Jack Hayford
continued his instruction in the July section of Moments with Majesty (see
last week’s post) with instruction
regarding praying for our country. 2
Chronicles 7:14 has become the Christian’s motto during this pandemic, racial
tension and economic chaos. I, along
with many others, have been guilty of spouting this verse and leaning heavily
on “heal our land”. We Christians are
very good at remembering the promise of God, without much thought on the
conditions placed on those promises. In 2
Chronicles 7:14, we lean heavily on verse 14b.
However, 2
Chronicles 7:14 clearly gives us some requirements before God can heal our
land. He even starts the verse with “IF”
meaning it’s not happening unless. . . “IF
MY people, who are called by my name.”
this is not addressed to anyone outside the church. Christians are the people who need to “humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.” God thinks His people are proud and have
wicked ways. YIKES!
It doesn’t take a Bible scholar to see the
answer to our country’s difficulties, Confession of our sins and
Repentance. The Hebrew says we need to
bend the knee, search out God and stop being so evil.
Few of us consider
ourselves “evil”. During my years of
teaching in a school where 89% of families did not speak English, I had a
precious little guy who constantly used the word “evil” in regards to other
students and me. I was “evil” for giving
homework, “evil” for a pop quiz. The kids were “evil” if they beat him at a
game or chose the center he wanted. It
really bothered me. One morning I spent
a half hour on the word “evil”. We did a
lexicon, we looked up the meaning in several texts, discussion groups were
formed. Finally, in triumph, I asked if
anyone could name someone who was truly evil. These were kids from Mexico and it took less
than a second for a chorus of “El Chapo” to ring out. Okay. But, in comparison, I could easily rest on my
laurels, for I am not evil like El Chapo.
And that’s what
happens. We start to compare our evil to
another’s evil and we become proud. That
pride leads to a multitude of sins that hinder our power in prayer. That’s what has happened to our country, to
our churches. We are not evil like ________
fill in the blank.
So today, I’m praying
though the references from Hayford’s book and thinkin’ that I am need of repentance.
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