TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2023)
Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 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.
Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 2 Chronicles 7:12-16 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 263RD DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
We began a truth flow on the revelation of God’s mercy, on this platform yesterday. Our goal was to tap into God’s mercy, with the aim of engaging it to help us finish the year well and strong.
One major call that a passion and desire for God’s mercy places upon a people seeking it, is the call to prayer – prayer of deep repentance. The Sons of Light must understand that.
When God says “I will have mercy on you,” He has automatically placed a call to prayer and deep repentance on you. The reason is simple; Mercy is not picked on the streets. Mercy is found – it is found only by those who look for it in a prayer that is born out of deep repentance. You see that all through the scriptures.
So, you don’t sit down waiting for God’s mercy, you stand up in prayer kneeling in deep repentance, looking for it.
Also, you don’t assume it has been released to you. Assumption is the mother of frustration. You journey in the Spirit in the place of prayer and deep repentance until you find it. The first place I saw this was in the Biblical account of the dedication of the temple of Solomon.
The Man of God (Solomon), a King (according to the book of 1 kings and 2 Chronicles) and a preacher (according to the book of Ecclesiastes), knelt down before God at the dedication of the temple and said,
“When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to a land far or near; yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness’;
and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name:
then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You. Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place. 2 Chronicles 6:36-40 NKJV
WHAT CAN YOU FIND IN THIS SCRIPTURE?
We find so many truths that we can’t chew in a devotional. But the Bible clearly shows here that when a people who need God’s mercy do not seek it, they will never find it.
They are to seek for it through prayers, born out of deep repentance. And it described deep repentance as returning to GOD with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity. Meaning, their captivity will never be the focus during such prayer sessions, but returning to God.
The prototype of the place of God’s mercy in the days of Solomon was in this temple, and the King was telling God that each time His people are in need of His mercy and they seek it in that place, they should find it. And God responded with what our devotional text says to us today.
A major highlight of it says,
“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 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.”
A generation that will not seek God’s mercy, especially through a prayer that is born out of deep repentance, will perish in the mess of their sins and attacks of their enemies.
Before God responded with those gracious words in our devotional text, the singers who gathered at the dedication service to sing unto the LORD, caught the revelation of the atmosphere of “Enduring Mercy” that filled the Temple. After that, they sang to the LORD, saying, “For the LORD is good and His mercies endure forever.”
May God give us fresh gospel singers who will not be singing according to their pockets, but according to the atmospheres of GOD!
SOLOMON DEDICATED THE TEMPLE IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF ENDURING MERCY.
The singers made us to understand that, in the atmosphere of enduring mercy, God’s mercy does not come to an end. Their song revealed to us that the GOD we serve, is one whose mercies endure forever. But the revelation on how to access that mercy did not come until GOD Himself spoke the very words that are captured in our devotional text. I call them, God’s response to Solomon’s prayer!
That response made it clear that those seeking His Enduring Mercies can only find it when they seek it in deep repentance. I am sharing all these to tell us that mercy is not assumed; mercy is sort for. If you do not look for it you will never find it! And if you will ever find it, you must not look for it in the ministry of any preacher who cannot connect you to where it can be found.
Ordinarily, God’s mercy should be found in any Church or gospel ministry; but that is not so, because most are synagogues of Satan, and cities of refuse. Hence you find people there who are being pursued by avengers not finding spiritual refuge there or the mercy they need from God, to help them in time of need.
That is why the preachers request for money for every miracle the afflicted need, or other kinds of deliverance rituals, for every freedom they need. Where God’s mercy does not exist men will be seduced by prophetic witchcraft and hoodwinked with on-point revelation and misinterpreted scriptures to sow money for their breakthrough, but where it does exist breakthrough comes by the blood of Jesus.
SADLY, VERY FEW REALLY KNOW THAT GOD’S MERCY DOES NOT NEED OUR MONEY TO SET US FREE.
That is why they fall victim of lying wonders and preachers. There is a place in the spirit where God’s mercy can be found, and there is a place where it cannot be found. Until you plant yourself in a church that will connect you to God’s mercy, and commit yourself wholeheartedly to it, you will never be free from the demonic or satanic.
God’s mercy is not found on the streets of your city, neither is it found in your church hall. God’s mercy can only be found or obtained in the throne of GRACE, the Throne of God. The Bible says,
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16 NKJV
So, if you are hooked up to a spiritual father or church that lacks the word and grace to connect you to this Throne of Grace, you are in trouble. The evidence will be written all over your life. You will never find Mercy to help you in time of need.
That is when Satan will become your Chief tormentor and your enemies your ultimate focus because they will be ever with you!
It is what we find in the throne of Grace through a prayer that is born out of deep repentance, that manifest itself in our lives. In other words, if we cannot ascend that height in the Spirit and find it, there will be nothing manifesting in our lives.
It’s a New Day for someone who will wake up this morning from spiritual slumber and make the right decisions. May the LORD grant you LIGHT and UNDERSTANDING in Jesus precious name! AMEN!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face. Selah
Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Psalms 24:3-8 NKJV