2 Chronicles 7:12-14
The Lord appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:12-14 (NIV)
"Tell him/her you're sorry and make sure you mean it." We have all likely said this to a young child. Have you walked away from someone apologizing to you thinking, “They are not really sorry”? I wonder how many times God listens to our confessions and thinks, do we really mean it? That is where these verses lay out how we are to ask for forgiveness. I am always thankful for a “how-to”; thank goodness the Bible is full of “how-to's”. God’s how-to instructions to Solomon and us on how to ask for forgiveness is as follows:
- Humble ourselves - we must admit we have sinned and be humble enough to express that to God and others.
- Pray - Not only do we have to admit our sins, we need to go to God in prayer and ask God and others for their forgiveness.
- Seek God - we must continue to seek God. We must continue to pray and ask God to forgive us and help us do better.
- Turn from our sinful ways - We need to change our behavior. If we are asking for God to forgive us, we must change our ways and behavior.
When I think back to those times that either I have asked for forgiveness or others have asked me for forgiveness, if the above four conditions have been met it truly feels like a genuine apology. If one of the four conditions is not met, that is when we think the apology is not sincere. The Bible is full of “how to’s”; now we just have to put them into practice. How amazing this world would be if we all were able to follow God’s instructions!
Questions for Reflection:
-
Think of an apology that was not sincere. Which of the four conditions provided by God was missing? Would it have made a difference if all four were met?
-
How can we rephrase our instructions to our young children to help them learn how to ask for forgiveness as God has instructed.
Prayer
God of forgiveness, thank You for providing us instructions on how to forgive and for answering our prayers of forgiveness. We may not always be worthy of Your forgiveness, but You are a patient God and You wait on us.
Login To Leave Comment