Repentance Precedes Forgiveness TEXT: 2 CHRONICLES 6:32-42 KEY VERSE: “When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel” (2 Chronicles 6:26). God, hearing and answering prayers, are predicated on the faith and confession of the sincere seeker. Genuine and honest confession of sins committed frees one from the burden of guilt. Augsburg puts it this way: “I openly receive God’s promise and choose to take my stand here, humbly on God’s promises and in worship of His person.” As God’s people, Israel had a great need for spiritual maturity that would make them outgrow their incessant rising and falling. Our text deals with Solomon’s prayer with a dedicative blessing on the congregation. The aggregation of the long prayer was for God’s forgiveness of the people’s sins upon their sincere confession and turning away from same. He also pleaded for God’s continued presence with the people and His continued blessing upon them so that they will be perfect with the Lord. There are vital lessons for us to learn from Solomon’s prayer. First, he began with praise and worship with his hands spread forth to heaven (1 Kings 8:22-25). He acknowledged his unworthiness to be in God’s presence and asked for forgiveness for the people’s sins that had brought untold misfortune upon them. He then asked for victory in battle and pleaded for their future restoration. And God answered as fire came down from heaven to consume the sacrifice (2 Chronicles 7:1-3). Today, our prayer centres largely on self. We ought to spare some thought and pray for other people, the nation, our leaders, our neighbours, our backsliding brethren in the church and sinners generally. Let us learn from Solomon’s prayer and begin to order our prayer aright. That way, there will be speedy answers and even blessings for requests not uttered before the Lord. NOTE: Prayer is the heart’s sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 02:14:17 +0000
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