II Chronicles 7:14

I've received many emails over the past few months and even more over the past few weeks concerning the upcoming elections. The emails call Christians to pray, which is a very good idea. They also quote II Chronicles 7:14 as a promise that if we pray maybe the elections will go our way.

"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 I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land."

It is a beautiful promise, but it also has specific things for us to follow in order to receive. We can receive God's ear to hear our requests, He will forgive us of our sins, and He will heal our land.
To receive these marvelous gifts we must be called by His name, humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. OUCH! That is much harder for us to do.

We must humble ourselves by knowing who we are and who God is. Instead of seeking after money, possesions, leisure, food, etc we must seek His face! We must each examine ourselves in light of who Jesus is and then remove the attitudes and actions that do not line up with Him! OUCH again! Now it doesn't seem so easy does it? There will be many Christians who will pray but not do the rest. They may just pray that their favorite candidate would win. There are profession Christians on either side so which side will God choose, or does He choose? Maybe this is an area He leaves up to us. Giving us freedom to decide who will be the one to rule and reign in our hearts. In that light maybe we deserve what we get.

I, myself, have chosen to let Jesus reign in my heart. I care about our country but whatever happens God alone is in charge of my life and destiny.

Here is my prayer for our country. Please consider this for yourself and pass it on so others will be wakened to the entire truth of this verse!

Lord God, Almighty Sovereign, our King, we need You. You have spoken these words to us so we might know how to reach You in times like these. Awaken our spirits to hear and obey You fully! We seek You and Your mercy on us! We want to humble ourselves as Jesus did, (Phil. 2:1-11).We have allowed wicked ways to creep into our lives. Reveal them to us so we can turn away from them and come back to the place You desire for us. We know that all You demand is good. All You are is good. Do not allow the enemy to deceive us. May Your promise be fulfilled as we do Your will! We lift up the name of Jesus, Your Son, in which we are united through faith.