2 Chronicles 7:14-15

I was asked by a respected leader to "read carefully and prayerfully" 2 Chronicles 7:14-15. I meditated on the passage a couple of days, and decided to share my thoughts here. I hope you are encouraged as you read.

THE BACKDROP
Solomon and the Israelites just spent seven days dedicating the new temple – with prolific sacrifices, music, etc. On the eighth day all the people joined together in a solemn assembly.

THE WORD
The Lord came to Solomon the night following the assembly [v. 13] saying...if I (God)sent famine, pestilence or drought, AND ("and" added in place of the semicolon) [v. 14] IF My (God's) people (His own people – the people on whom His Name is called) will:

1) humble themselves (isn’t pride the root of all sin?)
2) pray (spiritually commune with God)
3) seek My (God's) face (not His hands...what He can do...but Him)
4) turn from their wicked ways (you and me making personal choices to change)...

...then I (God) will hear their prayers (our prayers to remove pestilence, famine and drought?), and will forgive their sins, and heal their land.

REVELATION
One night, praying at the altar, I don’t even recall what I was praying about, the Lord spoke a clear and surprising word to me. He said, “You are the land.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You know, the land…What did I make Adam from?”

“The dust of the earth,” I thought.

“You are land,” He said.

It clicked. I got it. I’ve been involved with the National Day of Prayer for several years, and 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a key verse used in the organization. I’ve sung songs about it, organized events around it, prayed it, etc., but in a moment, God gave me revelation.

Adam was made from the dust of the earth, and we are his offspring. We are dust—land. And if we will follow the instructions in this pivotal verse, we will see the PERSONAL healing God wants to bring into our “lands”…our hearts…our minds…our bodies…our emotions.

When our “lands” are healed (you and me), we will impact the communities in which we live. When we are His, we ARE salt and light, and God will use us to bring this same restorative message into the lives of others, who will in turn receive their healing and the affect will ripple into the entire world.

We pray for healing for our nation…our country, but when God speaks of nations, He speaks of people. It won’t matter if abortion is the law of the land if the people of the land reject the evil practice. People found a way to commit this heinous crime even when it was illegal, but with a true healing in the lives of individuals, our nation could see a huge decline in the slaughter of innocent babies.

The fight to uphold the sanctity of marriage (laughably promoted by a church with a divorce rate equal to the world’s), will be preserved when hearts are healed, delivered from selfishness and relationships restored.

And the list goes on…

PROMISE
Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place [v.15].

What I love about this verse is that God responds to humility and obedience with an ever “present tense” promise. He said His eyes would be open (not opened – a one-time deal), and his ears attent (not attend – attending as something begun and completed). He’s saying to me that He will continually be looking and listening – alert to our requests…when we posture ourselves in humility before Him and look into His holy countenance…when we reject sin in all its forms (even laziness, apathy, judgmentalism, etc.) and turn to God, He turns attentively to us and our requests. What an amazing God we serve.