A Biblical Foundation for Revival Praying
A Look at 2 Chronicles 7:14
The Temple Connection—The Temple was a special Touch Point with the Lord. Solomon said, “Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?” (2 Chronicles 2:6). The Temple would be for men and women a point of connection with God in worship, never a place to ‘contain’ or ‘constrain’ God. However, it would be great in beauty and majesty, for it reflected the God they worshiped, “for our God is greater than all gods” (2 Chronicles 2:5). Other verses that addressed this include Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:49 and 17:24. Nothing we can buy or bargain with or build can box God in. He is God. We are not. In fact, He has made each of His children His dwelling place, a place of life and light. Each of us should be a place of worship, an expression of the greatness and character of God—every word, every deed, every attitude under the orchestration and fullness of His Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 10:31-33; Ephesians 5:18-21).
That being stated, there is another factor about the Centrality of the Temple—John MacArthur answers the question, why the emphasis on the Temple in the Old Testament. “1) It was the center of worship that called people to correct belief through the generations. 2) It was the symbol of God’s presence with His people. 3) It was the symbol of forgiveness and grace, reminding the people of the seriousness of sin and the availability of mercy. 4) It prepared the people for the true Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who would take away sin. 5) It was a place of prayer. Cf. [2 Chronicles] 7:12-17.” [John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, p. 602, Note on 2 Chronicles 5:1]
When we come to 2 Chronicles 7:14, we are focused on national revival. The touch-point for prayer is this Temple. “Revival” is a “RE” “VIVING.” One already has ‘vive’ or “life,” but needs refreshing from the Presence of the Lord, a ‘re’-‘life-ing,’ coming back from the brink of death. It is a surge of new life, new energy, the newness of the Spirit of God, the Breath of God. It is coming back into rich fellowship, a clear relationship, the striving and resistance (and resulting cloudiness and confusion) removed from a worshiping, surrendered heart.
To better see this, we need to grasp the context of what God said in 2 Chronicles 7:14. In 2 Chronicles 6:12-42, Solomon prayed at the Dedication of the Temple in the month Tishri, 958 BC (late September/early October). After seven years, six months of construction, Solomon completed the Temple in his 11th year, in the eighth month of 959 BC (late October, early November). He purposefully waited eleven months to Dedicate the Temple in the seventh month (Tishri) of 958 BC to coincide with the Feast of Tabernacles (Tishri 15-22). First, he led the people in a seven-day Dedication, Tishri 8-14, followed by the Feast of Tabernacles, Tishri 15-22, concluding with a great gathering on Tishri 22, the eighth day of the Feast (2 Chronicles 7:8-10).
The Trinity Connection—Sometime after the Dedication and the Prayer of Solomon over the Temple, the Lord appeared to Solomon at night. We read of that in 2 Chronicles 7:12-22, the context of 2 Chronicles 7:14. God revealed His heart. He is passionate about connections. That is His nature and we see that in the Trinity which is marked by perfect connections, by the purest unity of community, by total unselfish “Otherness” in fulfilling the will of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is never the slightest touch or taint of selfishness or sin.
This unity or oneness that delights God’s heart is seen from the start. In Genesis 1:26, the heart of the Trinity is expressed relative to man and woman and our connection to Him. God showed what kind of relationship He desired and wanted to bless—oneness, unselfish, lavish loving and giving, deep-seated joy and rejoicing (the very atmosphere experienced and expressed in times of revival and spiritual awakening).
Think of these expressions of the Trinity. The FATHER is active in making. “Make” is a translation of “asah,” the Hebrew word which means to finish, fit, complete with a plan in mind, with “a distinct purpose” (SZ) or “a goal in view” pointing to the process of construction (Genesis 13:4—an altar, Job 9:9—the star constellations, Proverbs 8:26—earth, a field, dust). The Father has planned times and epochs (Acts 1:7). He fixed (tithemi) them by His own authority (exousia)—inherent authority.
The SON is the Image toward which God the Father aims. “Image”—“tselem” is the Hebrew word which means literally “shade” and then resemblance—what looks like or acts like. It is a masculine noun pointing to the Son. God the Father is at work by His Spirit to make us in the Image of His Son Jesus Christ.
The SPIRIT is at work on “our Likeness”—“demuwth,” the Hebrew word referring to a likeness, a pattern, or similarity. The Spirit knows what is like Jesus and what is not like Jesus. He trains according to the bent of each one, according to the PATTERN given by the Father, seen in the Son. With the idea of “likeness,” we can think of what the Holy Spirit brings about through His nearness in brooding over, convicting, birthing, nourishing, growing, training, teaching to walk step by step, comforting, coming alongside, encouraging, speaking words of strength near to each one, like an encourager, like a mother or father, like a best friend. He has in mind the vision and the heart of the Father and the work of the Son.
As Romans 8:11 speaks of every believer being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, it also gives further details about the work of the Trinity in each believer: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are at work in each believer and every believer is also “the Temple of the Holy Spirit” personally (and collectively as the Body of Christ), designed to reveal God, to glorify Him (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:16).
The Template for Connections—To see this matter of connection better, consider these seven elements, a template of sorts. First, God designed for 1) a Place to Connect (the Garden of Eden, the Altar outside the Garden, the Altars of Abram, of Isaac, of Jacob, and eventually the Tabernacle and the Temple), 2) a Way to Connect (through a blood-covering sacrifice (Genesis 3, 4, Leviticus) and a God-chosen priesthood, 3) a Relationship Connection, a life of relating to Him, knowing Him, interacting with Him, walking with the Lord, 4) the Reality and Expressions of Connection (Life, Joy, Love, Peace, Fruit). Fruit from God in Scripture always comes from an intimate relationship and is always Abundant, Holy, Helpful, Good, Desired, Filling, never tainted, never leading astray, never a substitute for God or a faith relationship with Him.
5) Fifth, there are Problems with Connections. God speaks up—He warns first and seeks to correct so that all can enjoy a righteous connection to life as he intended—Life fits. The Problems include a) a Disconnect—when one walks away from the Lord, as did Cain. Jesus asked Peter and the others if they wanted to walk away as many others had done. When Jesus spoke hard sayings or sayings that did not sound like what the crowds wanted, they disconnected. Peter declared that they would never disconnect from Jesus. “Lord, to whom shall we go, You have words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
Here is a crucial truth about truly knowing the Lord. The word Peter used for “go” is aperchomai, a Greek word meaning to separate and create a distance from someone, implying forsaking Jesus to choose someone else or something else. It is a real disconnect. The word was used in Mark 14:10 of Judas who never had a genuine faith connection to start with.
A second Connection Problem is b) a Misconnect—when someone seeks to connect to Jesus plus… Jesus plus anything always short-circuits the connection. Closely aligned to that is c) a Wrong Connect. This is a connection to any god (little “g”), any thing, any thought, or any relationship that is not from God. Israel’s idolatry was a wrong connection that corrupted them and their understanding and relationship with God.
When we have a disconnect, a misconnect, or a wrong connect, God sends 6) Warning Signals. He warns about the heart problems He sees. He gets our attention about any relationship connection problem (gossip, anger, revenge, bitterness, unforgiveness, malice, etc.), any wrong thinking, any situation in which life is “not working right,” or through a variety of circumstances. Circumstances can include weather issues, disease, plagues, military conflicts (war, battles, etc.), or economy issues. Any of these may or may not be a signal from God, but each is evidence of a fallen earth, of life not as God intended—even the Creation groans over the present circumstances (Romans 8:18-22). God mentions some of these in 2 Chronicles 7:13—“If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people…” Then, God says in essence, “there is a cry that I command My people to make.” It is a cry from the heart with a view to correcting things God’s way.
7) Corrections—God’s Call to His People. We find this in 2 Chronicles 7:14, connecting to verse 13 with “and.” In the context and in the light of 7:13, God commands verse 14. It is an “If… Then” statement. “And [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, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” What does this verse say to us? What is God’s call to “My people”?
We need a clear connection—“can you hear Me now?” God says in essence—We need to hear God. He calls us to listen carefully, to hear Him clearly. That goes with the need for forgiveness of sin and the sick land that needs healing. The sick land is the symptom. Sin is the problem. Their sin (and our sin) is rebellion, willfulness, choosing wrong connections, substitutes for our fellowship with God. Every substitute is a sin, an idol.
The Text Connection—God’s Word, 2 Chronicles 7:14, summarized with four statements.
- 1. Look UP—SEE HIM. Look from ground level, not a self-exalted place—“humble themselves and pray, and seek My face.” Get a clear perspective. That only comes as we see God clearly and correctly. SEE HIM. To have a clear perspective and a clear connection we must stop—we must humble ourselves. That means to deflate any inflated (self-inflated or other-inflated) opinion of ourselves or our work (or our ministry that is not truly His ministry). Come level. Come to the Lord. Have “an honest conversation” with God. When we seek His face, we are looking for His view, what His eyes see and what His eyes say—think of a dad or mom or a husband or wife who can speak volumes with a simple glance, sometimes a stare. If we must seek His face, it is because He has turned His face from us. Fellowship has ceased. In pride, we have stopped listening. We are without a humble, obedient, pliable, surrendered heart and will. It is vital to note that sometimes God chooses to purposefully go silent. All silence is not chastening, but some is. It is part of His correcting us, correcting our perspective, our attitudes, and/or our actions.
As we humble ourselves, we also exalt Him. We spend time in praise and thanks. We see Him Bigger than before. Together we magnify Him. Like the Hubble telescope—it does not make stars bigger, it simply helps us see them better. So with us—we magnify Him, not making Him bigger, but helping one another see Him better, praising and thanking Him more fully. Psalm 46:10 gives needed counsel. “Be Still” or literally, “cease.” It is God’s call to stop, to let go, in order to see Him and listen to Him.
- 2. Look IN—SEE US… from His perspective, from His Word, by His Spirit, what He knows and says about us, about each heart. Solomon prayed with this in mind. He spoke to God, acknowledging, “whose heart You know for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men” (2 Chronicles 6:30). When we look up to Him, He reveals Himself and He reveals us. As He reveals sin, we confess or agree that it is sin, agree to turn away from it, and agree to turn to Him and His way. It is not simply dealing with a few sins; it is dealing with “wicked ways,” the way we think, the demeanor and mindset opposed to Him and His ways.
In the New Testament, we are given a new heart and with that we are called to newness—we “put off” self and self-will and all its manifestations and we “put on” the new self, “which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:24). We put on Christ, we put on Him and His will and all the good fruit of His nature and power (Ephesians 4:17-32). God never designed us to only put off or stop something. He always wants us to put away the wrong and replace it with His order, His life expression—instead of falsehood, truth, instead of bitterness, forgiveness, instead of hard-heartedness, tenderheartedness and kindness.
Psalm 46:10 reminds us of God’s desire, “and know that I am God.” The Hebrew word for “know” is yada, referring to experiential, interactive knowledge. It is used of a hunter engaged in the hunt, of a sailor not just owning a boat, but engaged on the waters. It is used of a musician playing an instrument, interacting, expressing. And it is used of the knowing of a husband and wife. It is interactive knowing, experiential, even intimate knowing. God wants heart to heart knowing, knowing by experience.
- 3. Look FORWARD—SEE HIS WAY FORWARD. We pray in faith, like Enoch (Hebrews 11:5-6). Because we believe God is who the Scriptures say He is, we keep coming to Him. We diligently seek Him. Our faith in Him, in who He always is, moves us in diligently seeking “Him,” seeking His face. We also seek Him expecting that He “becomes a Rewarder”—“Becomes” is the literal translation of the Greek word ginomai in Hebrews 11:6. There are individuals and churches who do not receive what God would gladly give, because they do not ask—God does not “become” a rewarder to them in that situation. Jesus told the woman at the well, “if you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10). Greg Laurie clearly enunciated this truth: “There are things God wants to give to you, do for you, say to you, that He has not given, done, or said, because you have not asked.”
Again, Psalm 46:10 speaks, “know that I am God,” literally “I God” (with “am” in italics). “I God,” no other, none better. No other is God. God Himself said that several times in Isaiah (44:8; 45;5-6, 14, 18, 22; 46:9). There is none better than the only God. Quit chasing other “gods.” Look UP, pray, and see His way forward. What is His way forward and how do we receive what He wants to give, do, and say?
- 4. Look OUT—SEE HIS WILL. See what He wants to do. Here, we can be part of what He is ready to do in many lives, hearing, forgiving, and healing. He is ready to hear, to forgive, to heal and do His new works. He promised His people in 2 Chronicles 7:14—“then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Let’s hear from Psalm 46:10 once more. “I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth” Here is a two-fold call to know what God is doing. “Exalted” is used twice. He will be exalted as God among the “nations,” referring to “the Gentiles,” the multitudes beyond Israel’s borders. God is declaring that He is concerned for the peoples of the world. Indeed, His ultimate goal is people around His throne, in His family from “every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). The second statement of exaltation refers to His reign. He will reign over all “the earth;” He will show Himself to be The Prince of Peace and the King of kings (Isaiah 9:6-7; Revelation 19:16). So, pray in light of the Lord being “exalted” for who He is and for what He has promised to do, in the hearts of all kinds of people, in the matters of the earth everywhere, now and forever.
Back to 2 Chronicles 7:14. God hears from Heaven, from Control Central—“It is Heaven that rules,” Daniel 4:26 reminds us. Here the emphasis is He is Lord. This hearing touches earth with His authority, with His power. This is majestic, powerful, all-encompassing hearing because He sees and hears in an all-encompassing way. He works on many levels—with those who have gotten in line with Him, obeying, calling on Him, then He works through them, and then, in still more creative ways beyond them.
He forgives sin, all sin, any sin. He promises restored relationships and rich fellowship. Communication is open once again. The New Testament telescopes us in to see more clearly the person, the emphasis of “Jesus.” His very name in Hebrew, Yeshua, meaning “Yahweh is salvation,” focuses on saving people “from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). This is why Jesus came—“to seek and to save the lost,” “to give His life a ransom for many,” so that “repentance for forgiveness of sins” could be proclaimed, believed, received, and enjoyed (Matthew 20:28; Luke 19:10; 24:47).
He heals the Land, referring to the actual land in the Old Testament, but the Old and New Testaments go beyond that. God focuses on the relationships that affect everyone living in the land. The New Testament emphasis is on Christ. As the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, Jesus heals in many dimensions—obviously spiritually for time and eternity, but also physically, emotionally, mentally, and even geographically for His purposes. That is not all. Ultimately, He heals the whole earth. It is the Messiah, the Christ who comes to reign and heal the very earth, reversing the curse, and revealing His healing touch throughout the earth in the Millennial Reign (Isaiah 2:1-4; 11:4-16; 12:1-6; Revelation 20:4-6).
He is the Lord who hears, Jesus who forgives, and Christ who heals.
Let’s review and apply this for today. First, 1) The Place—We come before Him anywhere. The key is coming to Him. 2) The Way—through the Lord Jesus Christ and His all-sufficient death, His clearly victorious resurrection, His secure enthronement, and His eternally powerful reign. 3) The Relationship Connection—by grace through faith. It has always been a faith connection—Abel, Abram, Rahab, Moses, Zaccheus, every believer. 4) The Reality and Expressions of the Connection—the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us and through us. 5) We must deal with any Problems with Connections—misconnects, disconnects, wrong connects. 6) Warning Signals—what is He saying to the individual, the family, the church, the ministry, the community, the nation? 7) Corrections—Pay heed. Fear Him, knowing Him through daily interaction, in each challenge or need. Hear Him and His Word and obey. Cheer Him, exalting, praising, thanking, elevating Him above all. Never jeer Him, mock Him, turn from Him, but ever trust Him.
Every revival in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, in Church History, in any country, region, community, church, or individual life, has dealt with these factors in one way or another. So, today, we need to pray—Look UP—See Him, Look IN—See Us, Look FORWARD—See His Way Forward, and Look OUT—See His Will.
Rick Shepherd—2013
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