He is a God of order

Something about this verse never hit me until yesterday. We are constantly told this verse means we need to pray for things to change, but I ask you, will our prayers change anything?

First, we are called to humble ourselves. I find this beautiful: without humbling ourselves, we cannot pray; it is impossible to seek His face without praying; without seeking His face we cannot see the wickedness in our hearts. The Light of the World must illuminate the dark parts of our hearts. You see, 2 Chronicles 7:14 isn’t telling us to have one day of prayer or give God partial custody of our lives. It’s calling for us to align ourselves with His will. When we humble ourselves to pray effectively, we can align ourselves to His direction instead of coming before the throne of God in a prideful manner feeling entitled. That is what Jesus teaches a second time in Matthew 6:9-13.

The focus is never on getting what we want but on aligning ourselves with Jesus Christ. Prayer is communication; it isn’t a “gimme, gimme” ritual. That is why we must first humble ourselves before we can ever expect God to hear us when we pray.

Transformation

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

We are told to renew our minds, but what does that really mean? One of the pieces of armor in Ephesians 6 is the helmet of salvation. Jesus knows that the mind is a heavy thing. What we think, we become. We must think about the promises of God and not look back to our past. This is why He also told us through Paul,

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” ~ 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

When we have thoughts of this world that are not heavenly-based, we tend to go back to our flesh – back to the dead works of our past and not produce life. We get stuck in a rut of inaction and merely mentally agree that Jesus is the Truth. We, in effect, become passive. Instead, we are to be transformed and renewed, constantly putting ourselves under the knife of sacrifice for our King. He died to give us life. How much more can we attempt to thank Him without giving Him our lives in return?

Other translations say it is our “reasonable service”. That means it’s the most basic function of living a life for Christ. It’s what is produced if we are truly walking and abiding in Him. Without the Life of Jesus, we are unable to produce or do anything of ourselves. We are merely bodies without His power inside of us. He is the only thing that brings life to our spiritually dead bones.

Transformation for us, is internal to external. It’s a surrender – surrendering your life and letting Him transform you into who He made you to be. He has come to rule and reign inside of us, yet do we give Him the keys? We become temples to the Holy Spirit that lives inside us, but do we allow Him to work? Have we humbled ourselves to the point of understanding that He is the only thing that rescues us? 2 Chronicles 7:14 says that when we truly humble ourselves to pray and seek His face to know where we are failing so that we may turn from that wickedness, then will He hear from heaven. Did anyone else notice that? Even in Matthew’s account when Jesus was giving us a model to follow for prayer, He told us to ask for forgiveness. Jesus died once and for all, yes. However, that doesn’t excuse us to accept His sacrifice and then say, “Oh, well I still want to do this – the very thing that put Him on that cross.”

That is why it is so important to humble ourselves before we pray instead of barging in and not caring at all what we look like spiritually because He is our Father and we think we deserve it. I ask you, when you messed up and disobeyed your parents, could you just barge in immediately after and ask for something? NO. You had to seek forgiveness and try your hardest to not do it again. It is the same with our Good Father. He loves unconditionally, yes. But He cannot face sin. That is why He had to turn away from Jesus on the cross.

How much more so do we who have been covered in the blood of Jesus, offend God by walking in with some dirty clothes? That is pride.

Without humbling, where are we?

When Jesus died, the veil was torn in two. Before this, the veil separated the temple from the Holy of Holies – only the High Priest could go in there. Once Jesus died, He opened up that division, and now we can enter the Holy of Holies covered in Jesus’ blood. But how grievous do you think it is when we show up in the Holy of Holies through prayer, not first asking to be plunged from the filth our flesh has brought us after we willingly slip into sin? Light has no fellowship with darkness, so when we come into the presence of a Holy God and, not recognizing we have sin, barge in asking for our own things… you get the picture.

This is why 2 Chronicles 7:14 starts with humbling ourselves. The prodigal son was filthy. But after realizing his downfall, he came back understanding how unworthy he was. That’s the attitude we must have as well. We are flesh – spiritually dead and covered in filth. When Jesus, the Resurrection and Life, brings life into us, we are still dying to the fleshly nature with which we were born. Every day we struggle between the transforming power and that deadness that still creeps in. Jesus knows we aren’t perfect, but He never said that’s an excuse. John tells us that, “if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)

So when we come before the Father in prayer, we must come in humility knowing we have messed up. The good news is that Jesus is ready to forgive, but we must have a heart of humility. Only when we humble ourselves are we able to align with Christ.

Transformation is internal. He is bringing something new. Do you have the courage to surrender and let Him grow you into what He sees? He’s not asking for much, just obedience. In return, we receive the loving care and compassion that came in human form to die for us when we were shouting “crucify!”.

So will you pray in humility? Or continue to pray in a deserving manner, asking God to align with your own heart? As for me, I’m going to choose my relationship with Him over my relationship with my pride and my selfish will, for I know He has better. I am ready for that forgiveness and healing promised after we humble ourselves and turn from what put Him on that cross. Will you?