"More Than Prayer" (September 2001)
“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.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) This is probably one of the most quoted, most preached passages of scriptures ever; especially most recently. How many times in the last few weeks have we heard this scripture at least mentioned if not preached on. In light of the tragedy that has struck our nation, there has been an emphasis on a return to prayer. Prayer seems to be the main theme and priority in our nation. I have only heard of one case, since the attack on America took place, of anyone being attacked or denied the right to pray. Even our government and the legislators who have fought so desperately to take prayer out of our society have been seen on national television bowing their knees in prayer. Our President has openly prayed, our schools have allowed times of prayer, our nation has set aside specially called prayer services. Each community has been setting aside times to assemble together to pray for our nation. It’s society who has been calling for prayer, not just the church.
We need to pray. If ever there was a time to start praying, or step up your praying, it’s now. We are living in very serious times. We need to touch the hem of His (the Lord’s) garment if we expect to find help and strength to sustain us in what we’re going through and may be facing in the future. Never minimize prayer. It’s our lifeline to God. Prayer changes things and it moves the hand of God.
Before I get into the heart of this message, I want to ask that as you read this, you will do so with a “hearing” ear. Please listen to all that I am saying so that you won’t misunderstand. I believe that prayer is so vitally important in any situation; whether it’s in my own personal life, or on the behalf of others. Never stop praying. Having said that, let me proceed.
About a week ago, a friend made a comment that really stuck with me. My friend made the statement that she has heard a lot about prayer but very little about getting close to God. Since then, the Holy Spirit has being speaking to me even more on this subject. The main emphasis since all this has happened in our country has been on prayer. Although we need to call out to God for help and mercy, peace and strength, it’s not just about prayer. There is more to it. It’s about repentance and returning to God. Our nation, we as individuals, don’t need to just pray, but we need to repent.
Look back at 2 Chronicles 7:14- prayer is only one aspect. We are called to humble ourselves, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways, as well as pray. God is wanting us to turn from our wicked ways, humble ourselves, and seek Him. God isn’t only looking for people to pray, He is looking for people who will turn their whole hearts to Him and who will turn from their lifestyle of sin. He is looking for people who will surrender their will for His will. He is looking for people who will serve Him in the good times and the bad. God desires that people have a relationship with Him, and not just be religious. “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” (Luke 18:11-13)
In our call to prayer, what is it that our nation is praying for? What are you praying for? If we only pray for peace, guidance, help, comfort, then we have still missed it. Again, let me say, “We need to pray. I certainly am praying and will continue to.” But God is calling us to do more than just pray for peace and help. He is calling us to pray a prayer of repentance. We need to pray for His forgiveness. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” (Psalms 66:18) In other words, if I see/know that there is sin in my heart and I don't confess it and forsake it, the Lord will not hear me when I pray. I know those are strong words, but it’s the word of God. I didn’t say it, God did. It’s time we stop sugar coating every thing and let the Word of God speak for itself. God says He won’t hear until you repent of it; that means He won’t hear. He is not a man that He should lie. It’s the truth that will make a person free. If they don’t know the truth, as in this scripture, they will continue to believe a lie that could cause them to miss heaven. The church needs to start saying what God says. If God says it’s sin, then we need to say it’s sin. We have made everything so easy, not wanting to offend anyone, we have made it too easy for people to go to hell. Are we warning the wicked man of his wicked way so that he may turn from the broad wide way that leads to destruction? Or have we patted him on the back and told him it’s all right God understands and is loving and merciful? God is loving and merciful, but the wages of sin is still death no matter how loving our God is.
The verse in 2 Chronicles is a message to two groups of people: the church and the nation. I have heard it taught that this verse is only for the church- since we are His people. When this verse was written it was written to the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. “If my people, which are called by my name...” Yes, the church is His people; bought and paid for with the blood of Jesus Christ. But the United States is also His people. We were founded as a result of those who were looking for religious freedom; freedom to worship God. Our country’s motto is- In God We Trust. The pledge to our national flag says, “One nation under God...” I think that qualifies us as a people which are called by His name.
God is calling His church to not only pray, but repent. The Bible says that judgment begins first at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). You can call what’s happening a judgment call or a wake up call or a warning if you want to, but the church is being called to repentance. Repentance for sleeping on the job, for not letting our lights shine, for not being salt, for not raising the standard of holiness in our nation, for compromising our God given rights, for surcoming to the age, and accepting those things that God called an abomination. If the church had been doing her job, abortion never would have been legalized, homosexuals would not be allowed to be ordained as ministers, prayer would not have been taken out of our schools, the Boy Scouts would not be under the attack that they are for holding up a standard of morality. We quit setting the trumpet to our mouth, we quit loving our neighbors and decided to let them die and go to hell because we were afraid they would reject us or talk about us. We abandoned our unborn society and left them at the mercy of money hungry physicians who don’t hold anything sacred, not even the oath that they took to preserve life. Therefore, God’s people, His church, needs to pray...pray the prayer of repentance.
In regard to our nation, “If my people...shall...” The thing that has really been on my mind about our nation, is our return to prayer. Is all we are doing is praying? Or are we turning from our wicked ways? Whether you believe that what has happened is judgment on our land, the fulfillment of prophesy, or an attack of satan, the fact is that God allowed it. Did He allow it just so that we would pray? Why do I keep sounding as if I am minimizing prayer? (Please believe me, I am not. Pray like you never have before and don’t stop.) But anyone can pray in times of crisis. Since the attack on our country began, I can’t quit thinking about Desert Storm. When Desert Storm was going on the whole nation rallied together in prayer, prayer for our nation. I can remember canceling our own Sunday night service and meeting with other churches (many different denominations were represented) to come together in a unified effort to pray for our nation and the safety and protection of our troops. God showed us mercy, blessed us, and ended the war. After it was all over, the nation went back to life as usual. We soon forgot about God, as a nation. All we did was cry out for help. God came to our rescue, but look at how we repaid Him. “As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.” (Proverbs 26:11) Because we only turned to God for help and not for forgiveness of our sins, we soon returned to our wicked ways and even worse. All that happened in America was a prayer meeting. Revival didn’t happen because true revival comes through repentance. Revival is prayed in, but the revival itself comes as a result of repentance. If revival had taken place in our land, things would have changed. Repentance means to turn from heading in one direction and go in the opposite direction. It is a matter of the heart, once a person’s heart changes, his actions will change. The actions of our nation only changed for the worse. It has been since the great prayer meetings during Desert Storm that abortion became legalized, homosexual marriages became legal in some states, the Ten Commandments were forbidden in our schools and are under attack to be taken off the walls in all our governmental buildings. It was after Desert Storm that partial birth abortion came on the seen, prayer is forbidden in our class rooms, pornography has become a multi-million dollar industry, the blasphemy of Jesus Christ in our movies and art became the “in” thing, and Christianity has come under attack. Now you understand my concern. I hope and pray that our nation will learn for the past and not repeat the same mistakes. I hope that all the prayer we are doing is not just a cry for help, but a cry of repentance. I hope it’s a cry that says, “We have sinned against you, O God, and our sin is great. Forgive us. We will turn from our wicked ways to Your ways. We repent of following our own will and not Your’s.” I hope that as a nation we will turn to God with our whole hearts and see that He is what we need all the time. We need Him to govern our land again. We need Him to come into our society. Some are saying that this is a wake up call for America as well. If it is, we need to pray that we will hear the alarm and wake up and see what we need to do...which is turn from our wicked ways and turn to God. Is our nation ready to forsake it’s sin? Are we ready to stop killing our unborn citizens? Are we ready to call partial birth abortion what it really is, murder of the helpless? Are we ready to give up our gambling, pornography, love of materialism, and blasphemy? Are we ready to acknowledge our sin, pray for forgiveness, and turn from it? Are we ready to seek God’s face? Ready to get to know Him in a personal relationship? He wants us to know Him, not just as our Helper, but in a personal way.
The camp is divided as to whether this is judgment or not. Let me say this, even if this didn’t have anything to do with judgment on our nation, if we don’t do more than just pray, but repent and turn from our wicked ways... judgment will come, it’s inevitable. You can’t do what we have done and told God that we don’t want Him in our nation: in our political system, in our educational system, in our entertainment industry, in our financial dealings, in our businesses- you can’t tell Him to keep Himself in the four walls of the church, while you do your own thing, live like the devil, and not expect to feel the effects of it. History often repeats itself, and we should learn from it. Every nation that put itself above God and tried to remove Him from the picture fell. Look at the great Egyptian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Grecian Empire, and Babylon; what was their outcome? I love my country and don’t want to see this happen, but God is a just God and will not always strive/deal with a person, or a nation, about getting rid of sin.
I said that the scripture in 2 Chronicles deals with the church and the nation. Let’s make it a little more personal. “If my people, which are called by my name...” I am one of His people. I am a child of God. I go by His name- Christian, heir and joint-heir. So this includes me as an individual. It includes you too if Jesus Christ has come into your heart as Savior and Lord. God has called us to do more than just pray. He has called us individually to turn from our wicked ways and seek His face. None of us want to think that we are wicked or that there may be anything in our lives that we need to repent of, just the mere suggestion that we may have something in our lives that is sin causes us to get on the defensive real quick. Jeremiah 17:9- “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Those things that are obviously sin, it’s time to repent of and let go of them. But it is also time for us to pray that the Lord would show us if there is anything that is in our hearts that we need to turn from and ask Him to forgive and cleanse.
It’s time the church turn from her wicked ways, that means you and me; we are the church. We have an excellent opportunity before us to help point people to God. As we turn from our wicked ways, fall in love with Jesus again, and allow God to change us, the world will see the true light of God shining in us. That light will show them the way to God. People are looking for answers and hope. Jesus is it. He is our only answer; He is our only hope. He is our answer to peace of mind, peace of heart, and peace with God. God loves us, God loves them, He is ready and waiting to forgive us and restore us. He wants to be a Father to us all. He’s calling us to repentance because that’s what brings us in right relationship with Him... A relationship is what He longs to have with us.
This is the newsletter that I wrote just a couple of weeks after the 9/11 affack on our nation.
