As we continue to look at 2 Chronicles 7:14, we look at the next two words: “my people”.
Last week we looked at the conditional preposition “if”, and the responsibility we have in revival. But the “if” applies to “my people”.
Revival is not for everyone in the world, it is specifically aimed at the people of God.
The verse offers a challenge, not to people outside the church, but to people inside the church who are believing Christians with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
We as the church have a tendency to point to the desperate spiritual situation in the world around us. The spiritual state of the nation and the immorality that we see every day, but do we see and pray for the desperate spiritual state of the church.
It is important that as Christians we are concerned about the moral condition of our nation and the world. As we look around we see that abortion kills millions of babies every year, morality is being dictated by the Supreme court, pornography is destroying lives and families, there is corruption in business and politics, daily children and young women are sold into sex slavery, and all this is happening in our own city. We live in a society that screams the question: “what’s in it for me?” And sadly many pastors perpetuate that thinking, by teaching that God is there to serve man and to give us what we want, rather than the other way around.
But before we get carried away with pointing out all the wrong in the world, we need to be reminded that when it comes to revival, it starts with the church, the Body of Christ.
We need to have the most critical eye focused on ourselves. God is concerned for the state of the nations, but He has an equal if not greater concern for those who are His people.
We are very quick to point out the sins of non-Christians, but we overlook our own sinfulness.
Revival starts with the people of God, but not just those who call themselves Christians, those who perhaps have attended church since they were a child. Those who are Christian by tradition but who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
It may come as a surprise to you, but in every church there are people who are members, leaders, committee members and even deacons, who do not have a personal growing relationship with Jesus Christ. And we would be foolish to think that it is any different at Grace Point. My prayer is that the day will come when God will look at Grace Point, He will truly say, “these are my people.” So as we pray for revival, let us focus on ourselves first.