Praying for our nation and ourselves

Praying for our nation and ourselves

“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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

You may be familiar with this verse of scripture. Or if you weren’t previously familiar with it, you may have recently heard it. During last year and into this year, this verse has come into many people’s email as a reminder of what we need to do.

As if this hasn’t been said enough, prayer does change things. When we go before the throne of God with humble hearts and seek him, He does hear our cry. When we bow before him in simple submission and seek Him, He is found. God loves us. He loves His children. His creation. He loves us with a full, deep love. A Father who cares for His children. Even when we don’t deserve His love, He loves us. Yet, our God is a jealous God. Even in His jealously, He has given us free will.

He knows that we will sin. That we will fall short. He knows that when we do, that some of us will not call out to Him. Yet, He stands ever ready to answer our call if we will be willing to ask for help. Its not so shocking that we don’t ask help from our Creator, when we won’t ask help from those around us who are our friends and family. Those who love and care for us. We see it as a sign of weakness. If only we were willing to humble ourselves and ask for that help, then we would witness the fullness of love.

As a nation, we are in crisis, so many are being called to head this verse. Humble ourselves and pray. God will hear the cry of His people. If only as individuals we weren’t so stubborn and unwilling to seek help. Not only for our nation, which is in dire need, but also for ourselves as individuals. For we all fall short, yet we have been cleansed by the blood of the lamb and we can come and ask for help from a loving Father. A omnipotent Maker.

Be willing to humble yourself and ask God to not only heal the nation, but heal any hurt or sorrow in your own life or the lives of those you know. Be open to seeing miracles happen on a daily basis in your life. One person can make the difference and God is willing to make the difference for one person.

Thought for Today…

I love the Lord for He heard MY cry. (Psalm 40:1).  How many times do we go through our day without remembering to thank God for the things He has done for us?  In our fast food society, it is easy to “forget” that God blesses us each day with the air we breathe.  Not only can we see this great Artist at work in the beauty of the sunrise and the sunset, but in the sky itself during the day.  Yet we forget that these small gifts are from Him too.

We want the big things and we want them now.  When we are sick, we want healing.  When we are lonely, we want comfort.  When we are depressed, we want reassurance.

The truth is, God does all these things for us, but we forget that often it’s in the small things that He reveals himself.  We are too busy searching the heavens for some thunderbolt to strike us: we don’t thank Him for these little things.

How can God give us more, when we fail with the little things?  “To whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48).  We want much but not the responsibility it brings with us.

Perhaps today is the day that we should all start remembering that God is in the everyday, ordinary things, as well as the extraordinary.  He is the Jehovah-Jireh, our God who provides (Gen. 22:14).