When Will He Heal Our Land

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Graeme Wilson in Victory Call

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 I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14
We’re almost at the end of this series, and today I want to focus on the part of the verse that says “and seek my face.” There are so many verses that speak on seeking God’s face, but just to name a few…
•    Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually. – 1 Chronicles 16:11
•    Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. – Isaiah 55:6-7
•     You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart. – Jeremiah 29:13
As we seek the Lord more and with everything we are, we will experience His rich blessings. This could be within our household, as the church, or even as a nation… but how do we do that?
Gotquestions.org has one really good answer – “There are questions we can ask ourselves. ‘Where do I primarily spend my energies? Is all my time and money spent on goods and activities that will certainly perish, or in the services of God—the results of which live on for eternity?’ Believers who have learned to truly put God first may then rest in this holy dynamic: ‘…and all these things will be given to you as well.’”
I think we all know the clear “Sunday School” answer to the question of how to seek God first, but for fun, let’s elaborate on it. I think one of the most obvious answers would be reading the Bible. I cannot stress enough the importance of spending time with the Lord in daily devotions. As Psalm 34:10 states Those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. The scriptures are the primary way God communicates with us, so if we are not invested in His Word on a daily basis, we are not seeking Him with our whole heart.
The “part 2” answer to this question is what I spoke about in my last Victory Call – prayer. Martin Luther once said “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” If we want to seek the Lord’s will for our lives and (if we’re following the topic of this series) our nation, we can’t do it if we’re ignorant to what His will is. We need to ask Him.
…if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears them. – John 9:31 (NASB). The Christians of this nation need to not just have “prayer lives” but “lives of prayer.” In other words, if we want to be continuous seekers of Him, we need to be in continuous communication with Him.  We need to ask in order to get answers (which, again, is a reason that daily devotions are so important – it’s the main way God speaks to us), and be in right relationship with Him.
We, as the Christians in our nation, cannot be content with being lukewarm. We need to pray boldly, read the Word without fear of persecution, and speak truth even though others disagree. If we want the Lord to heal our land, it has to start with the Church.
Erin
Erin Culleny serves as a Marketing Assistant and Staff Writer. She loves encouraging women through her Victory Calls and finds such joy in praying for her sisters in Christ. She is so excited that after 5 years on Summer Staff, she now has the opportunity to serve at Keswick year-round. Her favorite activities include reading her Bible, encouraging others with scripture, buying new dresses, and eating at the Cheesecake Factory… In that order!