If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
—2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)
Do you remember the moment when you first heard from heaven—when God listened to your cry, and you believed in the grace of Jesus? Your sins were entirely forgiven by the Savior, who said, "It is finished." There was nothing more you could do to be saved from sin because He had already done it. He had taken your sin so you could have His righteousness. The sweet fellowship with God that was lost in the Garden was restored in Christ.
We need to hear from heaven right now, but if we don’t experience our gift of sweet fellowship with Him, we can’t hear what He is saying. He never moves away from us. We move away from Him when we don't spend time with Him in prayer, studying His Word, or when we do things we know are wrong. We hinder our ability to hear. God is always reaching—speaking—sharing—loving—forgiving and drawing. We are His people, called by Him to pray for our land to be restored. For us to understand the power of prayer, we need to know how Jesus reconciled and restored us to God. Many of us don’t walk in the victorious peace of our identity in Christ, because we haven’t hungered enough to grow in spiritual knowledge that transforms our minds.
“For the death that He died, He died to sin once and for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God” (Romans 6:10, NKJV)). How did Jesus die “to sin once and for all?” If you want to have a victorious life, you need to get this. He never sinned, and He had no sin in Him. His crucifixion spoke death to sin and death to condemnation from sin. Jesus paid the price for sin, so mankind could be forgiven and set free from the power of sin. Jesus took your guilt—any condemnation for not being good enough—all of your punishment to the Cross. For all of eternity, He died for you. When He finally said, “it is finished,” everything changed. You, who had known sin, became sinless to God. Jesus gave you His righteousness and opened the way to your Abba Father. If you have trouble understanding the life-altering change Jesus has purchased for you, then you haven’t grown in knowledge of the new person you are. When you don’t understand the gift of your fellowship with God, you struggle to pray and live a victorious life. When you do know who you are in Jesus, you walk in peace and joy, believing that God hears you from heaven.
Seek His face and learn who He is in you. Humble yourself and pray, the Word says. “Humility,” Bill Snow says, “is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of others more.” What we are going through right now is felt by everyone in this world—believers and unbelievers alike. But we have the privilege to pray for others to be healed spiritually—to be restored to sweet fellowship with God by the grace of Jesus. That is restoration for the world—a personal relationship with God.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17, NLT).
Jesus came not to judge but to save. Now is the time to study His Word and allow His truth to teach you. Jesus restored your fellowship with God. You don’t have to beg Him to hear you. He does! Pray, believing who you are in Him, and you pray in His strength. Peace is your anchor in this raging sea, and you trust that He hears from heaven and restores this land.
©2020 Lynn Lacher
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