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I picked a book out of a basket in my writing room. The title of the book, “If my people. . .” , a 40 day prayer guide. I leafed through it and decided to use it in the 40 days of Lent. Later in the day, I realized how I could utilize the passage 2 Chronicles 7:14, as a beginning point of my Lenten observance.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

God speaks to Solomon on the occasion of dedicating the Temple. He says some very pointed things.

The LORD speaks of what His people, you and I have to do. We have to pray. He tells us if we pray, not if we share our concerns with our best friend, or talk about someone behind their back. He will respond.

When we pray, we are to humble ourselves. We are to realize that we are sinners and that He is the only perfect being.

As we prepare to pray, we are to seek His face. We are to earnestly make our way into our prayer closets and shut the door and spend quantity time in prayer. We need to spend time with Him to strengthen our relationship with Him. We should attempt to keep our ‘on the run’ prayers to a minimum.

Then, and only then, will God hear our prayers and forgive our sins and heal our land. God’s actions are contingent upon the condition that we spend time in prayer to Him.

God Will Answer

Call to me. And I will answer you, and show you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jeremiah 33:3 (ESV)

God reminds us through the prophet Jeremiah that we can call out to Him and He will answer. People tend to forget that He can respond to our requests in one of three ways.

He can say, “Yes.” He can say, “Not now.” He can deny our request and say, “No.” Whatever the answer God gives to our request, He has our best interests in mind.

Sometimes, we pray and see the individuals for whom we pray go in the exact opposite way of what we have sought for God to guide for them. This is when free will comes into play. God gives His created people free will because He does not want His people to love them because they ‘have to.’ God wants us to love Him because we ‘choose to.’

God reveals things to those who call on (pray to) Him. At times, I am amazed how quickly He responds to my requests.

God gives His created people free will because He does not want His people to love them because they ‘have to.’ God wants us to love Him because we ‘choose to.’

God reveals things to those who call on (pray to) Him. At times, I am amazed how quickly He responds to my requests.

Be Anxious for Nothing

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)

Paul instructs the believers at Philippi in some very basic tenets of the Christian way of life.

Be anxious for nothing, this sounds like a tall order. However, in the middle years of the 20th Century, schools had drills because of fear of nuclear attack. Throughout my school years, even in college, there were fire drills. These drills were to keep us aware of what we needed to do in case of fire. When I started work as an adult, the governing officials instituted tornado drills at workplaces. These were all designed to keep panic and anxiety at bay.

in everything by prayer and supplication, Paul gives us a lesson here. We are to pray and ask God for each thing that concerns us. If we lose our keys, we can ask Him to help us find them and He will. (I have personal experience of this.) A dear lady who now resides in heaven shared that when she asked God for this help, He quickly answered.

with thanksgiving, Humans can appear to be selfish. We need to teach small children to say ‘Thank you’ for any gifts, any favors, any graciousness give to them by an adult. Because we are children of God, we, also, need to learn to say, ‘Thank You’ to Him for things He gives us.

I experienced a spiritual turning of a corner when I started thanking God for central heat, a roof over our heads that doesn’t leak, the warm clothes in my closet, the food we had to eat and our ability to have it.

let your requests be made known to God; Did you notice? Paul told them to make their requests be made known to God. Sometimes we seek help from our friends and, maybe, our neighbors when we should take it to God first. There are some issues that neither we nor our friends or neighbors can do anything about. Only God can handle all these extremely hard issues.

the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, Paul describes God’s peace as being beyond our understanding. We cannot describe it. However, we can experience it. We can experience it, if we choose to. God gives His peace to us when we allow His Spirit to control our lives.

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. God’s peace will shelter us when we have unforeseen hardships and illnesses come into our lives. Anyone can have these events come into their lives. My sister-in-law heard a saying that sums up what Jesus can do, “When trouble knocks on your door, ask Jesus to answer it.” God, though Jesus and the Holy Spirit will take care of all our huge difficulties and our small issues that come into our lives.

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

The Fulfilling Marriage