If My People Will Humble Themselves And Pray
• Give an example of a prayer that would not be humble.
• Think about the Lord’s Prayer (see Matthew 6:9-13). Is this a prayer that a humble person would pray? Why or why not?
“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 will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14
In this verse from 2 Chronicles, God offers Israel forgiveness and healing. But first, he asks for four things from the Israelites: that they be humble, that they pray, that they seek him and that they turn from their wicked ways.
Notice that the first step is humility. Before we can accomplish anything for God, we must be humble. We must recognize that we are servants of God and that we are put on this earth to glorify God, not ourselves.
The second step is to pray. God hears the prayers of the humble. When we are humble, we pray the way we were designed to pray. When we are humble, we approach God as if he really is the God of all creation. We ask God to meet our needs so that he may be glorified. We pray to God that his will may be done. And these are requests that he happily grants.
PRAYER
Dear God, help us to be humble when we pray. Thank you for hearing the prayers of the humble. Amen.