Liberia: A call for prayer
Dr. Redd writes that Liberia must turn away from its sins and seek God
Liberians are living in one of the most perilous periods in history. We see more crime and corruption, and the effects of growing indifference toward the things of God. However, there is always hope because of our Lord’s faithful promises; writes Dr. Alex Redd.
It is only when we seek God, turn from our sinful ways, and submit to His will that Liberia will be free from the current circle of uncertainties (2 Chronicles 7:14; Acts 3:19). We must remember to pray with passion and perseverance for our churches, our country’s leaders, and the challenges facing our nation, as we spend time with the Lord each day.
And let’s remember to thank our heavenly Father for His love and His willingness to heal our land. According to Second Chronicles 7: 1-3, King Solomon and the people of biblical Israel showered gratitudes of prayer and praise unto the Lord for His mercy and goodness. After their prayer and praise of dedication at the temple, they saw the glory of God descending upon the temple in the form of a consuming fire, the same glory of God revealed to Moses after building the tabernacle four hundred years earlier.
Thereafter, the Lord appeared to King Solomon by night to affirm that He heard their prayer and had chosen their service of worship for His purposes. Subsequently, the Almighty God revealed to King Solomon the best possible way to victory, freedom, and stability for the nation of Israel. Liberia stands in dire need of similar revelation from the Almighty God, but our homeland must first do as King Solomon and Israel did – seek God fervently and turn from sinfulness.
Such a clear revelation of God’s will for Solomon’s nation can also be applied for our homeland, Liberia. Why so? Apostle Paul answers, ” For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15: 4).
The Biblical Solution
As we search for lasting solutions to rebuild Liberia, the Word of God to Solomon provides four biblical principles that we must adhere to as blueprint to get our nation on track: humble ourselves, pray, seek the face of God, and turn from our wickedness. This is the moment in the history of our nation to do them because they are our hope God provides in His unchangeable Word. If we want deliverance out of the current quagmire, we now find the solution in God’s efficacious Word.
“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 I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14).
“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 I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14).
God spoke through King Solomon to the people of Israel and the Lord gave a warning (see verse 13 of Second Chronicles 7) prior to saying these words above. If they chose to disobey, the Almighty Lord said there will be either of these disastrous results: “drought, locusts, and pestilence”. In other words, God is saying that His righteous judgment will come upon them (verse 14).
Folks, we must realize that God has not changed; He does not change His mind or His laws. Moreover, He does not change His love for us. But if we disobey God, we will suffer the consequences. We have already disobeyed God and have committed ourselves to disobeying Him by tolerating all kinds of sin that God specifically forbids to be part of our life. So God says in this Scripture, if you realize what is happening, you are wise enough to see. Now, what does it mean to ” humble ourselves?”
Humbling Ourselves in the Presence of God
What it means is that we must acknowledge our sinfulness and yield ourselves absolutely and completely to the Almighty God, drop our pride and recognize who He is. We are sinners saved by God’s grace and we have become children of God. Thus, a lifestyle of sin no longer fits who we are.
Indeed, we are to humble ourselves by acknowledging the sovereign power and the sovereign leadership of the Almighty God upon us and over us.
In order to withstand the disaster and find our way out of it, the first thing to do is to “humble ourselves” before God. Do we still have pride in our life? Do you still think that other folks are fine, but you are something else? Can you boast of your income? Can you boast of your position? Do we walk daily recognizing that you and I are absolutely dependent upon God for everything? We live under the absolute authority of the Word of God! Even as God deals with the sins of individuals, the Bible makes it clear that He sovereignly judges nations. We must heed the divine wisdom stated so clearly in Proverbs 14:34: “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.
So, when you are facing the kind of danger we face in our homeland today, you do not look to the three branches of our government (Executive, Legislative, Judiciary) to fathom the kind of danger you are confronting. Look around and see abject poverty and hear the cry of people who are suffering as we have never seen before. When God says “humble yourselves,” He means not to depend on your own self. You must realize that God is our source of protection, watch-care, and the provision of our lives. It is not only to humble ourselves, but to “pray” as well.
Prayer is Communion with God
All through the Scriptures, we are admonished to pray. The question is that after you pray for yourself, family, income, job, and when you finally run out of things to pray for yourself, how long it takes you to get around to praying for our country? God says, humble yourself and pray. Biblically, such prayer is to cry out to God as an indication that I recognize how inadequate I am. Crying out to God recognizes that I know we are in danger and I am depending upon God! “And, if My LORD, You do not help our nation, we are doomed.”
My friends, crying out is what every believer ought to do in their prayer and supplications, when they begin to realize how serious the circumstances are. We cannot just read the newspapers or watch television or listen to reports of those who have rule over us. We need to get into the Word of God and see what is the indication that things are not right, and especially, when we do not see any evidence of anybody being wise enough, brilliant enough, humble enough, and submissive enough to come up with the right answers to stabilize Liberia.
And so we walk and go in circles. Prophet Isaiah warned the rulers of his day to stop trusting in man and his wisdom or to trust in the power of other nations. He warned of the consequences of not trusting in God in Isa. 50:11:” Look, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with sparks: Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled—This you shall have from My hand: You shall lie down in torment.”
Well, we say, things are going to get better in our nation while they are still getting worse! So in verse 14 of Second Chronicles 7, God says that we must pray to Him and that is the way we are to communicate with Him. In addition, we glean the power of true deliverance in Psalm 34: 4: ” I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Folks, who else can deliver us? Not some other nations. We cannot deliver ourselves, and if so think, then it is the height of pride! So God gives us all these admonitions to pray and to seek His face.
And for our nation, we need to pray for our leaders. We need to pray for those who are making laws. We need to pray for God to waken up the people who have responsibility to govern us. In other words, our leaders must stop worrying about their position and how long they are going to be there and start thinking about the people they are supposed to govern. And only God can do it through our petition to Him. Yes, we are to pray and we are also told in Scripture to “seek His face.”
Seeking the Face of God
To seek the face of God does not mean you are going to see His face. What it means is that you are going to have a relationship with Him that is extremely intimate. It is a relationship that you know that He is listening. He is there in presence, not visible presence, but invisible presence. To seek the face of God is to seek His will and His way in your life. And all of us should pray and ask God to show us what to do and how to handle the situation before us. Now, we must humble ourselves, cry out to Him, and seek His face. How do we do that?
We must get into the Word of God and say “Lord, speak to my heart. What are you saying to me?” Doing so is important when we are to make big decisions about family life, job, and the future. Have we asked? Have we sought His face? Seeking the face of God is to seek the mind of God, His plan, and His purpose for your life. The reason God has not answered your prayer is because you have not asked Him or do not expect Him to do it and you do not trust Him to keep His word. Indeed, He will keep His word! The Bible reveals that God’s
final revelation of Himself was in the sending of His own Son.
When Jesus begins his ministry, He declares, “The kingdom of God is at hand!” The ruler appointed for the nations is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. But the proud leaders in Jerusalem would not have Christ Jesus rule over them, for His truth and justice condemned their own greedy practices. They were not willing to repent when John the Baptist was sent, and they were not willing to repent when Christ Himself came. The leaders condemned the Lord of Glory on the very site of the ruins of Solomon’s temple. Thus, to seek the face of God means to bow to His appointed king and to line up our policies in a way that reflect His truth and justice and mercy.
God cares for us as a people and as a nation; he cares for us as individuals as well. We are at a time in the history of Liberia that we need to be intimate with the Almighty God. God is more than willing to answer our prayer. He will show our leaders what to do to bring healing to our country, if they hearken to His voice in spirit and truth. Yes, he will show us if we will listen. And every Liberian church needs to begin listening to God for our nation.
If we ask God for deliverance of our nation, what would he say? He would simply say this: humble yourself before Me. Cry out to Me. Seek My face. But that is not all. The sovereign LORD would say, “turn from your wicked ways….I will forgive your sins…. and heal your land.”
Turning from Wickedness to God
“Wicked” used in the context of the Scripture means determined, willful disobedience. In the eyes of God, wicked ways entail a deliberate disobedience and rebellion toward Him. Wickedness exists when there is greed, pride, selfishness and all the rest. When we have turned our eyes away from God and just decide we are going to live the way we want, that is indeed wickedness.
And when I think about what is happening in Liberia today, it is like a virus that is penetrating every aspect of life. It is wicked! It is deliberately willful, rebellious, disobedience toward God and also hurtful toward other people. What can we do about it? Well, just exactly what God says: humble ourselves, pray, seek Him, and turn away from our wicked ways. To “turn” does not mean I just recognize that I am a sinner. “Turn” means I turn away from it.
Confession must be followed by repentance. How many times have all of us at some point in our life confessed sin and asked the Lord to forgive us? And then the next night we confess not different sin, but the same sinful act?
There are some people who confess the same thing over and over again and say that the Bible says we must do so, quoting 1 John 1:9. Folks, it is not the same thing over and over to God every night. It is turning from it! If we do turn from our wicked ways, the Scripture continues, then God forgives and heals our land. We must be grateful to our heavenly Father for His love and His willingness to heal our land. We must repent and believe the Gospel of His anointed Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. Psalm 2 warns all the rulers of the nations: “Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him (Ps. 2:10-12). Our hearts must turn to Him in absolute obedience.
Revival of Heart is a Necessity
There needs to be a turning to God in this nation, there needs to be a revival. I do not mean a tent revival somewhere. I mean revival in the hearts of people, especially those of us who say we are Christians. If we will do what we need to do, God will use us to help other people realize what they need to do. If we do, God says that he will hear and forgive and heal our land. In other words, He is promising a rescue plan and to keep us from things that will invade, destroy, and devour us.
When God makes a promise, all the sovereign power of the Almighty God is behind that promise. He keeps it. There is nothing that can withhold the power of God. But where does it begin? It begins with His children. How many? The few we biblically called the remnant. Therefore, I am declaring today that there needs to be a remnant of people who must take God seriously in behalf of Liberia.
And you and I are part of that remnant to effect change. Such change does not start with millions of people, it starts with a remnant of people who are willing to take God seriously! I ask that you join me with a pledge by humbling yourself to God, depending on Him, pray daily for our nation, forsake sin, and choose to live godly. Let us make the pledge in prayer right now by saying to God that we will take a stand for Him in behalf of our homeland.
Dr. Alex Redd is a theologian and teacher. He can be reached at alredd23@gmail.com
