Please click on the link below to view a very nice presentation of the Lord's Prayer, along with our need to humble ourselves, pray, repent and seek the face of the Lord.

 ^12-18 God appeared to Solomon that very night and said, "I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship. If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health. From now on I'm alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. Believe me, I've chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I've set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I'll back your kingly rule over Israel—make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I'm giving to you, namely, 'You can count on always having a descendant on Israel's throne.'

It’s nice.  It’s pretty.  It can almost be moving.

It’s also total deception, my friend…  And the deception is so very close to the truth that almost everyone misses what is truly the truth.

For as long as I have been a Christian, I have heard people misusing this verse from 2 Chronicles 7:14

I am deeply saddened to see it used this way, yet again.  I can only tell you the truth, no less.  But I am forced to speak and have no choice.

The deception is that prayer is going to change anything.

Only prayer in right relationship with Jesus changes anything.

Notice what he says in the verse “shall humble themselves”.

            Truthfully, do you know any Christians in any church anywhere that are willing to humble themselves?

Then it says “seek my face”.

            Do you know any Christians that seek God’s face?  I mean truly seek His face, not just mouth the words.

Then it says “and turn from their wicked ways”.

            Do you know of any Christians who are willing to turn from their wicked ways?

            Do you even know any Christians that have any remote idea of what that truly means?

For me personally, if I answer those 4 questions truthfully, then my answer has to be a resounding NO.

 “Turning from their wicked ways” is the hard part because most people in churches, including my church, hold on to the wicked ways like white on rice.  Most people just want to blend in and be anonymous and synonymous.  Anonymous to Jesus and synonymous with the world.

I hate to say it but it is the truth. I know people who love to witness and share the Gospel and teach and preach about Jesus.

But still holding on to the world…

Letting go of the world is so easy to figure out how but because of peer pressure it is so hard.  All one has to do is ask the Holy Spirit the question, during every change of course over each day “Would Jesus be doing what I am doing right now?”  Would Jesus be doing the things I am involved in doing on the same minute to minute basis that I am doing right now?  Would Jesus take any part in the things that I let into my mind and into my house?

The Holy Spirit is always there to provide those answers but the difficult truth is that almost nobody is asking those questions and then following the Spirit no matter what the costs…  No matter what has to be given up and sacrificed, no matter what has to die each day…

Lastly, the other problem with 2 Chronicles 7:14 is that almost no one reads the preceding verses and context or the post ceding verses.

Why?  Because they are not the “in thing” and popular…

^{2 Chronicles 7:19-22}  "But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them, then the guarantee is off: I'll wipe Israel right off the map and repudiate this Temple I've just sanctified to honor my Name. And Israel will be nothing but a bad joke among the peoples of the world. And this Temple, splendid as it now is, will become an object of contempt; tourists will shake their heads, saying, 'What happened here? What's the story behind these ruins?' Then they'll be told, 'The people who used to live here betrayed their God, the very God who rescued their ancestors from Egypt; they took up with alien gods, worshiping and serving them. That's what's behind this God-visited devastation.'"

In our country, nobody has time for the preceding verses and certainly are not interested in the consequences that follow if the Lord’s commandments are not kept.

ARE YOU STILL COUNTING THE COSTS OF FOLLOWING JESUS?
Don't Keep Counting STOP!- Turn - Repent and Follow Him!

Matthew 16:24-28 (New International Version)

 ²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

   ²⁸ “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

 ¹⁶ Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

   ¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

 ¹⁸ “Which ones?” he inquired.

   Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 ²⁰ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

 ²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

 ²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

 ²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

 ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

 ²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

 ²⁷ Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

 ²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

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