Great Prayers of the Old Testament
Part 11: God's Road to Revival
2 Chronicles 7:12-14
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared December 13, 2024)
BACKGROUND:
*The last time we focused on King Solomon we were in 1 Kings 3, and the young king had just been anointed to take the place of his dying father, King David. Shortly after he became king, Solomon prayed for one of the best things we can ever receive. Solomon humbly asked the LORD for godly wisdom.
*1 Kings 3:10-13 reports that
10. The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11. Then God said to him: "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice,
12. behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.
13. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days."
*Solomon lived a truly remarkable life. Henry Haley summed up 1 Kings 4 by writing that "Solomon had inherited the throne of the most powerful Kingdom then in existence. It was an era of peace and prosperity. Solomon had vast business enterprises, and was famous for his literary accomplishments. He wrote 3,000 proverbs, 1,005 songs, and scientific works on botany and zoology."
*Then from 1 Kings chapters 9 and 10 Haley explained that "the era of David and Solomon was the golden age of Hebrew history. David was a warrior. Solomon was a builder. David made the Kingdom. Solomon built the temple. In the outside world, this was the age of Homer, the beginning of Greek history. Egypt Assyria, and Babylon, at the same time were weak. Israel was the most powerful Kingdom in all the world. Jerusalem was the most magnificent city, and the temple was the most splendid building on earth. They came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon's wisdom and see his glory. The famous queen of Sheba exclaimed, "The half was not told me." (1)
*In 2 Chronicles 3:1-2, "Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
*About 7 years later, 2 Chronicles 5:1 says, "So all the work that Solomon had done for the house of the LORD was finished; and Solomon brought in all the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them in the treasuries of the house of God."
*Then King Solomon assembled all the elders and heads of the tribes to Jerusalem for the dedication of the Temple. 2 Chronicles 5:6 tells us that King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel sacrificed sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. Then the priests brought the Ark from Moses' day into the most holy place of the Temple. The Ark was a wooden box covered with gold inside and out. Inside were two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God.
*Next in 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, the LORD revealed Himself with an amazing, miraculous display of His glory.
13. indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying: "For He is good, for His mercy endures forever,'' that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud,
14. so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.
*Then in 2 Chronicles 6, Solomon blessed the whole congregation of Israel, and he praised the LORD God Almighty for keeping His promises. Then Solomon spread out his hands to Heaven, and he began to pray. Solomon prayed that the LORD would hear the prayers of His people whenever disasters were upon them from terrible weather, or diseases, or enemies.
*And in 2 Chronicles 6:36-39, Solomon prayed,
36. "When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to a land far or near,
37. yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have acted wickedly';
38. and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, toward the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name:
39. then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You."
*And again, the LORD revealed Himself with an amazing display of His glory. The report of this miracle is in 2 Chronicles 7:1-3 where the Bible says:
1. 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 temple.
2. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house.
3. When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying: "For He is good, for His mercy endures forever.''
*The dedication of Solomon's Temple lasted 7 days with more prayers, praise, and a sacrifice that included 120,000 sheep. Then after the people were sent home, God appeared one night and spoke to Solomon. Let's read about it in 2 Chronicles 7:12-14:
12. Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
13. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,
14. 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."
MESSAGE:
*There the LORD confirmed that He had heard Solomon's prayer. But the wonderful truth is that these verses still apply to us today! And they give us God's road to revival. But what is revival?
*Pastor Robbie Boyd wrote that the Old Testament word "renew" pictures someone completely surrounded by an enemy, with no way to escape. Then, in the moment of greatest despair, God intervenes and rescues them completely. (2)
*In the New Testament, the best word picture for "revival" is a Christian who has fallen asleep in his devotion to the Lord. Then he wakes up out of that deep sleep. Church: God wants us to wake up! So in Romans 13:11 Paul tells Christians, "It is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed." Another great New Testament word for revival is "renewal." This original word is talking about "a renovation that makes a complete change for the better." We see this in Romans 12:2 where Paul wrote, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
*That's revival, but who needs revival? -- Most of us would say: "I do." Dennis Selfridge asks, "When do we need revival?"
-When the things of God do not stir you.
-When the glories of heaven do not interest you.
-When the horrors of hell do not concern you.
-When the peril of the lost does not move you.
-When the Word of God does not attract you.
-When the idea of prayer does not draw you.
-When the House of God does not delight you.
-When you do not see every part of your life as a platform to perform the will of God." (3)
*Who needs revival? -- We do! In Psalm 85:6 the writer cried out to God and asked, "Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?" The LORD God answered that question in Isaiah 57:15: "For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.'"
*You see, God wants to give us revival, and today's Scripture shows us how to get there.
1. FIRST: WE HAVE TO HUMBLE OUR HEARTS BEFORE THE LORD.
*The Lord says: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves." Notice Christians that , He is talking to us. "If MY people," He says. In Old Testament days, the Lord was talking about people who trusted in the promise of a coming Savior. On this side of the cross, God is talking about people who have believed the good news about Jesus Christ, people who have trusted in the Savior who came to die on the cross for our sins and rise again from the dead. God is talking about people who have opened their hearts to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.
*Christians, we are His people. And God wants us to humble ourselves. The word picture is bending the knee, bowing down low before the greatness of our God.
[1] WHY DO WE NEED TO HUMBLE OURSELVES? -- ONE REASON IS BECAUSE WE ARE TEMPTED TO BE SELF-SUFFICIENT.
*You see, the more we are blessed, the more we are tempted to think that we did it all on our own. That's why the Lord reduced Gideon's army from 32,000 men all the way down to 300. Church, they were up against an enemy army of 135,000 soldiers! And in Judges 7:2 the LORD told Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'"
*The more we're blessed, the more we are tempted to think we did it on our own. But the truth is that there is nothing we can do without God's help! Every step we make, every breath we take, every moment we live is a precious gift from the amazing grace of God.
[2] WE OUGHT TO HUMBLE OURSELVES, BECAUSE WE ARE TEMPTED TO BE SELF-SUFFICIENT, AND BECAUSE WE ARE TEMPTED TO BE SELF-RIGHTEOUS.
*It is so easy for us to think that we are better than other people! We are tempted to be like the Pharisee in the parable Jesus told in Luke 18:10-14. Listen to this Bible story from the New Living Translation. Jesus said:
10. "Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a dishonest tax collector.
11. The proud Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: 'I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don't sin, I don't commit adultery,
12. I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.'
13. But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, 'O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.'
14. I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored."
*God wants us to humble our own hearts. We need to remember James 1:17 where God's Word says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights" And in 1 Corinthians 4:7 Paul asked those Christians, "What do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?"
*Do we have any reasons to humble ourselves before the Lord? The answer is "Yes!" He is the holy, holy, holy Almighty God, and at our best, we are sinners saved by grace. So let's humble our hearts before the LORD. That's what God deserves, and that's what He desires from all of us.
2. HOW CAN WE GET TO REVIVAL? -- WE MUST HUMBLE OUR HEARTS BEFORE THE LORD. WE ALSO MUST PUT A HIGHER PRIORITY ON PRAYER.
*In vs. 14, God says, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray."
*The Lord tells us to pray here in vs. 14, and vs. 12 helps us see why, because there "the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice."
*The Lord told Solomon, "I have heard your prayer." And as long as we are not praying selfish, evil prayers, God hears our prayers too! The more we focus on this truth, the more we will pray, and the more we will see God's Hand at work in our lives.
*Your prayers can make an everlasting difference in countless lives, including your own life. Brian Roennfeldt was a pastor in Australia when he gave this testimony about the power of prayer. Brian said, "My wife, Angie, went to a rough high school. There were few Christians there apart from one teacher, Mr. David Bunton, who taught manual arts. Years after Mr. Bunton left his position, dozens of his former students became believers. Many have entered the ministry and become pastors and missionaries.
*I tracked down Mr. Bunton. He is now 70 years old and retired. He was stunned and choked with emotion when I told him of the many people saved since he had taught at that high school.
*I wondered how his influence had brought such a harvest. He told me that many times he had prayed softly over his classes as he sat back in his desk and watched them work. But apart from this, he'd done nothing to influence these students toward Christ. The only common point of spiritual connection the students shared was that they were prayed over by their teacher. (4)
*Prayer has far more impact than we realize. And think about it this way: God wouldn't ask us to pray, if He didn't plan on hearing us. Revival has always come with prayer. And it has never come without it. So, pray.
3. HOW CAN WE GET TO REVIVAL? -- WE MUST PUT A HIGHER PRIORITY ON PRAYER. WE ALSO MUST SINCERELY SEEK THE SAVIOR.
*Again in vs. 14, God says: "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face."
*In Matthew 18:20 Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." And by His Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is here right now. In Matthew 7:7, Jesus promised that if we seek, we will find, and we surely will. But what does it mean to seek the face of God?
[1] FIRST, IT'S ABOUT LEAVING. When we go on this spiritual journey to seek the Lord, there are some things we are going to leave behind. Old ways, priorities and habits need to be left behind. Seeking God's face is about leaving some things behind.
[2] BUT IT IS ALSO ABOUT LOVE. We seek the Lord because we love Him. And we ought to love Jesus! We ought to love Him, because He loves us beyond measure! Jesus proved that when He died on the cross for us. And the word picture for "seek" in vs. 14 is to search for something with great desire: Seeking, asking, begging for something. In Jeremiah 29:13 God said, "You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with ALL your heart." And in Matthew 6:33 Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
*We need this kind of passion for God: Passion enough to seek Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. And we ought to have passion to seek God's face, because He wants us to be much, much closer to Him. Seeking God's face is about loving God.
[3] BUT IT'S ALSO ABOUT CLOSENESS. When God says, "Seek My face." -- He is reminding us that He wants to have a close relationship with us. We all have a comfort zone around us. You are comfortable with me up here, five feet away, or even two feet away. But if I get too close, you will get uncomfortable real fast. You see, we are only comfortable getting close to someone's face, when we know them very well. So, this command to seek God's face is an invitation to know the Lord in a close-up, personal kind of way.
*Sandra Carr told about rocking her son, Boyd, when he was 4 years old. Boyd was facing his mom as they rocked, sitting on his knees. Suddenly, he lifted his small head, stared straight at his mother and got very still. Then he cupped her face in his hands and said, "Mommy, I'm in your eyes!" He had seen his own reflection in his mother's eyes, and this amazed him.
*In the days that followed, Boyd checked to see if his discovery was lasting. "Am I still in your eyes, mommy?" he would ask as he reached up for her. That's how close all good parents want to be to their children. And that's how close God wants us to be to Him. (5)
*We know this is true because of a wonderful Old Testament phrase: "The apple of God's eye." The word picture is just what little Boyd found in his mother's eye: For us to be so close to God, that we can look in His eyes and see our reflection. (6)
*Deuteronomy 32:9-10 says, "The LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye." In Psalm 17:8, King David prayed these words: "Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings." That's how close God wants us to be to Him! And by His Holy Spirit, we can be, because Jesus is alive!
*Let me ask you something, Christian: Have you ever felt like you were too close to the Lord? Have you ever thought, "You know, I've been a little too close to Jesus lately."? No! -- And you never will.
4. HOW CAN WE GET TO REVIVAL? -- WE MUST SINCERELY SEEK THE SAVIOR. AND WE MUST TURN AWAY FROM OUR SINS.
*Again in vs. 14 God says, "If my people, who 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 heal their land.
[1] EVERYBODY NEEDS TO MAKE A FIRST TURN. AS THE LORD SAYS IN VS. 14 "TURN FROM YOUR WICKED WAYS."
*He is talking about repentance. Peter Marshall was one of the great preachers of the last century, and he once explained repentance with these words: "Now, if you were walking down the street, and someone came up behind you and tapped you on the shoulder. What would you do? Naturally, you would turn around. Well, that is exactly what happens in the spiritual world.
*A man walks through life -- with the eternal call ringing in his ears, but with no response stirring in his heart. And then suddenly, without any warning, the Holy Spirit taps him on the shoulder. What happens? He turns around. The word 'repentance' means 'turning around.' He repents and believes and is saved." (7)
*Church: On one of our mission trips to Ukraine back in the 1990s, I met an older lady who literally had the same testimony. She was walking down the street in her hometown one day. And as she walked she felt someone tapping her on the shoulder. She turned around to see who it was, and no one was there.
*But she saw a movie theater across the street, felt strongly moved to cross over, and see what was happening inside. It turned out that a new church had started, and was meeting in the movie theater. This lady went in, was moved by the music, heard the Gospel about the cross of Jesus Christ, and in a short time she was moved to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.
*That is the first turn of repentance, and everybody needs to make that first turn in order to be saved. If you haven't already done it, turn away from an ungodly life, and turn to Jesus Christ. He loves you! He died on the cross for you, and Jesus rose again forever in victory over sin and death.
*Open your heart to receive our living Savior Jesus Christ. Put your trust in Him, and Jesus will forgive all of your sins and give you a wonderful, new life that lasts forever.
[2] EVERYONE NEEDS TO MAKE THAT FIRST TURN. BUT CHRISTIANS, WE ALSO NEED TO MAKE FRESH TURNS, TURNING AWAY FROM WHATEVER SINS WE SEE IN OUR LIFE.
*We need to turn away from jealousy, gossip, greed, dishonesty, sex-sin, self-righteousness, laziness, lack of love for other people, and any other sin that has tripped us up in our walk with Jesus Christ. Facing up to our sins like this and turning away from them can be a painful thing. Paul called it "godly sorrow" in 2 Corinthians 7:10. Seeing our sinfulness is no fun, but God's Word and God's Holy Spirit will be our guides.
*And God says, "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
CONCLUSION:
*The love of God is big enough to take away all of the guilt of all of our sins. So Christians: Keep trusting the Lord enough to humble your heart before Him. Trust in Him enough to pray. Trust Him enough to seek His face, and trust Him enough to turn from your wicked ways.
*But if you have never turned to Jesus, do it now as we go to God in prayer. Open your heart to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Our crucified and risen Lord will forgive all of your sins and give you His eternal life. Call on the Lord to save you now, as we go to God in prayer.
(1) HALLEY'S BIBLE HANDBOOK by Henry H Haley, Zondervan publishing house Grand Rapids mirror Michigan copyright 1959 and 1965, page 191
(2) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "Revival: What Is It Really?" by Robbie Boyd - 2 Chronicles 7:14
(3) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "What am to do with my life?" by Dennis Selfridge - 1 Timothy 1:1-20
(4) PreachingToday.com, Brian Roennfeldt, Perth, West Australia - Source: SermonCentral sermon "Standing In the Gap" by Russell Brownworth - 1 Timothy 2:1
(5) Sandra Palmer Carr in "The Upper Room" - Source: Sermons.com sermon "The Appearance of Love" by King Duncan Matthew 22:34-46
(6) Adapted from SermonCentral Sermon "Step One - Our Relationship with God" by Eddie Snipes - Psalm 36:7-10 - Also see ISBE for good explanation of Apple of the Eye
(7) "MR. JONES, MEET THE MASTER" by Peter Marshall - Copyright 1949, 1950 by Fleming H. Revell Company - pp. 30-31
