Thursday, April 4th, Day 26

Author: Carlos De Freitas

Church: Macland Baptist Church

What If?
2 Chronicles 7:12–22 (NASB)

As we all know, life can get busy and this makes it tough to spend time with God and when we pray or should I say if we pray our prayers, well, they feel kind of boring. Have you ever found yourself there? Maybe you sometimes feel like your prayers aren’t accomplishing anything?
I know I’ve felt this way at times. Sometimes prayer can feel like you’re talking to thin air or like your prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling.

Part of the problem is that it just becomes an empty routine— that we stop actually trying to engage with God just like Salomon did.

With his building projects completed Salomon’s heart was puffed up with pride. His love for the Lord was waning. He had begun that spiritual decline which eventually led to idolatry. This divine word served to remind Solomon of that wonderful prayer and youthful devotion which he was in danger of losing

Solomon began his reign at the altar, sacrificing to the Lord and asking Him for wisdom, but that didn’t continue.

Verse 14 is probably the best known and most often quoted verse in all of 2 Chronicles. In this verse God outlines the conditions which Israel must fulfill if they are to know his blessings. With that verse in mind I would like to ask you 4 questions God asked His people in this verse:
What if my people Pray? Can you stop for a second and imagine if God’s people truly prayed! What if we truly prayed for revival? Powerless prayers make for powerless churches because we are only relying on our own power and wisdom and just like Salomon it is just a better of time before we fall. But God said if we pray He will hear our cries.

What if my people humble themselves? James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. And verse 10 says Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. We like Solomon become so proud of our achievements we forget that we can only achieve that which God allows us to achieve. We have become too proud.

What if my people seek my face? We all want the results without the work. We want to be buff without working out. We want to find God, but we are not looking for Him. We want all the benefits of being close to God without been close to Him. if we truly want revival we must seek Him with all our hearts, all soul, with all that we are.

What if my people repent from their sins? As we truly seek God’s face our sins will be revealed and our only response should be repentance. Revival will happen when we stop focusing on our neighbors’ sin and start focusing on our own.
If we want to be heard, for Him to be attentive to our cries, for God to forgive, heal and restore, we must pray and humbly seek His face turning from our wicked behaviors. God always demands a response from us. What is your response?

Pray and ask God to reveal anything that is a hindrance in your relationship with HIM as you humbly seek His face.

Psalm 139:23-24 says 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.
Here are some areas in our lives where we often have issues: Our thoughts; Attitudes; Speech; Relationships; Actions; Omissions and Self-rule.

Personal Reflection & Confession
Ask Him to reveal SIN.
Humbly Confess that SIN.
Do you need to make AMENDS?
Do you need to remove a TEMPTATION? Ask HIS HELP.