In 2020 we saw a surge of God’s people coming together in corporate prayer meetings. 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 was often quoted:

“…If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, and 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, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

Soooo, has God healed our land? One only needs to listen to the daily news to know that that hasn’t happened. So what’s the deal? Did God fail to keep His promise? Is it even possible for God to break a promise? Absolutely not! Numbers 23:19 says,

“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

So what’s the deal? If God cannot lie, what are we to think? 2 Chronicles is one of many “If,” “Then” promises in the Bible. The fulfillment of the promise is conditional. If the conditions are not met, we can declare that we’ll receive the promise all day long, but it will be in vain. No amount of crying or praying will force God’s hand.

When we look across this great land and see storm clouds billowing, we’re wise to take heed. It seems that the very foundations of this nation are up for grabs these days. Beloved, this is no time for apathy or passivity!

Over and over as I spend time with the Lord, He seems to be compelling me to sound the alarm. Speak to His people. Warn the body of Christ that we need to fulfill our part of 2 Chronicles 7. If we choose not to, God will continue to judge this nation. Each wave of judgment will continue to grow larger until we yield to Him. What does judgment look like? It can be many things; plagues, war, famine, slavery suffering. All these things are God’s way of drawing us back to Himself. He loves us too much to let us dwell in sin.

What’s the solution?

How do we do our part to avert God’s discipline of this nation? Let’s go back to 2 Chronicles 7. What is God asking us to do?

The first thing is to humble ourselves before Him. Humility is vital, because without it, we’re unlikely to meet the other conditions of 2 Chronicles 7. To humble ourselves means to be brought under subjection. It’s the opposite of rebellion. If we refuse to yield to God’s authority and law, we’re walking in pride. The solution is to surrender our will to Him. There’s no neutral ground here. We either yield to God to to Satan. There’s no such thing as an autonomous person.

The next condition of 2 Chronicles 7 is that God’s people pray. Look around in the churches you’re familiar with. Are you seeing on-going corporate prayer meetings? Do you see Christians flocking to the alter, desperate for God? Or do you see a few people trickle to the alter while the rest of the church stares on, unresponsive? We all talk about the multitude of problems we’re facing globally, but does do our prayer lives reflect the enormity of our need?

The third condition we as a church must meet if we expect God to heal our land is to seek God’s face. This is about seeking God Himself, not what He can do for us. Do we really want an intimate relationship with God, or do we just want Him to make all our troubles disappear so we can go on doing what we want?

The final condition that God requires if we want Him to heal our land is to turn from sin. Repentance is about more than simply saying we’re sorry. True repentance means that we were going in one direction, and now we’ve done a 180 and are going in the opposite direction. This calls for each one of us to be open to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. What might God be convicting you of? Is there anything that He has been asking you to obey Him in? Is there any area where you’ve given in to compromise? Any area where obedience means not tolerating evil? Any area where God is asking you to speak truth, even if it means persecution? Perhaps He’s asking some of us to resist the mentality that says that we’re already defeated, so why try. Maybe there’s an idol in our lives that needs to be cast down. An idol is anything we choose instead of obeying God. If we’ve elevated anything above God, we’re settling. Let’s make sure we’re not “trading our birthright for a bowl of porridge.”

Maybe as you examine your life, there’s nothing that you haven’t surrendered to God. Maybe you’ve already met all the conditions of 2 Chronicles 7. If that’s you, then I invite you to beseech God to soften the hearts of His people. Ask Him to turn our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. Stand in the gap for your fellow countrymen. Repent with me on behalf of our nation.

It is my prayer that we, the body of Christ, will resist any temptation we may face to finger point, blaming politicians, judges, or leaders for the troubles we’ve seen as a nation. Let’s lay down all the strong opinions and judgments and seek God before we do anything else.

In His service,

Arlene

“So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the wheel. But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “O house of Israel, declares the LORD, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed. But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring. And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom, and if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it. Now therefore, tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am planning a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways, and correct your ways and deeds.’” Jeremiah 18:5-11

“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Isaiah 30:18