2 Chronicles 7:13-15 – “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. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.”  NKJV

I address this to America, but it applies to the world and every human being alive.  God appeared to Solomon a second time after he had dedicated the temple to the Lord.  God told Solomon that He had heard his prayer and had chosen the temple to Himself as a house of sacrifice. 

Then He spoke of a condition in which judgment was on the land because of people drifting from God’s way.  There was a remedy nationally as well as individually.  He spoke of a time when He (GOD) would shut up heaven, and no rain would come or the devouring locust to destroy the crops or pestilence among the people.  That can easily be understood as severe hardship, external and internal chaos, and the nation’s decline.  God instructed Solomon that the remedy was simple, explicit, and specific at that time.

The people of God were to do four specific things to stay the hand of judgment and restore the nation:

Humble Themselves.

Often when an individual or a nation drifts from God, Pride is one identifying element in their decline.  Not only pride but trust in their intelligence, ability, accomplishments, and such.  The Bible says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” [Proverbs 16:18]. 

We read in Isaiah 2:11 – “The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”  Then James 4:10 declares, “Humble yourselves before the LORD, and He will lift you up.”   Pride is destructive, and Humility is necessary to stand in the presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Therefore, the first action of national and personal restoration is Humbling ourselves.

Pray.

Jesus was a man of prayer and taught His followers to pray.  He was so much a man of prayer that His disciples came to Him and requested that He teach them to pray.  James instructs in James 5:13, “Is anyone among you in trouble?  Let them pray.”  Then in (v.16), he instructs, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  Healing comes through humility, confession or repentance, and prayer.  That healing is healing in all aspects of personal and national life.

Seek God’s Face.

The next and quite logical step is to seek God’s Face.  Remember the words of our Lord in Matthew 6:33?  He said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”  Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.”  The next verse tells us that if we do, we will receive.  If we seek God above all else, healing comes to our land and our lives.

Turn from Wickedness.

This is the true state of repentance.  Repentance means changing your mind or doing an ‘about-face.’  It is not as one preacher I heard preach that he did a 360-degree turn when he repented.  No, it is a 180-degree turn, not a full circle.  It is to go the other way.  We must truly come out from among them and be separate.  We are to make God Lord of All.  We must repent of our wickedness and failure to obey His Word and Plan.  We do that individually and nationally.

God promises that He will hear, forgive, and heal us.  That is my cry for my nation today. It is my desire for my own life.  I make the prayer of David in Psalm 51 my prayer.  “Lord, create in me a clean and pure heart and renew in me a right and steadfast spirit.  Lord, give me the fullness of the Holy Spirit and let me walk in Your anointing.  Do not take from me Your Holy Spirit but let me live in the presence of the Lord.” 

America, much of the world, and the church needs to repent and return, and when we do, God will restore what has been stripped from us by the enemy of righteousness.   

God bless you richly as you make 2 Chronicles 7:14 a cornerstone in your life.