Word of Encouragement (02/13/2025)
Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the 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 the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name 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 the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. (2 Chron. 7:12–16)
Starting with v. 13, God gives His pledge to listen to the prayers of His people. In it, He gives a few different situations, in which they may call upon the name of the Lord: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people…” (v. 13). In these examples, the Israelites find themselves in various troubles. But these troubles are none other than God’s various punishments for their sins. What a powerful pledge this is! Even in such situations, “if my people who are called by my name 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” (v. 14). If God will hear their prayers in such situations, how much more if they worship God and serve Him faithfully!
But in this pledge, God also describes what the proper posture of prayer is. They must humble themselves, first of all. To do this, they must remember that they are called by God’s name. Why? If they are being punished, they must confess and repent of their sins. But why? Simply because what they did was morally wrong? Or because they broke the law of God? Those reasons are not wrong. But there is a deeper reason: it is because they have betrayed their fundamental identity. What is their fundamental identity? They are called by God’s name: God has granted them the honor of bearing and representing His name. In betraying this identity of theirs, they have betrayed God’s love for them. Whatever confession or repentance they engage in is meaningless if it doesn’t flow out of this realization. How can this realization not make them humble themselves before God?
In humility, they must pray and seek God’s face. This, too, is important to remember. When we find ourselves in trouble, what do we pray for? Out of pain and desperation, we ask God to remove our afflictions. But is a trouble-free life so desirable if God’s face is still turned away from us? If the Spirit of God dwells in our hearts, we cannot find true comfort and happiness in the mere absence of adversities. Whatever happiness the world offers is no more than bait with a hook underneath it. We must not count anything as happiness if it is not found in God. Because it is the face of God we seek, and He is a holy God, we must be willing to turn from our wicked ways.
What is it that you desire? Is it worthy of someone who is called a Christian, bearing the name of Christ? Is it the face of God you seek? May the Spirit of God convince you to desire God more than anything.