If My People Humble Themselves
Scripture: 2 Chronicles 7:14Devotional Series: God's Strength
Teaching: God's Strength pt. 1 (SUN_AM 2021-10-31) by Pastor Star R Scott
Prayer doesn’t manipulate God. Prayer changes your heart to accept the sovereignty and the will of God. You can’t pray and change God’s will, because God’s will is already established in eternity. God’s not sitting here waiting to see what happens that He’ll react to. God has already foreknown and provided everything that will cause things to be accomplished according to His will, praise God! The greatest answers from prayer are when we catch revelation and illumination into the sovereign purposes of God.
“Oh, just a glimpse. Oh, okay, I see it. Wow! It’s really not all about me. I forgot for just a moment that there’s eight billion other people on the planet, and they’re not all here to serve me. Why did this happen to me?” Why not? It happened to the guy next to you.
Well, what about the promises of God? “A thousand shall fall on thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but will not come nigh thee” (Psalm 91:7).
Let me tell you something. That had better be a truth that is in your heart at all times. That had better be the confession of your mouth. That had better be where you are living on a daily basis. Amen? Faith, calling things that are not yet manifest as though they were. They are so sound and established. Heaven and Earth will pass. These promises of God will not pass away, but the sovereign application of God is not anything that we can know. We just know the general revelation of God, and the revelation of God is this: He will deliver you. There’s no weapon formed against you that will prosper. Whatever you ask in His name, He will do it, that the Father will be glorified in the Son.
That’s what we pray. That’s what we believe, and when it doesn’t happen according to our finite knowledge, we lift up our hands and say, “God is good. His mercy endures forever. Though he slay me, I will praise Him and worship Him, praise God. For the Lord is enthroned upon the praises of His people, and this life is a vapor, and in just a moment, I’m going to see Him like He is, and I will see what could never be imagined, and so shall I ever be with the Lord.” Hallelujah!
That’s what we need coming into this hour, because things are not going to be all hunky-dory. We’re going to have martyrs among us. We’re going to lose our children. We’re going to lose spouses. We’re going to lose our wealth and our prosperity, and we’d better be able to know how to pray, and prayer will not be trying to manipulate.
I cannot absolutely identify and represent exactly what’s going to happen in these last days. I’ve been spending some time watching Jimmy Swaggart’s teaching recently. They were doing a teaching on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and they got everything right but one, so that’s pretty good. The only place they messed up was the traditional Assembly of God perspective of tongues and interpretation. Other than that, it was outstanding. It’s so great to see brothers of the same spirit, to see people, the members of the church. And there’s many thousands and thousands like them and us all around the world that want God’s Word to be the final authority; amen?
But one area that there’s a slight—and it’s amazing to me how they can doctrinally apply one thing, but when they get excited and begin to either preach or whatever it might be, reverting back, looking at how bad everything is, but that compulsion in them to say, “But you know, there’s going to be a revival. There’s coming a revival in this last day. We need to believe God. ‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray…’” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
“Oh, just a glimpse. Oh, okay, I see it. Wow! It’s really not all about me. I forgot for just a moment that there’s eight billion other people on the planet, and they’re not all here to serve me. Why did this happen to me?” Why not? It happened to the guy next to you.
Well, what about the promises of God? “A thousand shall fall on thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but will not come nigh thee” (Psalm 91:7).
Let me tell you something. That had better be a truth that is in your heart at all times. That had better be the confession of your mouth. That had better be where you are living on a daily basis. Amen? Faith, calling things that are not yet manifest as though they were. They are so sound and established. Heaven and Earth will pass. These promises of God will not pass away, but the sovereign application of God is not anything that we can know. We just know the general revelation of God, and the revelation of God is this: He will deliver you. There’s no weapon formed against you that will prosper. Whatever you ask in His name, He will do it, that the Father will be glorified in the Son.
That’s what we pray. That’s what we believe, and when it doesn’t happen according to our finite knowledge, we lift up our hands and say, “God is good. His mercy endures forever. Though he slay me, I will praise Him and worship Him, praise God. For the Lord is enthroned upon the praises of His people, and this life is a vapor, and in just a moment, I’m going to see Him like He is, and I will see what could never be imagined, and so shall I ever be with the Lord.” Hallelujah!
That’s what we need coming into this hour, because things are not going to be all hunky-dory. We’re going to have martyrs among us. We’re going to lose our children. We’re going to lose spouses. We’re going to lose our wealth and our prosperity, and we’d better be able to know how to pray, and prayer will not be trying to manipulate.
I cannot absolutely identify and represent exactly what’s going to happen in these last days. I’ve been spending some time watching Jimmy Swaggart’s teaching recently. They were doing a teaching on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and they got everything right but one, so that’s pretty good. The only place they messed up was the traditional Assembly of God perspective of tongues and interpretation. Other than that, it was outstanding. It’s so great to see brothers of the same spirit, to see people, the members of the church. And there’s many thousands and thousands like them and us all around the world that want God’s Word to be the final authority; amen?
But one area that there’s a slight—and it’s amazing to me how they can doctrinally apply one thing, but when they get excited and begin to either preach or whatever it might be, reverting back, looking at how bad everything is, but that compulsion in them to say, “But you know, there’s going to be a revival. There’s coming a revival in this last day. We need to believe God. ‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray…’” (2 Chronicles 7:14).