IF

2 Chron 7:14-15
14 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. – NIV

God has a preferred destiny that hinges on our obedience. Free will allows us to walk in the general will of God but does not unleash the fullness of God’s preferred will. To receive all that God desires requires submission to Him. As John the Baptist declared…”He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30).

God’s condition of “if” is a startling reminder as believers that God has given us a responsibility of choice…our limited earthly supply or Heaven’s unlimited bounty. Spiritual apathy is the enemy of our soul and the church. It keeps us impotent as believers, anemic as a church and powerless in the world in which we live.

Jesus declared that He has given us “the keys to the Kingdom” (Matt. 16:19) and with it “all authority” (Matt. 28:18). Prayer removes the keys from our pocket and begins to unlock the door of the Kingdom where we will find the authority and power needed for the day and age we live in.

IF we will do our part in obedience to God, He will do His. In this verse God asks four things from His people.

HUMILITY
- Without Christ we have nothing, with Him we have everything

John 15:5-6
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. – NIV

-Pride constantly draws us away from dependence on God to live our life, walk with Christ and perform ministry dependant on our own strength

James 4:6-8
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. – NIV

-The path to Spiritual authority always begins with humility.


PRAY-
-God waits for us to call upon Him.
-James reminds us that we have not because we ask not (James 4:2).
-Prayer connects the unseen with the seen. Is the channel through which
Heaven’s provision reaches Earth’s need. Prayer binds the work of the
enemy and gains victory in spiritual warfare. (Matt. 6:9-13)
-Prayer develops dependence of God and fellowship with Him. Prayer
melts away the blinders of this world and let’s us glimpse into eternity
-Prayer is the Christian’s weapon, the greatest power on earth because it is the only thing that affects the spiritual world (2 Cor. 10:4)

SEEK MY FACE -
-We are called into fellowship with God, sons and daughters of the
King. True spiritual hunger produces a desire to know Christ
more intimately.
-The longing to know the Blesser more than the blessings. Like
the words of this old song, “turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full
into His wonderful face, and the things of this world grow
strangely dim in the light of His mercy and grace...”

TURN FROM WICKED WAYS-
-Spiritual renewal always begins within the heart and life of the seeker

Heb 12:14
…without holiness no one will see the Lord. –NIV

-a pure life makes way for God’s presence


GOD’S RESPONSE to our obedience?
-He promises to HEAR from heaven, FORGIVE our sins and HEAL our land.


Resist spiritual apathy. Refuse to live in anything less than God’s full provision. Let us rise up in obedience and seize God’s promise of IF to us today…

Ex 9:16-17
16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. – NIV



Blessings,

Darren


NOTE: I have set aside Sunday Nights in Nov & Dec at The Rock as a CORPORATE
PRAYER TIME for our church family. JOIN US as we agree together for spiritual break through in our homes, our church and in our community!