Humble Yourself

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.”  2 Chronicles 7:14-15

You don’t have to look far to see that our world is hurting right now. From natural disasters to mental health issues, from diseases to political uproars, from gender confusion to sex slavery, from persecution to you name it. It appears to be everywhere. 

It’s not supposed to be that way! We can look to God’s promise to Solomon and the Israelites and work on our hearts to start the change around us. 

We first got to humble ourselves, completely coming before Jesus in awe and reference no matter what people might think. We got to open His Word and do what it says in all areas of our lives. Our focus needs to shift back to God. When we are up on the hill it’s not about how I can have the best run but how to involve others and bless others along the way. At SFC Vail Valley we approach this with “Jesus” cookies and the smiles in return are oh so worth it.

We cannot neglect the power of prayer. God’s wants to hear from his children all the time. “Pray continually” (2 Thes. 5:17). It’s how we build relationship with Him. Look at it as talking with a friend. To know them, you have to talk to them. To know God, you have to talk to Him.

Seek His face by actively listening to God and getting to know Him by reading His Word and through prayer. Make an effort to understand what He is trying to say and then act on it. Seek Him above all else (Mt. 6:33).

Lastly, turn from you wicked ways, asked God for forgiveness and make a 180 degree turn away from sin and into His arms. We’ve all been on the hill close to a ski boundary. If we decide to cross, we know we can get our pass pulled if getting caught, we know avy danger is higher, we know we are not supposed to, but the powder can be so enticing. We have to make a choice: either go for it and except any consequences, or stay in bounds. We ride along the rope for a bit and get more and more tempted to just go for it. God gives us boundaries too. We have to choose where we want to be, 100% in the world barely communing with God, near the line testing to see how far we can go, or 100% on God’s side daily looking to Him for strength and as far away from temptation as possible. What do you choose?

So many blessings come from being in tune with God. We will hear from Heaven as God will be pleased listening to our prayers, God will forgive our sins for He is a merciful God, and He will heal our land as we will be spiritually effective in our communities, our nation and ultimately our world.