This morning I was sitting with a friend of mine who is helping me get financing for a home purchase. I thought I knew what prayer was before I met this guy… Man, this dude is an intercessor! As we talked, conversation turned to the election shenanigans taking place in our country. We talked about the social problems our country is facing and yet these characters want to exchange shots about each other’s wife. My friend brought up the words in 2 Corinthians 7:14. I’ll insert them here and continue on below:
2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people (a people – as a congregated unit; specifically a tribe; collectively – troops or attendants; men, nation, people), which are called by my name (by implication honor, authority, character), shall humble themselves (bend the knee, bring down low, into subjection, under, humble self), and pray (to intercede, pray, make supplication), and seek (to search out – by any method specifically in worship or prayer; to strive after, beseech, beg, desire, request, require) my face, and turn (to turn back, retreat, repent, rescue, restore, retrieve, return) from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive (pardon, spare, forgive) their sin, and will heal (to mend, cure, heal, repair, make whole) their land.”
I added my two cents to the conversation at this point by stating that I believe God is not at all talking about how unbelievers need to repent and turn back to HIM, but instead, I believe God is calling out to those of us who call ourselves “FOLLOWERS”, telling us that we must bend our knee and humble ourselves, and intercede, pray and make supplication before Him, to desire and require God’s face, to turn from our own sin…to repent of our own lukewarm hearts and our compromising ways, to stop acting like this is the promised land when we’re still walking through the wilderness. He’s talking to believers!
It’s so much easier to blame Washington for its corruption and ineffectiveness, because then we don’t have to do anything…but complain. And for those of us who have grown tired of the Church, it’s easier still to put the blame on the western church culture…and do nothing….but complain. But God never said he was searching for a nation, and he never said he was searching for a denomination; He said he was searching for a man. Read Ezekiel 22:30 below.
Ezekiel 22:30: “And I sought for a man (a man as an individual or a male person, a certain champion a good, a great, a mighty man, husband, or steward) among them, that should make up (close up, fence up, hedge, in-close, make up a wall) the hedge (by implication an in-closure, fence, wall, hedge), and stand (to stand, literally & figuratively, appoint, abide, arise, confirm, dwell, endure, establish, ordain, raise up, remain, repair, standby, stand fast, stand firm, stand still, stand up, or tarry) in the gap ( a break – literally or figuratively; breach, a gap) before me for the land (earth, land, nations, world), that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”
Whoa….If we hear this though…..that would place accountability on us…on me! We would actually have to take ownership for how our nation got to where it is today…if we truly want to embrace these words spoken in Ezekiel, then we’d have to lose our excuses about Washington, we would have to stop blaming liberal unbelievers, stop blaming evil corporate America and those who cross the borders illegally (like we did centuries ago), we’d have to stop blaming political correctness in our country, or blaming people abusing the various entitlement programs…..
What we would have to start doing is owning the problem as ours. It would require us to be broken to the point we would surrender to the burden God would place upon our heart to stand before him in the gap and build up the broken walls.
But will we stand up, stand by, stand fast, and stand still before the Lord…or will we simply stand aside, place the blame elsewhere, and complain?