2 Chronicles 7:14 “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
A simple question: will we humble ourselves? The command implies that it is indeed doable, so what does that look like exactly, what’s the process? Is it merely an admission that we are in need of God’s help? Is it only outwardly abasing ourselves in the presence of others? Is it living for others, unselfishly, pouring out our all that some might be saved? As I think about Christ’s earthly life, He was meek, perfect and humble.
Yet there were times when He turned over tables in the synagogues and corrected Pharisees strongly in public. So, how do we reconcile this? We often see leaders falling on one side of the fence or the other. The one side borders on spiritual abuse masked as authority and the other gives way for compromise and a false humility. So, what is true humility?
One of my favorite quotes is from John 10:17-18 Jesus said: “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” I think true humility is knowing you have the authority to take a stand on a matter, but because you have heard or seen according to the spirit, in obedience then, you willingly lay down your life for the benefit/edification of others and/or the advancement of the Kingdom of God. For example Jesus conceptually could have come down from the cross, He could have called multitudes of angels to His rescue, He could have spoken a word and all the abusive soldiers would have dropped dead.
However, He chose instead to lay down His life in obedience to the Father’s will, knowing that it would benefit multitudes and advance the kingdom. And likewise, it was dangerous for him to turn over the tables, he didn’t exactly make any friends that day. In obedience, he was willing to look the madman, the fool for the sake of the kingdom. Humility is obedience regardless of the cost to ourselves. Andrew Murray put it this way: “humility and death are in their very nature one: humility is the bud; in death the fruit is ripened to perfection.” We are called to literally die to ourselves daily, to take up our cross and follow Him…and that means into His death (The laying down of our lives-daily) and into His resurrection (The picking back up of our lives-daily).
In 2 Chronicles 7:14 above, it’s also interesting that the land would be healed not because the pagans humbled themselves for their sins, but God said if “MY PEOPLE, WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME” will humble themselves and pray….the healing of the land was dependant not on the number of God’s people in the land, but on the humility of the hearts of His people. It was dependant on their willingness to humbly accept the word planted in them, to seek His face and to turn. In other words God was saying mix this pure heart-cry of a prayer with a sincere accompanying action, by turning from sin to serve Him alone, and then He will hear
Prayer: Holy Father God, have mercy on us and hear our prayer, we come solely by the blood of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ and in His name. We come in a spirit of repentance on behalf of the bride. Please forgive us for believing the lie that our world is a mess just because of the sin of unbelievers.
Forgive us for our sins of pride, rebellion, murder- through abortion, self-preservation, personal agendas, control, ungodly judgments, greed, gluttony, seeking titles, fame, and influence, for our own names sake. Forgive us for making our churches into compromised lukewarm organizations instead of beautiful, spotless organism red-hot aflame for you or cool refreshing waters to refresh who are thirsty. Father forgive us for running so quickly that we cannot hear you clearly, for racing with the next best thing instead of hearing what the next God thing is….
Forgive us for not equipping the saints to do the work you have planned for them from the foundations of the world, but instead plugging people in, like worker bees, to the cookie cutter opportunities we have designed for them. Not for the glory of your name, but for the glory of the individual church, the pastors kingdoms. Forgive us for turf wars, for sheep stealing, for envy and jealously, for coveting what others have, forgive us for being poor stewards and getting into large amounts of debt.
Forgive us for being lulled to sleep by the entertainment industry, and for allowing ourselves to get fat on the word while looking down our noses at those who do not know you. Forgive us for deceiving ourselves into thinking institutionalism and formalized education trumps the school of the Holy Spirit. Forgive us for forging ahead with our plans and fleshly ideas, strategies, and pursuits.
Forgive us for forsaking our first love, grace us to return to you with all of our hearts, all of our souls, all of our minds, and all of our strength..that we might labor faithfully and fervently resulting in multitudes of nations and Peoples hearing the gospel and responding in faith. Help us oh Lord, grace us oh King, heal the land in our hearts first, then grace us to heal the land of our cities, our states, and our nations. All Glory, honor, and power be to you and Your son Jesus Christ, forever and ever Amen.
