2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
We have heard this verse quoted time and time again. It is appears on banners. It forms the lyrics of songs. Ministries us it as their motto. We know of places scattered about the planet where it has actually been fulfilled on a small scale. But this promise, great and wonderful as it is, remains generally unfulfilled. And why not should be plain enough, we have not met the conditions God has set forth for this to happen.
Using The Whole Counsel Of God.
There is a way some speakers or writers play around with misquoting the bible to get people’s attention or to make a strong point. It works like this. You take a familiar verse from scripture and change is a little to mean something different. Then you ask: Is That what the Bible says? NO! Then you take and quote it correctly.
Here are a couple examples:
James 4:7 Submit yourselves under your pastor’s covering. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Is That what the Bible says? NO! Here is what it says:
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Or try this one.
Ephesians 4:11-12
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 to do the work of the ministry
Is That what the Bible says? NO! Here is what it says:
Ephesians 4:11-12
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Here’s another:
Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for thou hast employed the time tested literal method of interpretation.
Is That what the Bible says? NO! Here is what it says:
Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
One more example:
Galatians 5:18 But if ye be a faithful church member, ye are not under the law.
Is That what the Bible says? NO! Here is what it says:
Galatians 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now try this one:
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray for Obama, then I will change his heart, and things will go back to normal.
Is That what the Bible says? NO! Here is what it says:
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Now we are going down a side trail, that will lead us back to the theme, If My People.
Here is a short excerpt from a excellent article from Hannah Weiss.
G-d's Ultimate War Objective
Hannah Weiss
G-d's War on the Israel-America "friendship"
What I saw [in a vision] was a big piece of cloth, which was a kind of map. The western half was the United States, the eastern half was Israel. There was a rip beginning at the top, and the two halves were coming apart. There were no hands visible - it was G-d who was ripping them apart. But on both sides of the map were tiny people running back and forth, trying to stop the ripping. It was a slow process, but they could no more stop it than ants could stop one of us from tearing a napkin.
The Lord then said, "I am tearing Israel away from America. The US is moving away from Me into darkness, and I will NOT let her take Israel, My inheritance, along with her. Israel is staying here with Me." He said it in a tone of jealousy and possessiveness. He then said that the horrible string of terror attacks was a necessary part of the tearing process: America would not lift a finger to stop them; eventually Israel would see the falseness of such an "ally" and would stop fighting His plan to separate them.
Fullness of Iniquity
The Fullness of Iniquity is a concept relating to God’s judgments being held back, for he is slow to anger. But there comes a point where the sins of a people reach a fullness or tipping point; a point of no return. When this is reached, judgment falls. Here are a couple clues to this idea.
Genesis 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Matthew 23:32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
There are three major issues in which America, and others have been walking a thin line, just short of the full measure of iniquity that it would take to bring down God’s severe judgments. They are abortion, homosexuality, and support of Israel. In Hannah’s word the Lord is saying the US is moving away from Me into darkness. I believe this is to say that the US and others, are about to step over the line and fill the cup of her sins. And this will be on all three major issues in very short order.
[This is the darkness spoken of in Isaiah 60. But when this darkness takes hold, his glory shall rest on his people.
Isaiah 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.]
A Look At The Long View
I believe there are two long range goals God has in mind for gentile nations before his final dealings with Israel.
First, for America and anyone else with the desire and ability to help Israel. Their power must be reduced to the point where they are simply unable to give Israel any support at all. This is a fixed minimum amount.
Second, for America and any other nation with a covenant relationship to the Lord. They must be judged and shaken to the point of repentance; the point where the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 comes to pass. Then the Lord will heal that land and fight against their enemies. This is a variable amount. It depends on the prayers of the saints.
After This Manner Therefore Pray
Here is a short word from Glenn Jackson. I see it as another way of expressing a great truth from the word. Whatever is not of faith is sin.
Romans 14:23 … whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Exhortations From The Father
Glenn H. Jackson
January 23rd 2009
"Everything" in My Kingdom [relationships - beginning with one's relationship with Me, positioning and, indeed, ALL things said and done] must be built on the foundation [rock] of revelation knowledge [Matthew 7:21-27]. For to approach ANY situation or circumstance in one's own understanding [the mind of the flesh] instead of in the mind of Christ [1 Corinthians 2:16] surely means that one is unrighteously motivated and, thus, ALL that they say and do [regardless of how "good" it may appear or sound] is apart from Christ [John 15:5].
The Cry For Mercy Must Come First
Recently I have written a couple things about praying for Obama. There I came against legalistic prayers, and hypocritical prayers. These kinds of prayers are ‘not of faith’ others are. I still maintain that the cry for mercy needs to be louder than the cry for change.
Since then we have posted at least three major articles detailing how to pray, including praying for Obama. Like a shopping list, you add things to it as you go along.
Now if someone has a specific word or direction from the Lord to pray that way, then that is their assignment. If you take up someone else’s assignment and imitate their prayers, it’s not of faith. If you have a divine leading to pray in some other vein, then that is your assignment.
If you have no leading whatever on now to pray, pray in the spirit or enter into worship. Besides that the bible does give us a guideline on how to pray and what should take priority. [Priority and prioritize are words relating to what should come first, or what should come before something else.]
Now let’s take a look at how Jesus taught his followers to pray.
Matthew 6:9-13
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Here it’s pretty plain that “forgive us our debts” i.e. cry for mercy, should come before praying for Obama “deliver us from evil”. What we need today are apostolic leaders who will pray this way after the examples in Ezra 9, Daniel 9, and Nehemiah 1.
Nehemiah 1:6-9
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
Also see 1 John.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Joel 2:12-13
12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.