Alba 5-5-2024
PRAY
II Chronicles 7:14
This past Thursday, May 2nd, was the National Day of Prayer.
A bill was passed on April 17, 1952 stating that: “The President shall set aside and proclaim a suitable day each year, other than a Sunday, as a National Day of Prayer, on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.” It was signed by President Truman.
Every President since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation. But the problem with the Truman proclamation was that it set no definite date or day for united prayer during the spring.
That would take place many years later. In 1979, a National Prayer Committee was officially formed and the first National Day of Prayer observance under their direction took place in 1983 at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., and featured Vice President George Bush and Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie as speakers.
Finally, on May 5, 1988 another bill was passed amending the first one that said: “The President shall set aside and proclaim the First Thursday in May in each year, as a National Day of Prayer, on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.” And it was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.
Then in 1998 an amendment was passed to strengthen what was said before that stated: “The President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer.”
The focus of prayers on Thursday were for seven centers of influence in our country which include: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family. All are worthy and in need of our prayers. I am sure all of us are concerned about the drift of our nation. We have witnessed lots of changes in our lifetimes, much of it not good.
A website called Intercessors for America has a list of issues that need prayer. Here are a few of them: Open borders; Reckless monetary policy; Virulent promotion of abortion; Anti-family policies with regard to gender, sexuality, and marriage; A refusal to investigate claims of election fraud; Coordinated suppression of free speech; An ironic fomenting of racism and divisiveness through DEI initiatives, and more.
Any and all of what is on their list should drive us to seek the Lord in prayer for His intervention. The great thing is that as Christians, we don't have to wait until there is proclamation, or wait for a certain day in order to pray. The call to pray is stated clearly in scripture. One place especially clear is found in II Chronicles 7:14. There, the Lord says:
“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.”
The immediate reference is to the Jewish nation, God’s special people. But surely, God's promises continue to be valid. And we know that when we are obedient to the will and way of God, we receive blessings that come from Him. Any group or nation that desires to have a personal relationship with the almighty God of the universe should pay attention to this call to prayer.
These words of the Lord in II Chronicles 7:14 are in direct response to the prayer that King Solomon prayed at the dedication of the first temple in Jerusalem. Solomon knew that the people would not be all that they should be. So in his prayer he asked this of God: “May You hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.” (II Chronicles 6:21)
Then Solomon lists a number of reasons why the people would be coming to the temple to pray. One would be if a person sinned against their neighbor. Another was if the nation was defeated by an enemy because of their sins. Or if there is no rain because of their sins. Or if the nation is taken captive. But if they turn back with all their heart and soul, Solomon asked, Lord will you hear if they call on you?
That's when the Lord answered and said: “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.”
But such a prayer has conditions. First, the Lord says if you want me to hear and answer your prayers:
1. Humble Yourself
That is something that cannot be faked before God. He sees through attempts that are false. He sees our hearts as well as hearing our words. This does not tell us to pray for humility. It tells us to be humble as we pray to a mighty God. Solomon gives us an example of humility as we come into the presence of God in prayer.
After speaking to the people, giving God praise that the temple was now a reality, it says in chapter six beginning with verse twelve: “Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands (for 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 down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven); and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You...”
Look, he “knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel.” Solomon was willing to humble himself, not only before God, but also before all the people gathered that day. The pride of completing the temple that his father King David wanted to build could have caused him to take a bow for his accomplishment. Instead he bowed down before God.
That is a secret we need to know about the prayers which are answered, and the prayers which are not answered. James 4:6 says, “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Full humility before God is when we are aware of our sinfulness and God's holiness.
Psalm 96:9 calls on us to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.” When Isaiah, apparently in a vision recorded in Isaiah chapter six, saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple, he heard Seraphim calling to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
Realizing that he was in the presence of the Lord, Isaiah cried, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” He was humbled before the presence of God.
Have you ever felt that way as you pray? Felt unworthy, but you still call out to the only One you know who can help you? That is humility!
The Lord says, “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray...then will I hear.” But notice, there are conditions, not just one condition. If we want the Lord to hear our prayers and answer them, we must humble ourselves. But we must also:
2. Seek His Face
When God calls us to seek His face, it means that He wants us to have a close relationship with Him. How does that happen? Well, the best place to seek God is in the Bible. When we seek to please God by obeying His Word, it is then He will pay favorable attention to our prayers.
In Jeremiah 29:13 God promised Israel that, “you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” God is not hiding. We simply need to look for Him. It is when we are willing to come face to face with our Lord that all pretense is removed. God doesn't wear a mask, and He will see through any mask we try to wear.
When we pray openly and honestly, believing in His power to work in our lives and in our nation, we will receive answers. Hebrews 11:6 says that, “he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” God rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Our goal must be about more than just seeking our own well-being. We must seek God’s face. We must want to know Him and love Him more and more. We must seek after His gracious holiness.
We can't say that our country has been doing much of that lately. What should be good has been turned on its head. They call abortion, the killing of babies in the womb, Health Care. They call making eunuchs of our children, Gender Affirming Care. Oh, we have a reason to pray and seek God's face!
America's criminal justice system has collapsed. Our country has become a playground for those who would tear it down. They call rioting in the streets that cause death and thousands of dollars of damage, mostly peaceful. Criminals are not punished who then return to the streets quickly to murder, rob and rape. Anti-semitism is sweeping our nation. We have a reason to pray and seek God's face!
The collapse of the American family has produced a generation that has lost its moral and spiritual foundation.
The youth of our land do not understand and have not heard of the sacrifices and biblical foundations of our country. They don’t know the price of freedom and haven’t been taught that America is a great nation because of the blessings of the Lord upon it. We have a reason to pray and seek God's face!
The Roman Empire began to crumble, not from attacks of outside enemies, but from the corruption, degradation and sin within. How long can God bless a nation that has turned its back on Him in the way that we have? We must pray and seek His face. Then He will hear.
Yet many pray without truly wanting a renewed relationship with God. There are prayers for things, for rescue, for blessings, and yet no desire to come into the very presence of God. “To seek his face” is to desire God more than what He can give. But there is yet one more condition that the Lord gives to those who want Him to hear their prayers and heal their land. We must...
3. Turn From Sin
Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” The Good News Translation has it, “If I had ignored my sins, the Lord would not have listened to me.”
It is not enough to acknowledge that there are problems and that there are needs. It is not enough to bring all of these things before God's throne of grace and expect that He will do our bidding. No, such requests need to come from repentant hearts. Hearts that are weary of the sinfulness of our nation and of our own lives.
How often have you heard someone ask after a great natural disaster or accident, “Where was God?” The answer is, “Don’t you remember… you kicked Him out! You kicked God out of the government, the schools, and the public square. So where was God? You kicked Him out of your lives, remember?” If there was ever a good time for national repentance, it is now.
Christians can often feel defeated. We watch crime increase and see the family disintegrating. And we look around at all the pain and sorrow, and it just seems like evil is winning and righteousness is losing.
But if we go back in time, we can stand there by the cross. As we see Jesus Christ hanging there, it looks like defeat. "We can't win. Our leader has been crucified." But then, three days later the tomb is empty. "He is not here. He is risen." Christ is victorious. He has conquered both sin and death.
Because of the cross, the Lord's promise to forgive our sins has become a reality. Real healing can come when we submit to the Lord. We must turn from anything in our lives that stands between Him and ourselves. We must turn from our wicked ways. This final step is vital.
The Prodigal Son could never have truly gone home if he had insisted on bringing the pigpen with him. Going to the Father and leaving the muck and mire of our lives behind go hand in hand for any prodigal. To know the Father is to know that He won’t live with the mess the prodigal had created for himself.
The Lord warns in II Chronicles 7:19-20 “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, then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name...”
Our land needs healing just as much as the Old Testament nation needed it. None of us doubt that. The ultimate healing will come from the hand of God. So yes, there is hope for America, just as there is hope for a soul. No matter how far from God people may go, the Holy Spirit never gives up on trying to reach them.
But the fact that there is no limit to God’s love also means that there is no limit to the depths of judgment that will come in God’s efforts to turn us from our sinful ways.
Judgments must come as chastisements to turn us around. We can recognize those times of correction and turn back to God, or we can choose to ignore every warning and pass into eternity without God. The choice is ours to make.
Because God has said in His Word:
“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.”
CLOSE:
The Right Prayer
Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s book "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," based on Solzhenitsyn’s own experiences, describes a typical day in the life of an inmate of a forced-labor camp during the Stalin era. Ivan endures all the horrors of a Soviet prison camp.
One day he is praying with his eyes closed when a fellow prisoner notices him, and says with ridicule, "Prayers won’t help you get out of here any faster."
Opening his eyes, Ivan answers, "I do not pray to get out of prison, but to do the will of God."
That should be our prayer as well; for ourselves and for our nation!
There are people who still need to come to Jesus in faith, repentance, confession and be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins. That's why we pray.
Closing Song: For You I Am Praying
