Well, my son passed his CDL license skills test yesterday and my granddaughter passed the written exam portion of her license test Monday.  Look out world, here they come!

2 Chronicles 7:13-15 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

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.

¹⁵ Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

Our nation is suffering.  We have droughts, fires, torrential rain, and other ‘natural’ disasters that are taking people’s lives and destroying their homes.

Is this a call from God to turn back to Him?  I don’t know; but He has used such means to bring people to their knees and once again turn their eyes on Him.

Our nation is running amuck.  We have senseless violence happening all around us.  Our youth is looking at our adults and acting out as they see them act out – violence being the answer instead of discussion.  No debate, just destroy.

We see the nation usurping the role of the church and telling the Pastors what they can and cannot say from their pulpit.  Indeed anyone that disagrees with the status quo is deemed a ‘hater’ and must be punished.  Don’t ask them why, just attack and destroy because their disagreement is causing dissention and making people feel bad.

Babies are being killed and divided up and their parts sold, yet, far too many condone the behavior and lift up the rights to do so.

The citizens and the government are being attacked in electronic warfare.  Our enemies are embolden and are placing their implements of war at our very borders.  Threats are being made by governments against our nation, and the governments have a means to carry them out. 

We have a rogue element in the middle-east that claims their right to kill is sanctioned by the Quran and that all that don’t believe as they do shall be irradiated.  We are placing Israel in an untenable situation, just as the prophets told us would happen and the result will be disastrous if we do not change our ways.

Where are we going with all this?  How far must we fall before God says, I have warned you enough, now the time has come to reclaim my earth and destroy those in opposition to my Word and my Son.

The above verses came from God’s conversation with Solomon directed at the people of Israel; God’s people called by His Name.

Because Christians have accepted His Son and bear His name, we too are God’s people called by His Name and it is time we get serious about our prayers.

None of us are perfect, we have many flaws that interfere with our work for God.  Doesn’t matter.

We must take care of our families, provide for their care and well-being.  Doesn’t matter.

I am but one person, what can I do to make any difference in what is going on in this world?  Doesn’t matter.

Government is making it more and more difficult to live for Christ, witness to others and proclaim His Word.  Doesn’t matter.

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 need to acknowledge that we do not have the answers, we are not in charge – only God is and while He may allow these things to occur and the results may be disastrous for us, He is in charge, not us.  We may want to ‘do,’ be active, we want to fix by our actions, but only God can do that.

We need to bow down before Him, in all humility; we need to seek Him out and pay attention to His Word and His Holy Spirit as He talks to us.

We, as Christians, must understand that we are sinners and, in part, what is happening in our nation is also our responsibility because we have refused to surrender ourselves to Him and instead cling to those things that separate us from Him.

Mathew 6:5-7  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

These verses are not a condemnation of corporate prayer, of leaders leading in prayer – it is a call for us to pray beyond these times, to seek God as an individual speaking one on one with Him.

For years I thought prayer was a fixed thing.  Others wrote the words and we recited them.  Then I learned that prayer is an open communication with God; an honest relationship where we can discuss our fears, our anger, our passions, our happiness in plain language to Him.

But prayer takes time, alone with Him.  He is quite clear that He demands it – and He is also quite clear that those conversations with Him shall bear fruit. 

We start with that individual prayer with Him, but we also need to agree with others that our nation may be lifted up and the disasters that are imminent without acknowledging God’s rightful place in our lives be averted.

While Israel failed God many times, when they came back to Him, He forgave and blessed them.

He can do that for us.

 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.

All verses are from the KJV Bible; copied and pasted from BibleGateway.com.

Later, Art :-)