Daily Devotional – Heal Our Land

Our scripture for the Daily Devotional today is taken from 2 Chronicles 7:11 – 15. Solomon built the temple for God and dedicated it. He prayed. God first acknowledged that he had heard Solomon’s prayers. God, later that night, gave him a promise, however, that promise came with a condition.

^“Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s palace, and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and 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.”

If my people…This promise was to God’s people. God was and is in covenant and He keeps his promises to His children. In this scripture, we see an “if-then” scenario. In other words, the promise was conditional. It was a promise that required the people of God did four things:  humble themselves, seek His face, pray and turn from their wicked ways.

 Humble themselves…Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking more of God. It is understanding the ultimate sovereignty of God. It’s understanding His might, His power and His wisdom in all situations and trusting in Him.

 Pray… Then God required that His people pray. Prayer was a requirement for fulfilling the promise. Could God intervene without prayer? Yes, but He required it because He desires fellowship. He required it then and He requires it now. God desires that we lean on him, that we trust Him, and that we realize how much we need Him. 

Seek His face…

God requires that we seek after Him and we do this by reading His Word, through praise and worship, by attending church, and by praying.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

 “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”  Psalm 5:3

Turn from their wicked ways…

He also required that we turn from our wicked ways. Repentance is regret or remorse over sin. It is also deciding to walk in the opposite direction. In other words, it is to stop doing what you were doing and start living differently. It is to choose a lifestyle that honors God.

 “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” Psalm 66:18

• Humility
• Prayer
• Seek His face
• Repentance

The promise was that God would hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land. The promise still stands. God is faithful to His promises; however, He is also faithful to His requirements. We cannot accept one and fail to acknowledge the other. Embrace this truth and pray for our land.

Let’s Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

I come before you today to thank you for Your Word. I thank you that You have made it clear. Forgive me of my sins, I pray. Help me to learn to walk in humility. I want to seek after You. Help me daily. Please help me to turn from my sinful ways. Father, please hear from heaven, forgive my sins and heal our land. We need Your intervention.

In Jesus name
Amen

Robin Bertram is an author, speaker, ordained minister, and the executive producer and former host of the nationally and internationally syndicated television show, Freedom Today. She has been a leader of media leaders for 15 years and has placed several Christian programs onto the national and international stage. She is the author of No Regrets how loving deeply and living passionately can impact your legacy forever (Charisma House Publishing) and Hidden Treasures (Abingdon Press).