2 Chronicles 7:11-16 (NIV) “When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, the LORD appeared to him at night and said:
"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 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. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.”
God is addressing Solomon, He is responding to the prayer Solomon offered up during the Dedication of the Temple. He is reiterating that as long as the people follow Him and not practice the worship of other gods, as long as the people are faithful to The One True God, as long as they walk with integrity and uprightness, God will hear their prayers.
The same is true for us. If we turn to Him and away from our sin-filled lives, acknowledge Jesus as LORD and believe He is the only path to everlasting life, we will be heard. Our prayers will be answered and we will experience such healing of heart and mind that we will be filled with hope and joy.
This writer can find no better reason to give thanks, so with that, I wish everyone of you and truly blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.
Read 2 Chronicles 5-7 here
Listen to 2 Chronicles 5-7 here
1 comment:
It struck me that the thrust of these chapters is steady commitment to and undeterred seeking after God. Solomon’s prayer stresses coming to God, both on a regular basis and in difficulty. 2 Chronicles 6:21-42. God’s response stresses the same thing. 2 Chronicles 7:11-21.
Both Solomon’s prayer and God’s response teach us that that striving shouldn’t be thwarted by our inevitable sins; we can get to God in spite of them—as long as we acknowledge them and strive to move past them towards God. This isn’t the only place that scripture makes this point. We see it set out very plainly in 1 John 1:8-9. God’s great love for us—manifested in this grace—is indeed something to be very thankful for, today and every day.
Today’s reading has theme in common w/ all the readings this week: the need to keep focused on God. That is the key to all things
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