“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.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
He Hears from Heaven.
I love the line in this scripture where God says, “I will hear from heaven.”
How comforting to know that when we pray, God hears us from heaven! He is listening.
How to pray
But before that line, this verse tells us some of the ways that we are supposed to approach God with our prayers.
Humble yourselves
Part of prayer is humbling ourselves. We have to see who we are in light of who God is.
When we realize how small and flawed we are in the scope of an infinite God, we are amazed anew that He loves us.
Pray
When we are humbled, we realize how much we need and how much God has. Why would we not pray and ask for what we need?
Seek My face
Face to face. A personal relationship. Looking into each other’s eyes. Being face to face denotes an intimacy that is not the same as just being in the same room with someone.
God wants us as not just acquaintances. He wants to be intimately connected with us. He wants to be face to face with us.
We should seek His face. Seek a closer and closer relationship with Him.
Turn from their wicked ways
We need to ask for forgiveness of our sins when we come before our holy God. Sin creates a separation between us and God. We have to get it out of the way to get face to face with God.
Thankfully, Jesus has already paid the price for our sin to be forgiven. He died in our place. We just have to believe and accept His gift of salvation.
He Hears Us. He heals our land.
When we have rips and tears in the fabric of our homes, our communities, our nation, God can heal them. He can heal our land.
He hears our prayers and He is the One who heals our land.
Action Step:
Our Focus today is PRAYER!
Prayer: communicating with God, a back and forth (talking AND listening)
Give some thought the four steps to approaching God in this Bible verse:
- Humble Yourself
- Pray
- Seek His Face
- Turn from Your Wicked Ways
Take a few minutes to pray this way today.
Prayer:
Dear God, help us to approach You like Your word says. Help us to humble ourselves, to pray, to seek Your face, to turn from sin. You are a holy God, huge and wonderful, yet you hear us and respond. We are so grateful! In Jesus, name, amen.
