Bobby Alger from Winchester Va, along with four other congregations in the area, just finished a 21 day, Divine experiment, using II Chronicles 7:14 as their blueprint. You can read his short article at www.doveusa.org under recent happenings. I spoke with him Friday afternoon and he shared with me that it was a phenomenal experience, to say the least, but as I read his short article this morning, before I posted it, the beginning phrase of verse 14 struck me hard, “If my people..”.
I wonder how often those three words have been repeated in heaven over the centuries, “If my people…”Or more importantly, how often are they being repeated today, “If my people…” or maybe even a more personal question to ask is, I wonder how often the Lord says, “If Ron would….. then I would…..”(Feel free to insert your own name here) The Lord gives us clear instructions on what we, God’s people, are to do; humble ourselves, seek His face, and turn from anything that is not pleasing Him in our lives. Pretty clear, pretty simple, pretty straightforward. Kind of hard to misinterpret that.
This is a direct quote from the Lord when He appeared to Solomon and speaks about what He wants to do when things are messed up here on earth, but it is conditional on “His People” doing what they need to do. Sometimes I think we may have our prayer sequence messed up. We are crying out for the Lord to do something when we should be asking the Lord, “What is it that You want me to do first, that will give You the freedom to do what You really wanted to do in the first place?”
So, I encourage you to take your request before the Lord and pray with all your heart. But make sure that you are listening intently, because His first response may be that there is something you will need to do first before He can truly answer it.
D.O.V.E.