We read this statement in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “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.”
In the original Hebrew this verse reads, “shall be humbled,” because only God can humble someone. For each child of God, humility is not an option but a way of life, as God indicates in Isaiah 57:15, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Indeed, everything we have received from God – both physical as well as spiritual benefits – are gifts from God’s gracious hand. Even His corrections and chastisements demonstrate His perfect, loving care and concern for each of His beloved children as He conforms them to the image of his dear Son.
James 4:6 affirms, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
We would do well to heed the admonition of James 4:2-3, “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
Could it be that our petitions would always include the words the Lord Jesus uttered, “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done,” and as James 4:15 states, “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”