“Prescription Strength”
by
Elder Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
2nd Chronicles 7:14
Everyone will agree that we are living in perilous times. If we look at the Bible as a time line beginning with Genesis as day one and Revelation the end we see that 2nd Timothy puts at very near the end. 2nd Timothy 3:1-7 says “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We see that we are definitely at the end of the line. We have society trying to pass laws saying it is o.k for same sex marriages to take place and if we don’t allow it that we are infringing upon the civil rights of the people. We have the same people that are upholding this atrocity of homosexuality infringing upon the rights of Bible believing Christians, by saying that the Ten commandments are offensive. Children are disobedient to parents, thankfulness has become obsolete, the more unholy something is the more society tends to gravitate towards it. People are running around talking about they belong to this church and that church, they have a form of godliness and that is it, there is no power. It’s time for the church to messing around and have a Revival.
The word Revival according to the dictionary means an act or instance of restoring back to life: a renewed attention to or interest in something, the restoration of force, validity, or effect. The church, which is the body of Christ, made up of those that are called by His name and according to His purpose, need to have a Revival.
However we as the church have a misconception of what true revival is. We often believe that we must invite some out of town preacher to come to our church and stir us up in-order for there to be revival. We feel as though unless Bishop Bigtime, or Evangelist Layingonhands comes that we have not the ingredients for revival. But I am reminded of the scripture that says in 2nd Timothy 1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.” We have what it takes to have a revival, the only problem is we don’t do what God says do.
The is no one that when they are not feeling well that will not go to the doctor to see what the problem is. We go and sit there and tell the doctor the symptoms we are having and from what we tell them they are able to diagnose what it is that has us feeling the way we are feeling. Once they diagnose us they give us what is called a prescription.
** A Prescription is a written rule, direction, or course of action by a physcian that must be followed in order to cure the illness that is causing us to feel the way that we are feeling. **
The doctor will often say something like “if you want to feel better you need to follow these direction. The direction call for us to put into action what they have prescribed. Many of us don’t follow the directions of the doctor, we don’t take the necessary actions needed; therefore, it takes longer for us to recover from our sickness simply because we didn’t follow the instructions.
We find today the church is sick, it is being infested with the “flu”, which is the influence of sin. They have diarrhea of the mouth because they are spreading the seed of discord, they have aching joints because they fail to bend and pray, they have a loss of appetite for the Word of God. We sit back and wonder why it’s taking so long for the healing to begin. We struggle to keep people in church, we wonder why the church isn’t growing the way it should. We wonder why we are not the power factor in the world we use to be, we wonder the things that we use to see in the church we are not seeing anymore. Sick folk aren’t being healed, we wonder why people aren’t being set free, why demons are not being cast out like before. It is because we haven’t followed the prescription that God has given us.
God has given the perfect prescription and if we follow it and put into action what He has given us we will be healed of the sickness that plagues the church today.
The Prescription reads as follow: "If my people, which 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." 2nd Chron.7:14
If my people: that’s us, the church God’s Redeemed. Not the world, but the church. In order to be revived one must be a believer, must His people. We can’t say Lord the world needs to be changed they need a revival, they need to go back to the way things used to be. However, those that are His people, the prescription is for them that are called by His name.
The prescription calls for His people to Humble themselves. The Bible says in James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. 1 Pet 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” Humbleness is a characteristic of Christ and is something that we that call ourselves Christians must portray. The world cannot be humble, it goes totally against their nature. The world looks at humbleness as a form of weakness; therefore this prescription is not for them. How many of you realize that you can’t take someone elses prescription, because what will work for them can cause and adverse affect on you. So the church, which is His people that are called by His name must put into action humbleness.
The next step in the prescription is to pray. Praying is direct communication with God. Communication is the foundation of relationship. The world doesn’t have a relationship with God; therefore this presciption isn’t for them. It is for the church, we must pray without ceasing. If we want to be healed, if you want to be delivered, if you want anything from God you must put into action the prescription that He has given us and pray. If we fail to pray we will become prey. The world can’t pray, because they don’t have a relationship.
The next step in the prescription takes on desire. “Seek my face” The word seek means to resort to : go to, to go in search of to look for thoroughly, make every attempt to discover to ask for, to acquire or gain, to aim at. It is not just passively looking, but it is aggressive striving to apprehend. The parable of the woman that lost the coin she had a desire to find it, because it was something that was very special to her. She cleaned the whole house until she found what she was looking for. To seek His face requires a desire to make the necessary changes, to do what must be done until you have found what you have need of.
The next step of the prescription is to “turn from your wicked ways”. Once you have been diagnosed of something that is causing you to be in the condition that you are in, you must turn. The word Turn means to to change position to stop.
If you follow this prescription this is what will happen to you.
God will:
He will "hear from heaven" I think about on my job I get calls from patients that need to reorder their prescriptions. I take the call, put the request in, but the doctor says rather or not they can have the medication. Often times it will depend on if the person meets the specific requirements.
He will “forgive their sin” If we follow the instructions He will wipe away all of our transgressions.
He will "heal their land" If we follow the instructions He will cause the land to prosper. But we have to follow the instruction.
God wants to heal the church. He is tired of His people being sick. If we follow His prescription He will bless us.
The church has laid to long on spiritual bed-rest. Bed-rest even in the natural is not good for a person, because the bed will literally drain you and make you even more-sick then you were in the first place.
In the Doctor’s Office that I work sometimes I get calls from people that want to get an appointment with the doctor; however, I may not have an appointment available with the doctor. However I am reminded of a song that says though many have come there’s still room for one. You can call on Dr. Jesus anytime and He will always have room for you. Just call Him up and tell Him what you want.
You got to follow the instructions.
Elder Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
Boanerge Ministries
