this nation needs to repent and turn to God? Certainly that would be a great thing, but how many who declare it are willing to do it? In today’s text it says:  “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,  and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”   The nation, the political entity is not who or what needs to humble itself, pray, seek God’s face and turn from their wicked ways. It is the people who are called by the name of Jesus; it is Christians; the church who need to do it on behalf of the government and nation. The church has allowed the culture to dictate the standards and morals of our nation, rather than being the ones who set the standards and so it is the church that needs to repent.  

In the text, Solomon prayed:  “If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they return to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people.”   It is people who sin and it is people who need to pray and repent. A nation cannot turn to God without its individual people turning. It is the people who know and are called by the name of Jesus who need to humble themselves and pray on behalf of the nation. The church and believers need to repent of their own complicency in the sins of our nation.  As we stand now we are being defeated by numerous enemies. These are not outside political and military forces, but internal spiritual forces of immorality, deceitfulness and addictions to all sorts of lust. This nation which was established as one nation under God has become divided because we have established many gods in our nation.  

Look again at God’s promise: “If… My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”   As believers we need to understand and believe that eventually in fulfillment of the prayer Jesus taught us to pray God’s kingdom will come and His will will be done. It will be on earth as it is in heaven. When Jesus returns to establish His eternal kingdom in heaven and on earth, this land and all the earth will be healed. It will be renewed and recreated. As Philippians 2:10-11 says:  At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.   Revelation 22 gives us a picture of what it will be like when God ultimately heals our land. It says: And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each treeyielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.  There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.    There will be no curse and no darkness when God establishes His throne on earth among us. Jesus says:  “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”  Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely…  “Surely I am coming quickly.”  Our response is also written in Revelation: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit I know that ultimately Your kingdom will come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You have not called us to wait for that day, but rather to be those who hasten the day of Your coming. We are to be those who bring the realities of heaven to earth every day. Begin with me I pray, as I humble myself and pray. As I seek Your face and turn from my wicked ways, come and heal my heart, that I would be a light in the darkness. Jesus You said that where two or more are gathered in Your name, You world be there. I join with others who are called by Your name and say: Come Lord Jesus. Heal our land.  Amen.