Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 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 and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:12-14 ESV)
In the midst of an incredible moment in the history of Israel, God speaks to King Solomon. Solomon had just finished a building project in Jerusalem that had first been commissioned by King David to build a house for God to dwell in (see 2 Samuel 7). Solomon’s Temple, as it has come to be known, signified the physical presence of God with His chosen people Israel. After completing the building of the Temple and a joyful dedication ceremony, God speaks to Solomon.
After affirming to Solomon that He has heard his prayer and that He has “chosen this place”, God reminds Solomon of a hard truth… God corrects those whom He loves (Hebrews 12:6). Right in the midst of God’s affirmation, He shifts to divine judgments (no rain, devouring locust, and pestilence). Because of what God says to Solomon next, we know that this divine judgment is a result of Israel’s unfaithfulness, rebellion, and resistance to the God who had graciously chosen them hundreds of years before this moment.
It is here that God shifts the conversation from judgment to the response of repentance His correction should evoke. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God prescribes four individual steps that He will be looking for from a truly repentant heart: humility, prayer, seeking His face, and turning from wickedness.
I believe that we as a church and the western Church as a whole are at a crossroads. It is clear to me from the crumbling society around me that God’s judgment is beginning to be felt by America. Here at this crossroads, one way leads deeper into the darkness and despair. Farther away from the only hope we have as people. More rebellion and rejection of God. More rejection of the Scripture and its authority in our lives and society. Some are not just headed in this direction; they are running ignorantly to their own impending destruction.
The other way, the only way for us as followers of Jesus Christ, is to a place of true hope and rest. This way leads deeper into the presence of a Holy God who is patient, faithful, and full of mercy and grace. Here along this path, we travel deeper into a life of surrender and faithfulness to the God who gave everything to set us free. This road is the one less traveled, it is narrow, and there are few who find it (Matthew 7:13-14).
Often, I have said: if we want to see revival in the White House, it must first start in God’s house. Before we ever see revival in the church, it will start in the lives of each of us. Before we can experience revival, there are four important things we must consider:
- Humility. Before we can experience a mighty move of God, we must humble ourselves before God. It is here in this humility that we begin to confess where we’ve wandered away from our first love and the desperate need for us to fully return to God.
- Prayer. In Christ we have an incredible gift: access to the throne of God. Covered in the blood of Jesus, each of us can boldly come before God in our time of need to experience grace and mercy to help us (Hebrews 4:16). Imagine our hearts united before our Father crying out for Him to do what only He can.
- Seeking His face. The Scripture promises that when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8). Once we’ve humbled ourselves, we begin to pray intentionally and purposefully, seeking God’s will for our lives, our families, our church, and our community.
- Turning from wickedness. As hard as this may be for us to admit, there are times where sin creeps into our lives and begins to wreck us and our relationship with God (and His people). In this moment, we must confess our sin trusting that God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Remember that repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of direction.
As we begin this 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting, each day will explore an individual element of these four (humble – pray – seek – turn). My greatest hope is that each of us would experience a revival that would consume our families, our church, our community, this nation, and our world. God has done it before, He can do it again.
Heavenly Father, today we praise You because of Your unfailing love, compassion, grace, faithfulness, and truth. Lord Jesus, we confess our overwhelming need for You. Lord, it is here in our deepest weakness that we pray Your strength would be made perfect. Remind us Lord that Your grace is sufficient for us. Our hearts cry out that You would revive us. Help us in our weakness to rest in Your presence and fully consume the darkness that tries to hold us captive. Thank you for the freedom, the grace, the mercy, and the Truth that sets us free. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
