“Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: ‘I have heard your prayer [2 Chronicles 6:12-42], and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will 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 7:12-14.

The above appearance by God to Solomon comes after the dedication of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.

Christians claim, and rightfully so, the last verse in the passage above, 2 Chronicles 7:14, however this is not all.

“…if My people who are called by My name will 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 7:14.

But Christians may not realize that there are conditions to be met to have these prayers answered.

We are required to humble ourselves. The dictionary defines humble as: lowly; modest; meek; submissive; opposite of proud, haughty, arrogant or assuming; the latter definitions being characteristic of the “woke” generation.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:10.

“Whatever may your virtues be, oh cultivate humility; be unobtrusive, meek, retired; seek to be useful, not admired.” Author unknown.

We are to pray, these are serious petitions to God, not just quick ones lifted up to God. Quick prayers are good in situations where you need immediate answers or assistance.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

Try to get into the habit of praying without ceasing; Lord protect me while driving, give me wisdom while shopping, and at work, protect me from…

Whenever praying pray for your loved ones, never assume that they will be okay; never assume that God will just do what He wants to do. God loves to listen to our prayers and He hears and answers prayer. So test these things out pray, pray for your loved ones, for their health, their wellbeing, their safety, whatever comes to mind, pray.

And always, always give thanks in Jesus’ name for the things God has done. The giving of thanks is important and a good part of what this post is about.

“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16b.

We are to seek God’s face which means that we have to turn from our wicked ways. When evil comes like a flood it means we have become enamored with evil things.

It is alright to enjoy things like our car, home, job, or picnics and vacations. God has indeed given us all things to richly enjoy.

But when they become an idol to us like making money, or golf, baseball, football, or anything that captures our imagination. These innocent enjoyable things become idols when they displace God in our lives.

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” 1 John 5:21.

“God gave us people to love and things to use; instead we use people and love things.” Author unknown.

When we turn from these things which pollute us and have become wicked ways we are to turn to God and seek His face.

When the above wicked ways were listed, far more destructive ones were not, such as adultery, lying, theft, sowing discord among the brethren and the list goes on.

Question, why would America need to humble ourselves, pray, seek God and turn from our wicked ways? The answer comes from the verse before verse 14 in; 2 Chronicles 7:13 below.

“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people…” 2 Chronicles 7:13.

Would God really do the above to American Christians? Are the Christians of this nation really wicked enough to deserve God’s wrath, are the Christians of other nations this wicked?

“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain…” this country has endured record heat, flash flooding over the summer and in the fall hurricanes. Many people all over the world have suffered loss and lost their lives from the flash flooding alone.

Even now in the winter (12-21-22) America is about to receive a deadly arctic blast over most of the nation.

“…or command the locusts to devour the land…” one commentator said that this could be locusts or it could be symbolic of an army invading the land.

Is it possible that our own government is a plague of locusts who are stripping this land of its Constitutional rights.

Calling Christians and families terrorists, aborting, perverting and mutilating our children, misusing hard earned tax money, cutting off our own abundant oil supply, ruining food supply chains, disrupting farming, trucking and ignoring the destruction of food processing plants.

There is too much for an exhaustive list. Things that should not be such as giving a reputed 100 billion dollars to the Ukraine, and high grade missiles to kill Russians in a war we have no business meddling in.

These locusts are only adding to the slaughter of human beings!

“…or send pestilence among My people…” diseases, plague, or malignant contagious disease. Does anything come to mind when considering this?

Covid-19 is a flu created through gain of function, it has a survival rate of 99.98%, yet governments completely shut down nations and forced everyone to wear masks which have no function and mandated many to take a vaccine which technically is not a vaccine and is now being tied to thousands of deaths (vaccine deaths are beginning to be reported in conservative news outlets).

Is this all merely coincidence or is God telling Christians they have fallen away from Him and indulged far too much in their wicked ways?

Too many Christians think of God as Santa God. No, our Father in heaven is just and fair and disciplines us to fit us for citizenship in heaven.

Christians are predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. God wants to look in our eyes and see Jesus, see Romans 8:29.

Still there are many godly Christians who are praying humbly and righteously for the rescue of this nation, and yet things are still grinding to a halt. Are Christians missing something?

Quite likely the answer is in Psalm 103:1-5.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103:1-5.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul…”

“…and forget not all His benefits”, this is the key to the reason for all this nation’s woes! The above admonition must not be taken apart from our opening verse, 2 Chronicles 7:14.

At first when you read, “…and forget not all His benefits”, it sounds as if it means, forget not all the benefits we receive from Him, as if it meant not to forget all the things God can do for us.

This is not correct, “…forget not all His benefits” means that we are not to forget all the good things God has done for us, and give Him credit, then it goes on to list the things that the believer (Christian) should not forget in verses 3 to 5.

But first let us examine what happens when we fail to give credit where credit is due.

Hezekiah was one of the godliest kings in Israel’s history. Yet the Assyrians came to Jerusalem to conquer her (see Isaiah 37 and 2 Chronicles 32) Hezekiah sought the mercy of God on Jerusalem.

God rescued them by sending an angel to kill 185,000 of their men of valor, whereupon the Assyrians returned to their own land in shame.

Hezekiah’s fame spread throughout all the nations and he was given riches and great honor; however:

“But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him [by God]; for his heart was lifted up [he became proud]: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.” 2 Chronicles 32:25 KJV.

Hezekiah neglected to give God benefit, credit for the great things He did for the nation. Apparently the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem failed to give God the glory too for there was wrath upon them also.

So, how does one rectify such a dilemma?

“Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.” 2 Chronicles 32:26.

So, is God a glory hog because He wants credit for the things He does? Think carefully, when has God ever been credited with anything at all, anything?

A Big Bang created the cosmos when nothing existed, Mother Nature brings us perfect summer weather, gentle rains, and bountiful crops and when drought and blizzards come She is angry, but, who can blame her.

And when governments are filled with treasonous, greedy people, well that’s politics for you. We must not as Christians become politicians there is nothing that can be done about it; ad nauseum.

How do you feel when you work hard on a project and your supervisor takes credit for its success? Are you a glory hog?

How do you feel when you work to exhaustion on a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal and no one thanks you for your loving kindness? Are you a glory hog?

How do you feel when you work all your life to care for, to feed and clothe your children in a warm home and no one recognizes what you have done for them? Are you a glory hog?

Worldwide God is either hated or debated whether He even exists, even God’s name is used in the filthiest profane manner. Do other gods get the same profane use of their names?

Is God a glory hog because He desires His Christian children to recognize and thank Him for the benefits they have received?

Now, what are those benefits we have received, I repeat, received from God?

“…forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103:2b-5.

“Who forgives all your iniquities…”
“…who heals all your diseases…”
“…who redeems your life from destruction…”
“…who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies…”
“… who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Six things that the Christian should remember and confess:

Iniquities are defined in the dictionary as: injustice, unrighteousness, deviation from moral uprightness.

How often have we unjustly accused someone of wrongdoing without knowing the truth? Remember, we can accuse with our mouths or in our hearts.

Unrighteousness is taught to us from childhood and it comes out either in the heart or the actions of the Christian; things done or imagined, adulteries, lying, murders, thefts etc.

We are to confess our sins, but, how often have we given thanks to God for His mercies in forgiving our sins, consider these things and thank God for His benefits.

Our diseases, how many of us have not had the flu called Covid-19, or had it with no lasting effects? Or one of the numerous other forgotten diseases; regular seasonal flu, tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, pneumonia, malaria, meningitis, measles or rabies, all dangerous, all can kill.

Consider, has God raised you out of your death bed, kept you from disease getting worse, kept you safely through a season of virulent disease, have you thanked Him for these benefits? Have you told your friends?

“…[God] who redeems your life from destruction”, how many of us have been rescued from a life of crime, rescued from being murdered, rescued from prostitution, rescued from pedophiles, rescued from an abusive family or environment, or rescued from a broken heart and loneliness?

The ultimate meaning of redeeming your life from destruction comes when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior from an eternity in the lake of fire.

Have you considered the amazingly huge number of things God has done for you in your salvation alone, yes, and the innumerable times He has rescued you from disasters and destructions? Consider these carefully and praise God for His benefits.

“…who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies”, lovingkindness is lovingly, affectionate, too few people realize that God feels this way about us.

Mercies, according to the dictionary are mildness or tenderness of heart, willing to overlook injuries or treat an offender better than they deserve.

Have you considered the lovingkindness and tender mercies God has lavished on you? Have you praised God for these benefits He has, from His heart, freely given to you?

“… who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” today we live in a human wrecking yard.

Walk around downtown if you are near a fairly large city, people in their 60’s on walkers, urine smell in the alleyways, if you are lucky you can watch them defecate on the sidewalk.

Drug addled people talking to a dumpster, beggars, prostitutes, street hustlers, and the poor down and outers, ah, the glories of sin run rampant overseen by a corrupt government.

“And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified [set apart to God], but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11.

God has set us free in Christ from so many things and as He brings us out of these terrible environments He feeds us with His word helping us, sometimes slowly, to bring us into a place of beauty and rest.

Where were you when Jesus set you free? Has He not only freed you and given back all your lost years but also literally fed you and cared for you all these days or years? Consider these benefits and speak of them whenever possible.

God has saved me from hell; fed me every day of my life, saved me from being fired, saved me from appendicitis, serious accidents at home and serious accidents on the road.

Once while waiting at a ramp light a station wagon turned sideways to keep from hitting me, once a pickup truck lost a wheel and pinned my car between a guardrail and the truck, I was able to drive home. Once when sitting in traffic on my motorcycle a man jumped out of a car and headed toward me, he hesitated and got back into the car, they actually followed me for a while until I lost them in traffic.

God has not given me the punishment due my iniquities; He has healed my diseases, and protected me from destruction, both in salvation and real incidents. I can feel God’s lovingkindness and am comforted with His tender mercies when I thank Him for them.

God will feed the faint heart whenever they call on Him in faith.

Please consider both these passages 2 Chronicle 7:12-14 and Psalm 103:1-5 carefully. God wants to see these attitudes in us if we want to see our prayers for our country answered.

Benefits taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 12-26-22.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.