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May 1 A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE Read 2Chronicles 29-32. “And the LORD listened to Hezekiah and healed the people” (2Ch. 30:20). Hezekiah could not see the world wide offer of God when He said “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Is. 56:7); he did invite all of the northern tribes of Israel as well as Judah to partake in a great Passover unto their God! Assyrians had conquered Israel and were patrolling the land, so he secretly sent men from city to city to invite them. Some could not bring themselves to come but many “humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem” (30:11). They were celebrating their Independence Day when God set them free from Egyptian bondage to worship and serve Him. Most of the people had not cleansed themselves according of the laws of purification, so Hezekiah acted as a priest-king for the people praying, “May the good LORD provide atonement for everyone who prepares his heart to seek God … though he is not cleansed” (30:18-19). “And the LORD listened to Hezekiah and healed the people” (30:20)! May more of God's people learn to so pray for those whom the Lord lays on their hearts that as John says in 1John 5:16 God will give our brothers and sisters life when we pray for them! As seekers of God understand it is not the outward ceremony that makes one acceptable to God but the condition of the heart. The rules of purification were not wrong. Far from it, they were of God for they brought conviction to the hearts of the people. It is the cries of their hearts that were the “weightier matters of the law” (Mt. 23:23)! God responds to such cries with healing. A humble and contrite heart the Lord will not despise (Ps. 31:18, 52:18). The promise from the Cross is that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). Prayer: “Lord, You accepted me when I was lost and undone. May I see each one I meet as one for whom Christ died. Amen.” Evening Reading: Judges 13:1-14:20 John 1:29-51 Psalms 102:1-28 Proverbs 14:15-16 |
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