WEDNESDAY October 13, 2021
The Prayers of the Humble
...if My people who are called by My name will 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
God hears the prayers of the humble: LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble ...You will cause Your ear to hear... (Psalm 10:17).
God hears the prayers of the repentant. Jonah went to the wicked city of Nineveh to proclaim God’s judgment upon them. The people quickly humbled themselves in repentance: So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them (Jonah 3:5). Even the King of Nineveh humbled himself! True repentance prevented God’s judgment (Jonah 3:10).
Consider the differences between two men who prayed before God. Which prayer did the Lord regard?:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!,’ ” (Luke 18:10-13).
It was the sinner’s humble prayer that was heard. He was justified by God: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).
Look at your own life. Are you a sinner in need of God’s mercy? Are you a proud Pharisee who needs humility? Humble yourself before God and repent of your sins; by doing so you will avert the disaster of eternal punishment.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
~John 3:16~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!