If/Then

We all have our coffee cup, t-shirt verses from the Bible. Jeremiah 29:11, John 3:16, Philippians 1:21, Galatians 2:20, and the list goes on. We often find or hear verses from the Word that sound great, but we forget to look at context.

I love reading coffee mugs in Ross or TJ Max. They have such a crazy variety, so you find some interesting things there. Once I came across a coffee mug that had this verse Luke 4:6

Luke 4:6 NIV

And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.

Sounds real inspiring right? Until you realize that is Satan speaking.

This is one of the few hills I will die on. CONTEXT IS KEY!!

That is why, when we hear a verse like 2 Chron 7:14

2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

we should look at the context of where, when, and to whom God is speaking.

King Solomon was a man of great wisdom. He did many great things for the Lord, including building the temple in Jerusalem. This was his father David’s dream. This temple was a place for humans and God to meet, for God’s people to sacrifice, and to worship God. Once the temple was built, Solomon prayed a dedication prayer:

2 Chronicles 6:20 NLT

May you watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have said you would put your name. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place.

2 Chronicles 6:24–31 NLT

“If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn back and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave to them and to their ancestors. “If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession. “If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns—whatever disaster or disease there is—and if your people Israel pray about their troubles or sorrow, raising their hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. Then they will fear you and walk in your ways as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.

These are parts of the dedication prayer. The whole thing is in 2 Chron 6. After Solomon prays, a flash of light comes from the sky and the Glory of the Lord fills the temple. No one can get close, and the people are filled with awe and praise the LORD. But God doesn’t say anything. In fact, I want you to notice that God did not answer right away. The people celebrated the Festival of Tents for 7 days. After those 7 days, God answered Solomons public prayer in a private dream. A couple observations I want to share with you today.

Solomon didn’t freeze because God did not clearly answer him right away.

Solomon continued on with the last command God had given His people. Party! That is what they did during this time every year.

God had already established an order. His answer to the prayer would not change that.

God answer a public prayer in the secret place

Just because you pray or someone prays in public does not mean God will answer the same way.

There will be times the inverse in true as well Matt 6:6

Matthew 6:6 NLT

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

That’s just for free. Now lets talk about God’s response to Solomon’s prayer. 2 Chron 7:11-16

2 Chronicles 7:11–16 NLT

So Solomon finished the Temple of the Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do in the construction of the Temple and the palace. Then one night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place. For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy—a place where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.

If you look back to what Solomon prayed, God address each request Solomon made of Him. God cares about the details. He loves and responds to specific prayers.

What we also see is that God is not saying everything will be rainbows and unicorns. He specifically says there will be times that He “might” send plagues and drought and famine. Solomon prayed as if God would send these things when God’s people strayed.

We will fall short. There are times that we will not do the right thing. It is inevitable. Days will be evil and corrupt. God assures us of this. He knows the human condition. You are going to mess up and there will be natural consequences.

I think it’s safe to say we live in a time of moral and spiritual decline. This is not new. We feel it, don’t we? The shows we watch, the compromises we make, the rules and laws we try to bend. Our world is not getting better. In fact, it could be argued that it is getting worse. That is why we should have hope. Hope for a revival of our souls.

Since I have come up to Williams I have heard a lot about revival. Revival we see as something that is wide spread and far reaching. What we often forget is that revival is started in us personally before it goes public. A revival has to start with you, not someone else. A small spark can set a whole forest on fire. We know that all too well in Az. So what does this passage of Scripture tell us about personal revival?

Humble yourself-

Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of yourself less.

Acknowledge your sin and acknowledge your need for the Savior Jesus

Recognizing your spiritual poverty and need for God’s mercy

Pray-

Pray without ceasing

Pray from a faithful heart.

Pray trusting and depending on God for help

DON’T STOP!

Seek His face

Pray to fulfill His purpose, not yours

Passionately seek His presence

Not for selfish reasons or to seek escape for hard time or consequences

Turn from your wicked (sin) ways

We must turn from our sin and towards God

This involves confessing and forsaking specific sins and anything that has taken God’s place in your life

But this is an If-Then statement. So if we pray then we have spiritual revival, right? Yes. What does that look like?

God will not be angry. Instead He will hear

God will begin to answer prayer and respond with compassion

God will forgive and cleanse

He will restore His presence, peace, power, favor, and truth among His people

God will heal and refresh His people spiritually

God will pour out the Holy Spirit in order to bring a spiritual awakening among the saved and salvation to those far from Him.

When you read the whole story you start to realize that God is always faithful, and we rarely are. God knows that we will fall, and He welcomes us back with open arms. We see that honesty and humility move the heart of God towards compassion. He knows for a fact that we are going to fall short. Yet He makes a way for us to come back and experience His goodness.

We pray for God to move and He moves.