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.

II Chronicles 7:14

What a glorious day it will be when the people of God get a vision to pray for our land. Every time the people of God pray things change; however, in the scripture we see that to pray alone is not enough to turn a nation. There are principles in the word of God for us to follow. First, we know that it is up to the people of God. Only those who have taken the name of Jesus and walk in the power of the Holy Ghost can make the difference. It is not essential what the people in the world are doing. They do not decide which way things go. Only the Lord has the power to change things. He makes changes according to the hearts of His people. If his people are willing to fight the battle in the natural, then He will let them have man’s decision. But, if the people of the Lord will battle in the Spirit according to the plan of God, then the victory will be even better than we could even think possible.

The first thing this scripture tells the people of the Lord to do is to humble themselves. To be humble is what a true intercessor must be. For the life of an intercessor is a life of praying in secret. They pray in secret and the Lord answers openly. The intercessor does not get to be seen of men, for they are not in the spotlight. They are only in the glorious light of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:5-6

To be humble means that some are going to have to be willing to say, Lord, I was wrong. The way that I am going, the things that I am doing are not working, Lord, show me what it is that you desire for me to do. That brings us back to the second thing, to seek His face. We need to stop asking for what we want and begin to find out what the Lord wants from us. To seek the face of the Lord is to find out what His perfect will is for our lives. Then we need to line up to His plan and begin to walk in the will of God. God’s plan never is man’s plan. He has better things for His people than we would plan for ourselves. When we begin to seek the Lord, we begin to build a relationship with Him. How can we get to know Him as He desires us to know Him when we do all the talking? We must listen to all that He has to say. Moses spoke to God face to face as a friend to friend. He desires this kind of a relationship with His people.

Next, it says, “turn from their wicked ways.” What is a wicked way? It is any way that is not God’s way. Many people are walking outside of their true calling. They have ministries and are doing good works in the name of the Lord; however, if what they are doing is not the will of God for their life then it is a wicked way. There are many people today who have been put in places of authority in the church just because of money and television, or there was a vote that gave them a title. A title in the church means nothing if God has not given His anointing to it. Some people do not want to do ministry that they have been called to do; so they decide whatever they want to do without ever asking the Lord if it is His will for their life. Some never do any kind of ministry they only support someone who is doing the same type of calling that they are called to do. Then there are those who never bother to ask God what He wants them to do. They run around doing whatever they want and expect Him to bless it.

In the book of Revelations, the Lord admonishes the seven churches then He says, “But, I have a few things against thee.” He was pleased with what they were doing that was according to His plan, but the things that were not according to His plan He was not pleased with. As we seek the face of the Lord, He is faithful to reveal to us the things that He is not pleased with. Then it is up to us to turn from the way that is not pleasing to the Father.

Mark 11:24 tells us, “Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and ye shall have them.” When we pray in the Spirit our desire changes from what we want to what the father wants. He makes His will known to us and changes the desire of our hearts. These are the things that the Lord wants us to believe for because this is what He will bring forth. We only have to receive His will and believe that He is faithful to bring it forth. It is time to find out what His perfect will is for our lives and to begin to walk according to the will of God.

Another wicked way would be teachings and doctrinal beliefs that do not line up with the truths of the word of God. Many times, people come to the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues and continue to hold onto teachings that they were taught in their denominations. Most of these do not even believe in the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will lead you and guide you into all truth. So, if the Holy Spirit is to bring us into all truth how can those who do not have the Holy Spirit have it revealed to them? Well, they cannot. Many of the teachings carried over even came from people who would say those who speak in other tongues have a devil. How can they have greater truths when even the most basic things have not been revealed to them? We must seek the face of our Lord Jesus and ask Him to show the precious truths of His word. Then we must be willing to receive them and walk in them. It is time to turn from the lies that have plagued the church and to begin to walk in the truth. Then will the Lord hear from heaven and forgive His people for leaning to their own understanding and walking in their own way. Not believing the reality of the word of God is a sin because sin is unbelief. If what we think is not the truth then we have accepted a lie and walk in disbelief. Jesus is the truth. We are only going to find Jesus in the pure, undefiled truths of the word of God. He will forgive because the Lord desires to bring His people into His glory.

Finally, the scripture says that He will heal our land. This is the only way that we are going to change our nation. Now, I believe in freedom and thank the Lord Jesus for the right to vote, protest, the freedom of the press, and all the freedoms we have in the United States. I also believe that everyone that desires to should exercise these rights; however, let’s be honest with ourselves to change laws will not change the hearts of men. When a man is evil, laws will never change what is in his heart. We have many laws and men break them every day. The people of God need to get a vision to pray for the salvation of those who are lost. Not to only pray for those that we love, but to pray for the salvation of the nation. When the Lord begins to change the hearts of men, there will not be people wanting to commit abortion anymore. Better yet, maybe women will not find themselves in that kind of situation because they will want to live right and walk before the Lord pleasing in his sight.

The only answer is in Jesus and spending time in His presence. Fighting the battle man’s way is easy. It takes less time, less commitment, and the enemy doesn’t fight back very hard because the hearts of the people are not being changed. The enemy fights harder when lives are being changed and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. When lives are changed the enemy gets mad because he is losing ground. He lost ground when the people he thought were his begin to serve the Lord. As the Lord changes the hearts of men, they are no longer servants to sin. Satan is not concerned with laws he is concerned about consuming the souls of men. The people of God must become worried about the salvation of those who are lost and get a burden to pray.

Every day that the people of God fight the battle man’s way they lose more and more ground. Because the battle is not in the natural, but in the spirit. It must be fought in the spirit through prayer. If they would fight the battle in the plan of God praying according to His will in the power of the Holy Ghost, then the hearts of the people will change, and we will see a significant move of God in the land. We will not have to vote Christians lawmakers in office because God will change the hearts of the ones that are already there.

It takes consistency and continuance to win the battle. James 5:16 says, “‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” This means that for your prayer to be effective we must be consistent in our prayer life. We must keep praying no matter what it looks like in the natural. Remember the battle is not physical but spiritual. Continue even when the enemy fights hard. The struggle is the most substantial right before the victory because the enemy knows he is losing.

The church wins a battle in the natural and a law is passed. A great victory. I thank the Lord for those achievements in the natural; however, it causes the church to relax. The law is changed we are holding our ground, but the hearts of men are still evil, and that evil is stilling the children of our nation. The battle will only be won when the hearts of men turn to Jesus. We must feel the Compassion of the Father and let the love of Jesus flow through us and begin to pray as never before.

The only thing that changes a nation is the salvation of its people. Salvation only comes through Jesus Christ. The Lord moves when His people begin to pray and walk according to His plan. It is time to stop going after what we want and to find out what the Lord wants from us. We must pray according to His plan, and He will change the World for His Glory.

-Rebekah Rankin