When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,
14 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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:13-14
How can we expect God to intervene in our nation when for years we have attempted not to include Him in the public sphere!? The Lord gives us the answer in the above passage!
Many of us know verse 14 in the above passage, but we may not be familiar with the context of this passage. Solomon dedicated the temple after he spent twenty years building God’s house as well as his own house. God filled the temple with His presence and then appeared to him at night. The Lord knew that it was a matter of time before people began their cycle of disobedience. So the Lord warned Solomon about coming plagues when they disobeyed Him, and He also gave him instructions in how to seek Him for healing the land.
God told Solomon that if they seek Him and repent that God would forgive them and heal their land. Our nation is faced with physical harm from a virus as well as it is under the stress of social and political upheaval. The good news is that we don’t have to wait for the entire country to repent to see the healing of our nation. The above scripture is instructions for God’s people.
We have the privilege and the responsibility to intercede for our nation by first cleansing ourselves. It is easy to look around us and point fingers at the godless and wicked people out there. But it is a lot harder to look at ourselves, our families, and the body of Christ and ask the Lord to show us if there is any offensive way in us.
The Lord expects His people to not be wicked. Sometimes we expect the world not to be wicked but they are not the ones who have been saved, delivered, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. God has enabled us to live a life pleasing to Him. Some sins are overt such lying, anger, jealousy, competition and others are internal attitudes such as indifference, lack of love, disrespect for authority, etc. In the current climate, we need to remain alert to not fall into the trap of the enemy and get caught up with all the verbal battles, polluted conversations that go on on social media and the culture.
We are moving into a heated political season, and regardless of which individuals win the various elected offices, our nation is still in need of healing. As the Lord leads you, I encourage you to take time to fast this week (if your health permits) and the subsequent weeks. Seek the Lord on behalf of our nation. Repent, and seek the healing of this country.
Pray for your cities, states, and the country. People need salvation and transformation. Pray for the leaders from both parties. We need to pray that those who don’t know Him would come to salvation We also need to pray that those who do know Him would grow in their faith and to have the wisdom and the courage to lead this nation in the manner that pleases the Lord. May the Lord heal our nation and may He put us on the right path!