21 Days of Prayer and Fasting January 01, 2015 Spiritual Awakening - P. Douglas Small Gods Word for Today - 2 Chronicles 7:14 Thought for Today When a nation sins - and all else has failed, there is a stop-gap remedy. Gods people can cry out to Him. If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves ... Humility describes the attitude, the disposition of the heart, the posture of deference and dependence. The Septuagint, interestingly enough substitutes the idea of repentance. The Septuagint then capture the act; the Hebrew the attitude - both are necessary. Second they are to pray. Here the word is palal, a courtroom term. The idea is that of prayer as an intermediary. Having repented, and approaching God with humility, the penitent stands before God in behalf of the nation, between God and impending judgement - and prayerfully pleads for grace and divine intervention. There is more period. Words are not enough. Third, the focus of prayer is not to be merely on the hand of God, on blessings that need to be restored, but on the face of God. It is a broken relationship that they now realize is jeopardy if the sin and rebellion continues. The problem is rarely ever sin - mere acts. It is something deeper, something that is misplaced in the relationship. A first love is lost. Passion has cooled. The world and its allurement have become dominant. It is the face that is sought - the kind of fatherly kindness and grace seen by the prodigal in the eyes of his father. It is never law that brings the most compelling change, it is love. It constrains us. It motivates us. It is the impetus for lasting change. Finally, the people of God must also demonstrate righteousness - they must turn from their wicked ways. This is more than sentiment. Repentance has to be modeled. The great need is not for the world to repent from their obvious sin, but for the church to repent of its rationalized sin. In doing so, we show our respect for Gods Holiness, we evidence a reverence for God that is largely lost today. Gods people, gladly and openly called by His name, can by their response to his grace in prayer - set off a chain of events that see national sins forgiven, their land healed. Time To Pray 1. Determine to demonstrate your humility before God. Pray. Not just for yourself, but for the sake of the nation. 2. Ask God to change you - to show you where a change in your attitudes and actions might reveal Christ to people around you.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 15:55:05 +0000
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