If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV).

REFLECT:
The weapons of prayer and repentance! These are great weapons for effective Spiritual warfare. Unfortunately, the revelation of these vital tools is now so under-explored and sparsely ever used, taught, or encouraged in our churches these days.

Rather what we tend to see and hear more of in today’s doctrinal teachings is a feeling of good-grace-without-consequence Christianity. Most of the prayers we hear are selfish, self-centered, self-conceited, and self-righteous prayers. We can call this an entitlement culture of making God our supermarket keeper, who must bow to our every wish and need but only our needs must be provided for God forbid He provides anyone else’s.

How sad when one thinks of this pervasive behavior that is gradually sweeping through the faith landscape of the church! This should not be the case, as believers we must understand that there are protocols in God’s Spiritual and Heavenly Courts. If we do not understand these basic principles, then how can we affect society for the better?

For instance, we have heard about faith giants who were able to effect change in their time one of which was John Knox whose fervent cry to the Lord was, “give me Scotland or I die!” He was a man whose prayers were feared the most by the then reigning monarch, Queen Mary.

His prayers brought about the Scottish reformation. This should arouse deep reflections in us and make us ask the right questions in the right directions such as, why must we have a lifestyle of prayer and repentance? And how must we carry out these Spiritual acts? The following explanations give us a brief overview:

Firstly, they help work in us sincere humility creating in us a deep need for God and His ways.

Secondly, they open us up to the love, compassion, and forgiveness of God.

Thirdly, they help us understand our humanity and those of others, making us aware of how our agreement with sin has worked its way through bloodline iniquities and how we as individuals, societies, and cultures are being affected by these associations.

The fourth point is they create in us God’s kind of love, compassion, and forgiveness giving us a fervent need to stand in the gap as watchmen for others until the will of God is done in their lives.

The fifth point is, they powerfully disarm the accusations, pronouncements, edicts, and verdicts of hell against our lives, thereby moving God to stand on our behalf and to give us the victory we need.

Finally, the attitude we must adopt when we come to God in prayer and repentance is sincere humility, openness, transparency, and acknowledgment that we have sinned, but not only ourselves, also our bloodlines, and whoever we are praying for.

We should sincerely, have deep broken-hearted remorse for the sinful acts committed. Ask for God’s forgiveness and apply the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus over the sin or iniquity. Ask for restoration to and of God’s righteous inheritance and purposes in our lives.

After all said and done, believe God for complete forgiveness and restoration, and then make a conscious decision not to be entangled in such wicked act(s). Just as Jesus always said, “go and sin no more.”

When we learn to sincerely make supplication or petition God through prayer and repentance, we will begin to experience victory, change, and reformation in our lives, societies, and nations in unprecedented ways.

Ebimobo W. Obasi

PLEASE PRAY ALONG.

Change My Heart.

FATHER GOD, You alone know every detail of my life. You know my past problems, my present pain, and my future purpose. And there is no situation that is too hard for You to redeem—because nothing is impossible for You. Thank You! Please forgive me for all the times I have failed to follow You. Teach me how to humbly seek your will and righteousness through prayer, and repentance. Realign my heart with Your will and show me what it means to be Your disciple. In JESUS MIGHTY NAME AMEN.