With the election
coming up and one debate down, more to come...there's been a lot of talk about
praying. Some have even been referring
to II Chronicles 7:14 asking everyone to pray so that God will heal our land. Not that I have a problem with that, but I
think sometimes we take the parts of Scripture that we need and not the
whole. I know I've been guilty of that.
This morning I was
reading Psalm 5...because today is October 5th.
(side note: Several years ago I
heard that a good way to read your Bible each day is to read through the Psalms
& Proverbs by using the date & adding 30s. For example, today I will
read Psalm 5, 35, 65, 95, 125 and Proverbs 5. It's amazing how every day, every
month, God speaks His truth to me through at least one section of those verses! If you struggle with how to read your Bible
daily, try it!)
Anyway, Psalm 5:3 "In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in
the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." Now, I do lay my requests before Him every
morning. Some of you may know that I still have SBI (Scrambled Brain Issues...I
made that up) from a concussion 4 years ago, and one of those 'issues' is I
have A LOT of trouble focusing and staying on task. (There are drugs for that,
which I gladly take daily!) So I write
to God. I pour my heart out to Him on paper.
I can't tell you how many spiral notebooks I've gone through, but
they're just for me and Him. I don’t think He minds HOW we talk to Him, AS LONG
AS WE TALK TO HIM! Wow, did I take a detour.
Back to Psalm 5. Wait in expectation. I love waiting in expectation of how He's
going to answer...I just don't like to wait very long. Like others, I'm praying for the election. I
prayed for the debate earlier this week. I prayed that eyes would be opened,
that God would use it to give us a sense of direction and hope. I prayed that
the media would be fair in their reporting. Did I expect that to happen? Not really. Shame on me. What fun to see the media the next day! The
next debate may have a completely different outcome, but for this one...I thank
Him for answering my prayer!
That realization led
me to II Chronicles again to read it exactly, not just the bits and pieces of
what I remember it says. As I wrote it
down it was like a veil was lifted and I saw that verse differently. "They" are not the problem...it's
"us".
"If My people
who are called by My Name" - that's me!
So if I will what?
THEN God will (1)
hear me; (2) forgive me; and (3) heal this land.
I am called by His
Name. He called me. He chose me. I am His.
Am I humble? Not always. Pride is
one of my biggest pitfalls. And I'm not
alone. Arrogance and pride seem to be popular in America. We need to be humble
and pray.
So many seem to be
praying that He will heal our land.
That's not what this verse says!
We need to be humble. We need to seek His face. We need to turn from our
sin. It says He will forgive us, so that
means we're doing something wrong that we need to be asking for His
forgiveness! THEN He will heal our land.
This verse is not
directed to the people who don't know Him. The bottom line is...the problem
isn't "them". It's us. We hold the key to the healing of this land.
I don't know about you, but I have some praying and seeking to do.
