II Chronicles 7:14 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
How good are you with God today? That sometimes is an abstract question, so maybe we can make it even more specific by asking, “How is your relationship with your own conscience?” Conscience ought to be developed on the truth, but how are you with your conscience? How are you with other people? It is entirely too easy to say, “I love God. It is people I just can’t stand.” Well, one affects the other, and if I don’t have a love for people, then I am not loving God the way I should. How right are you with God today?
I want to tell you something that gives both agency, responsibility, and also encouragement. You are as close to God as you choose to be. II Chronicles 7:14 famously says, “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.” This is God Jehovah responding to King Solomon at the dedication of the temple. To be sure, God is sovereign, in control, the King of the king, yet God is responsive. How amazing that a sovereign God would ever respond to finite people, but He does.
Notice he says, “If…then.” This is a conditional statement. Humility is at the center. If I don’t humble myself, then I can’t be right with God. What is interesting is that God doesn’t just respond to the prayer of Solomon; God uses Solomon’s own words in responding to Solomon. Solomon kind of set a pattern to which God condescended. In II Chronicles 6:24 Solomon basically prays to God, “If Your people sin and You judge them, and they sin against You and return and confess, then hear from heaven.” You find this throughout this book.
Verse 26 is a second example, “When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain…yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin…then hear thou from heaven.” How amazing that a sovereign God would not only respond to the prayer of a mere mortal, but He would actually take the pattern of Solomon’s prayer and use it in response to that prayer.
Solomon said, “If we sin and you judge, and we pray toward this place, God, please forgive our sins and restore us.” God says, “If you humble yourselves, pray, and seek My face, I will turn to you. If you turn to me, I’ll turn to you.” You are as close to God as you choose to be. That may sound like mockery today if you feel like you are not right with God and you can’t quite figure it out, but I want to encourage you that you have responsibility, agency, and hope.
Notice that this prayer has a very Jewish context. Many times when Solomon says, “If we sin and you judge us and we pray toward this place,” he is talking about a specific place, the temple. We know that we can pray anywhere anytime and God hears our prayer. God always hears from heaven and that was true in Solomon’s day. He answers from heaven, but this is a very Jewish prayer in the sense that these are God’s special people and Solomon as their king is praying to God.
In II Chronicles 7:14 God basically says, “If you humble yourselves and pray, I will forgive your sin and heal your land.” He is talking about the actual dirt. “Your farms are doing horribly. If you turn to Me, I am going to heal your land. I am going to restore your farms.” You may not be Jewish or a farmer, but the point is God is still God. Someone says, “This is not a prayer for you today.” To be sure, your pastor is not Solomon and your church is not Israel, but God is still God.
Notice it is not only Jewish, but it is international. In II Chronicles 6:32-33 Solomon says to God, “Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name’s sake…if they come and pray in this house; then hear thou from the heavens…that all people of the earth may know thy name…as doth thy people Israel.” Being part of Israel was a choice. It wasn’t really ethnic. It was a matter of believing God Jehovah to be the Creator, the God, and serving and worshipping Him. God will hear the prayer of that stranger. Your relationship to God is not ethnic or a matter of time or place. It is international.
This prayer is also individual. II Chronicles 6:29, says, “Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house: then hear thou from heaven…for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men.” The Bible later tells us about a king who found the Word of God that had been lost and realized how far Israel was from the precepts God had given. That king turned to God and God said, “I am going to judge the people, but you are a person, so turn toward Me and I will give you grace.” So, this prayer is Jewish, international, and individual.
Ultimately, this prayer is also timeless. God has not changed. Later, in His answer to Solomon’s prayer, God said, “If you turn to me, I will turn to you.” Then He says in contrast, “But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes…and serve other gods… then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.” He goes on to say that when people would walk by the ruins and wonder what happened, the answer would be that God did this because the people had forsaken the Lord and they had brought this evil upon themselves. In other words, God will always judge sin.
Is it always God’s will to judge sin? Yes. You may be judged in this life or the next, but no one gets away with sin. Is it always God’s will to give life? Yes, the answer to spiritual vitality is always God’s Word. I thank God for what He has done in the past, but that should encourage you that God can, not prove to you that God will not. The question today is not, “Can God give the world, the West, my country, my state, or my church revival?” The question is, “What are you doing with God right now?” It is always God’s will for you to do the right thing and it is always God’s will to judge what is wrong. In other words, a sovereign God responds to finite people. Someone says, “I’m not doing right, but I just can’t change.” You can’t, but God can and God will when you respond with obedience.
Today, God waits for you. You are not waiting for God. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Are you close to God today? This prayer and reply are Jewish, but they are also international, individual, and timeless. You are as close to God today as you choose to be and God does respond.