“God is calling his children back to the place of prayer. God’s desire has always been to reveal himself in the fullness of His character, His nature, and His attributes to His children. From the inception of creation, man’s entire purpose was to have fellowship with and to be intimately acquainted with God.”

“Let’s do some biblical exploration. 2 Chronicles 7:14, ‘If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’ This is God’s call of the hour to the church!”

“What is God actually saying to the church through this particular verse? Let’s listen to the voice of God exactly as King Solomon heard Him. `If’ is a small word with a Big meaning! Whenever we see the word `if’ when dealing with the promises of God, it means that the promise is contingent or conditional. Usually the promise is contingent upon our act or acts of obedience. `My’ usually speaks of something that is personal or belongs to me. So by looking at the first three words of this verse, we can already see that God is speaking to a unique group of people; those with whom he is personal or that belong to Him. The next part of this verse gives us a look at where God is desirous of taking us (that is those of us that do have or are desirous of having a personal relationship with him) in regards to our relationship with him. God is actually desirous of bringing us from being personal property of His to being His sons. When we become His sons, we come to the understanding of who we are in God. We realize that as His sons, we have complete authority in His name. Everything that the name of God consists of and everything that belongs to that name has now been made accessible to us.”

“Just as the first part of this verse revealed who God was talking to, the next part of the verse tells us exactly what acts of obedience must be followed or completed in order to receive the promises of God. `Shall humble themselves’ is the first act of obedience that God demands of those that would be His sons or His `church’. God is saying that the attitude and outlook of the church must change in order to receive His best. The church as a whole is not walking in its place of authority or dominion because of its overall attitude towards God. The church has lost its reverential fear of God. In its place we have the spirit of pride, arrogance, greed or just general indifference. God is not pleased with this type of attitude in and amongst his people. God is calling forth those of His sons that will walk before Him in an attitude of humility and humbleness, that will reverence His name, and see Him as sovereign king in all His majestic glory and splendor. Our attitude must change if we desire to be rightly related to God and to walk pleasing in His sight.”

“`And pray’ is the next act of obedience that God requires of His children. `And’ is a connective conjunction, so God is saying is that the first step is not complete without the second. Prayer can be defined in many ways. Probably one of the simplest ways to define prayer is as ‘general conversation with God.’ We simply need to spend more time talking with God. Notice that I said ‘with’ and not ‘to’. The reason for this is that prayer is dialogue and not monologue. God is strongly desirous of relationship with His children. Relationship means that there is interaction between two or more parties. `And seek my face’ shows us how God is intending to elevate his children to another level of relationship. As in any relationship, when you first meet someone and you strike up a general conversation, you are still strangers, then as you begin to spend more time talking with one another you become casual acquaintances, and then as you begin to spend more and more time together, talking and sharing together, you reveal more and more about yourself to this particular individual because you have now become comfortable with this individual and the two of you have become intimate friends. God was speaking to Solomon on a level he could understand. In the mindset of a Jew, of which Solomon was, the seeking of a man’s face always denoted or signified an intimate relationship. The bible stated in the book of Exodus that, ‘God spoke to Moses face to face as a man talks to his friend.’ In face to face communication with an individual, you literally become one. You begin to understand their thought patterns, their emotions, and even their desires. God desires to reveal Himself in such a manner to His children, but we must change our attitudes, begin to spend more time with God to get truly acquainted with Him, and then to have an overwhelming desire to become intimately acquainted with His nature, His character, and His attributes. The fourth and final act of obedience in this particular verse says `and turn from their wicked ways’. God was saying to His church that it was not following the path that He had chosen for it to walk in. God is saying the same thing to the church today. The church is out of position. The main reason is that there is not enough prayer going forth to seek the heart and mind of God, especially in our so called sanctuaries. Instead of prayer being our primary focus, it has pretty much been relegated to a place of non-essentiality or as a need arises basis. This is neither its primary function or purpose. The church must turn aside from going its own way and turn back to the ways of God. It is essential not only for the spiritual well being of the church itself, but also for the salvation of the world. We must walk in obedience in order to receive the promises of God!”

“The last part of this verse reveals to us the promises of God in response to our acts of obedience. `Then will I hear from heaven’, tells us God is aware of what’s going on in our lives, and also how we perceive Him. As we recognize His sovereignty and act as obedient sons, His ears are open to our cries. `And will forgive their sins’, implies that God is always ready and willing to restore us to our place of sonship. We must first come to the place where we ourselves recognize that we are walking in the place of disobedience, which is sin, arise and come back to God, who is waiting with open arms, and receive our restoration. `And will heal their land’ signifies complete restoration. Whatever your situation or circumstance, if you just come to the realization that you are important to God and that He desires to relate with you through prayer, and that He also desires for you to walk into sonship through your own obedience, you will truly realize that you are more than a conqueror through Him that loves you! GOD BLESS YOU!”