In 2 Chronicles 7:11-14, the Lord speaks to Solomon after Solomon has completed the Temple and his own house. The Lord identifies Solomon as a praying man as He says, “I have heard your prayer.” Solomon was the king of a very cast land AND he was a man of prayer. He had prayed about the Temple in chapter 6 which is what the Lord references when He speaks of there being no rain, locusts devouring the land, and pestilence among the people. Assuring that the Lord had indeed heard Solomon’s prayer.

The Lord then calls out a very specific group of people “my people, who are called by my name”. That is us. Christians. Those who profess to follow Jesus. The next words in scripture are for us.

We, Christians, are to:
Humble ourselves. We must realize that we don’t rule in this land, we serve. We are under the command and protection of God Almighty. When we realize and accept our place in HIS family and adopt His perspective, this will naturally cause humility in our lives. Humility is not acquiescing or becoming a door mat just to keep the peace. Humility in the Bible is defined as “bridled fury”. It is allowing God to determine when we stand up and fight and when we lovingly hold fast.

Pray. The Lord is not specific in this verse as to how we should pray, although He does offer a very detailed example in the book of Matthew. Here, He simply tells us to pray. Communicate with Him. Take time to talk and then listen. Have a conversation. Real. Honest. This is prayer.

Seek His face. Once we pray, we should expect Him to do something. We need to watch, look, seek, expect. It may not always be obvious to us what He is doing so we need to always be on the look out for what God is doing and be willing to join Him in it. To seek Him means to actively look for Him in what we say, the decisions we make and in our actions and reactions.

Turn from our wicked ways. Some things we do we know are obviously wicked, or we know are “wrong”. To God, they are the same thing. We may not think the “wrong” things we do are all that bad compared to the world, but to God they are wicked. Sometimes the things we do are so “ok” with the world that we amy not even realize He would see them as wicked. It won’t be until we do what He’s already told us to do, (humble ourselves, pray, seek His face) that we will see our fault. If we trust Him to show us our wicked ways, we can trust Him to help us turn from them.

So what is the pay off for doing these things? He says to Solomon, “then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

It is no secret we need forgiveness and our land certainly needs healing. He has given us the answer. The hard part for us as Christians is that we can’t blame the lost for chaos in our country. Lost people act lost. God has given His people who are called by His name, the key.

The question is, will we do it?
11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:11-14English Standard Version (ESV)