Turning it Around!

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God lays out some conditions to help his people arrive at a turnaround in their situations:
"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."

Let's work backward to determine the meaning of this important verse of scripture.

To understand what the clause "heal their land" means, we need to look at the previous verse, 2 Chronicles 7:13: "If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people."

Drought, loss of crops, sickness, etc. are consequences of people's past disobedience to God's will. Thus, "healing the land," refers to the elimination of these negative consequences. God will intervene to restore His people - by returning the blessings of the covenant and turning away the manifestations of the curse on their land.

How does this scripture apply to you? Well, you also have your "land," the terrain you dwell in or the circle you live in, which encompasses your personal life, marriage, family, career, health, ministry, financial life, city or nation. You may be experiencing negative consequences of past disobedience to God's word in one or more of these areas and need healing.

By using the conditional phrase "if my people..." in 2 Chronicles 7:14, God instructs that the solution to the curse is dependent on the course His people choose to take. He iterated several important steps you need to take in order to turn around the negative situations of your life. This week's LightPoints outlines these steps.

1. Place yourself under God's Authority. In other words, exercise humility. According to Webster's dictionary, humility requires a spirit of deference or submission or placing oneself in a "ranking low in a hierarchy or scale." God implores His people to come to Him in deference, to place themselves in a position of submission to His word. God wants you to renounce yourself as the kings of your life and instead acknowledge His Lordship and pledge compliance to His word. In order to accomplish this, you must identify areas in your life that are out of order with God's will and sincerely acknowledge them before Him, while pledging a change of mind.

Humility is the doorway to grace. God lifts the humble. He responds to sincere admittance of personal inabilities before Him. One powerful example of humility can be found in I Kings 3:7-10, where Solomon prayed to God for wisdom:

"Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours? The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this."
This week endeavor to come before God in humility.

2. Jumpstart your Prayer Life: Prayer is the way to secure God's intervention in your affairs. Every success can be traced to a prayer, as well as every failure. The neglect of prayer, or lack of knowledge of the power and principles behind prayer, is one of the main reasons why God's people are not experiencing the fullness of His plans for them. God wants you to pray. He is as limited in your life as your prayers. If you want to secure greater activity of God in your affairs, then you must learn and choose to pray.

There are two general divisions of prayer: personal or corporate prayers. Personal prayer is your individual private prayer time with God. This is the foundation of your prayer life and, as such, it is the one that satan attacks first. This week, determine to jumpstart your prayer life if it has been faltering. Spend some minutes each day talking to God about your needs with specificity.

3. Find a prayer partner: Corporate prayer, or prayer with others, increases your prayer power several folds. Talk to a trusted friend or mentor about being your prayer partner. Fix a time each week that you can meet or conference to pray together. Get involved in your church's prayer exercises and meetings. You will turn impossible situations around if you pray. Remember the admonition in James 5:13:"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray"

4. Turn from your old ways and accept God's forgiveness. Change and begin to live a live compliant with God's will. Obey instantly the instructions in the word and the ones He communicates to your spirit. Make amends in the areas you've identified as the root cause of the issues you face now. If you were walking in unforgiveness for example, start forgiving. Forgive yourself too if you need to. God is ready to forgive you of any wrong you may have done. He can wink at the past but he expects you to make a decision to align yourself with His will henceforth. He will also give you grace to overcome.

Blessings this week!

Pastor Lan

 

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