God’s Revival Plan

II 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 sins and will heal heir lands.”

“If my people, which are called by my name…”

The word church comes from the Greek work “Ekklesia” meaning “to call out.” It does not refer to the building but rather to the flesh and blood members who have covenanted themselves with God and each other. If we are to be God’s people, The Church of God must rise to meet God’s Standards, not God lower to meet ours. We are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9). God has ordained us to be the called out ones. We can no longer strive, as the Children of Israel did, to be what this world would have us to be. We must strive to be what God would have us to be.

“Shall humble themselves…”

1 Peter 5:6 says “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” Pride cometh before the fall. If we think that we are to stand on our owns, we had better take heed lest we fall. I’m reminded of the story of the Pharisee and the Publican. The Pharisee was more concerned about talking big saying he didn’t want to be like the Publican. The Publican was worried with being found worthy in God’s eyes. He said “Be merciful to me a sinner. Charles Spurgeon tells of a young minister you was just starting in the ministry. The young man was asked to give the sermon one service and he thought he was ready for it. He had studied and got together what he felt was the best message ever. After stepping behind the pulpit, he lost everything in his mind and completely goofed the message. After being humiliated in front of everyone, he came to Spurgeon for advice. Spurgeon told the young lad that if he had went up like he came down then he would have came down like he went up. Being humble before God is a requirement if we are to be like Christ. We are nothing on our own because as Paul says, our righteousness is as filthy rags.

“And Pray…”

Prayer is our communication with God. We are to pray without ceasing. Without prayer, we can do nothing because if we aren’t praying, we don’t have the favor of God. Without the favor of God, we are just spinning our wheels. And when we pray, we should have the faith enough to expect God to answer our prayers.

“And Seek my Face…”

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33)”

God is a jealous God and if we put anything before Him, His favor will not be with us. Now this can mean anything ranging from our school or work to our television or video games. God must come first and foremost in our lives because without Him, we are nothing and can do nothing.

Paul, one of the greatest men in the bible, the first missionary sent to preach to Gospel to the Gentiles, went through a lot of hardships. He was beaten, stoned, and even thrown into the deepest, darkest jail cell because of the Gospel. However, through it all, he never complained nor did he curse God. He said in Philippians 3:8 “… for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” Our goal should be to win Christ and be able to spend eternity with Him.

“And turn form their wicked ways…”

When we took the covenant to join the church, we said that we would walk in the light to the best of our knowledge and ability. That means that when God shows us something that we shouldn’t be doing, we are to turn from it and never look back. The bible tells us to abstain from the very appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). However, we are not yet perfect and if we do happen to partake of something unbecoming to a Christian, God will tell us and we should turn from it immediately. We have the Holy Ghost to lead, guide, and direct us into all truth (John 16:13). This is what it means to turn from our wicked ways. When we receive victory over something, don’t go back and do it again. We should learn from our mistakes.

“Then will I hear from Heaven…”

God will not conform to our will; we are to conform to his. And when he says to do something, we are to do it. Until we do that which He has commanded us to do, He will not hear us. We can’t say “If God will do this I will do that.” Instead we do what God says, and then He will reward us abundantly. God will keep his promises if we keep ours.

“And will forgive their sin…”

Forgiveness of sin is the very foundation of Christianity. When we seek God and ask Him to forgive us, He is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9). When our sins are forgiven, we can start on the road to God.

“And will heal their land.”

When we have done all that we have been asked to do, we can sit back and be rest assured that God will do His part. Yet, we wonder why we don’t see God moving like He once did. Why we’re not seeing the great soul winning revivals we used to see. Is it because God has changed? No!! God said that he was the same yesterday, today, and forever more (Heb 13:8). We are the ones who have changed. We must get back to the way of Holiness. The bible says to “ask for the old paths” (Jeremiah 6:16). There’s an old saying; “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” I can say without a shadow of doubt in my mind that God’s ways are not broke. God’s way of doing things is not wrong. His ways are above our ways and his ideas are far better than ours. And if we can put our full trust and confidence in Him, we will see great things happen.