The Doorpost: Stand before God every day

(Originally published in the Christian Health Care Newsletter in 1997.)

If My people, who are called by My Name, will 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.
2 Chronicles 7:14

“Stand in the Gap—A Sacred Assembly of Men” is now history. The October 4, 1997, event was one of the largest gatherings in the history of our nation. Determining how many were there is not our main concern. Following through is what is important.

Minutes after the assembly had ended, radio coverage continued. One broadcaster reminded us, “This is not the ‘post-game’ show. What just ended was the ‘pre-game’ show.” The “game” is being played now. The clock is running. What must we do?

Second Chronicles first tells us to humble ourselves. What does this mean? In Exodus 10:3, God said to Pharaoh, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?

Humility before God simply means submitting our every thought and act to God’s authority. Cowering before someone who wants us to disobey God is not humility.

Refusing to confront a difficult situation because we are afraid we can’t handle it is not humility if God has told us He will enable us to handle it.

At the most basic level, humility is believing that God is always right, and that we are never right unless we are agreeing with and submitting to Him. When we know what God wants us to do or think, and we choose to do or think something else, we are showing that we believe we know more than God. That is arrogant pride.

The next thing 2 Chronicles tells us to do is prayer. Prayer is a natural result of humility. Prayerlessness shows that either we don’t want God’s way or that we believe we must do something on our own to make us acceptable to God. In either case, we are trying to live life under our own power instead of depending on Him. If we truly understand our own need, our only hope will be to humbly turn to Him in prayer.

If our pastor said he wanted to talk with us, we would find a way to talk with him. If our mayor wanted to talk with us, we would find time for him. If the governor of our state said he wanted to talk with us, we would change our schedules to accommodate his. We would be amazed he wanted to talk with us. If our president said he wanted to talk with us, we would be astounded, and we would do what it took to talk with him.

Someone far greater than all of these men wants to talk with us. The King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Creator, Sustainer and Ruler of the universe wants us to take time to talk with Him. He wants to meet with us often. What a privilege! How can we be “too busy” to do that?

The 2 Chronicles passage is describing a one-time act of repentance, but the things it tells us to do are also needed every day. We need to humbly come before Him in prayer every day. We need to seek His face in His Word daily, and turn from our wicked ways when He shows us areas of disobedience in our lives.

If we humble ourselves before God and earnestly cry out to Him, if we seek His face daily in His Word and turn from our wicked ways, is there any possibility that He will fail to hear? Is there any possibility that He won’t give us the guidance we need? Is there any possibility that He won’t give us the strength to obey? Is there any possibility that He won’t give us everything needed to accomplish His will (Romans 8:32, Matthew 7:9-11, Luke 11:11-13)?

The game has started. The clock is ticking. The ball is in our court. Let’s play to win.