I've been seeking the Lord a lot, asking Him to give me the right Scripture. This is what I've been praying. I've been praying, Lord give me the message that's going to help the most people that is watching and the most people that is listening. And there's been some Scripture on my mind for about almost a month now. I've been thinking about it and praying about it and asking the Lord If I should preach it or if I shouldn't, how should I do it? And the Lord dealt with me that tonight would be a good night to preach the scripture. If I have a Bible and you're watching from home, I'd ask you to turn to 2nd Chronicles and chapter number seven. And it's a real familiar verse for a lot of people. And as I was praying about the scripture, The Lord dealt with me kindly in a little different way about how to preach this message tonight. And I pray this will be an encouragement to you and a help to you. Second Chronicles chapter number seven, I'm going to begin reading tonight in verse number 11. It says, Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord, in the king's house and all that came in Solomon's heart to make in the house of the Lord. In his own house he properly affected. And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people. It says, 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. Now my eyes shall be open and my ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen, sanctified this house that my name may be there forever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. I thank Pastor Jason for praying for us, and I appreciate those that are listening. This scripture's been on my heart now for quite some time. It's funny how the Lord first began to deal with me about this scripture and this message. It was towards the end of December, and the Lord began to deal with me personally about my life. And the Lord began to show me that I wasn't ready. And of course, I began to pray and ask the Lord, Lord, what do you want me to be ready for? What are you trying to get me ready for? And the Lord just kept dealing with me when I would pray at night, personally, just in my prayer time, the Lord would deal with me personally. Keith, you're not ready. And I began to pray and ask the Lord, Lord, what do I need to do to be ready? Whatever it is that's coming, Lord, what do I need to do to be ready? And the Lord began to speak to me about my prayer time. And the Lord began to deal with me about my Bible study time and just my Bible reading time. And the Lord began to specifically show me some things in my life as a Christian that I needed to, what I would call, step it up a little bit. To step it up. And I began to ask the Lord, all right, Lord, if you're dealing with me about this, then what do I need to do? Because there's been times in my Christian life before to where I felt led to maybe do something extra, and sometimes it would turn into a burden, and sometimes it would turn into like a heavy weight, and eventually I would just quit. And the Lord dealt with me. He said, no, this is to help you. And it's up to you. You don't have to do it. It's not like I'm going to strip the ministry from you if you don't, but I want you to be prepared because of what's coming. So the Lord began to deal with me to step up my Christian life. And that's the title of the message tonight. It's time to step it up. It's time to step it up. So then the Lord began to show me. And little by little, it was not grievous, it was not some type of heavy burden that God had placed on me, but more it was a relief. It was more of a victory that God was giving me in my life. And the more that I would spend time with Him in prayer, and the more that I would spend time in God's Word, the greater the blessings begin to grow in my life personally, spiritually for me. And then the Lord began to deal with me about these verses. I'm studying in 2 Chronicles and you get to chapter number 6. Let me just kind of share with you what's taking place before we get to our text that we read tonight. We see that Solomon begins to pray. Solomon is King David's son. Solomon had been given much wisdom and had been blessed with many goods. We find that Solomon had been given the task of the building of the house of the Lord. Chapter six, we see the prayer of Solomon that begins in verse number 12, and in the verse number 13, it tells us that this was the beginning of Solomon's prayer. You'll find there in chapter six, verses 12 and 13, you'll find where Solomon goes to his knees, and the Bible says, and then he raises his hands towards heaven, and he begins to pray to God. Solomon kneeled down before all the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands toward heaven and said, there is no God like thee in heaven and on the earth. And he said, oh Lord, will you hearken unto the prayer when thy servant prays? And he says, and Lord, when you hear, when you hear my prayer, he said, Lord, will you forgive? He goes on in chapter 6 and he says, I know that we have sinned against our neighbors, and I pray that you would forgive. He said, we have walked away from you, Lord, and would you forgive? He said, would you hear from heaven, and would you forgive your people? He said, would you show your people your good way? Would you show us the way that we need to walk there in? And Lord, if we walk not, he said, Lord, would you forgive us? Lord, when your people pray from their dwelling place, Lord, you are the only one who knows the hearts of men. Solomon said, Lord, when we all pray from our places of dwelling, he said, you know all of our hearts. You're the only one that knows our hearts. He said, Lord, would you help us and would you forgive us? Lord that we may walk in your ways and that all the people of Israel, and then he goes on and says this, and all the people of the earth, that they will know your name. This is Solomon's prayer in chapter six. And that this house that I have built, he said that it would be called by your name. And he said, if we sin against thee. And he goes on in chapter 60, he says, for we know that no man sinneth not. Solomon realized that all men have sinned and come short of God's glory. And he said, Lord, when we do sin, he said, forgive us. They turn to thee with their heart, with all of their soul. And we begin to pray towards our land that you've given to us. He said, Lord, forgive your people. I'll let you have sinned against me. And he goes on and he says, I beseech thee or I beg thee. He said, let your eyes be upon us and let your ears attend unto our prayer that is made in this place. We begin to study the prayer of Solomon in chapter number six. It takes us into chapter number seven, and it's very interesting how that chapter starts, because in 2 Chronicles 7, it says, Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifice, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priest could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement and worshiped and praised the Lord saying, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. Man, when I begin to think about that, the Lord began to remind me of how He dealt with me back in December You need to be ready. Speaking to me personally, that I need to be ready for what's coming. And it was a personal challenge. And the Lord began to show me that I wasn't ready. I had no idea what it was. I had mentioned to our church in January that I felt that maybe something was going to happen this year. We need to be ready for it. I mentioned that in a message. But more than anything, I had such a desire of God dealing with me personally. And my prayer tonight is this, that somehow through this message and somehow through the preached Word of God, but more than anything, through the Scriptures, that God would remind you how important it is that not only that I be ready, but that you be ready. That all of us be ready. For whatever it is that's ahead of us in our lives. I guess it could be this virus that's going around, but it could be something greater than that. It could be a revival that God wants to send into our church. It could be souls that need to be lifted up and encouraged. It could be that the Lord knew, because He knows all, that I could have gotten real discouraged and really tore up. I have no idea, but I do know this. I know this for a fact. that I needed to get ready for whatever it is that lies ahead of me in my life. Good? Possibly even bad. I don't know. When I began to think on that, the Lord began to deal with me about these scriptures again. When I began to study this, I was thinking about Solomon and finished the house of the Lord, and Solomon had prayed this great prayer, He was praying that God would forgive and that whatever it was in their life that didn't need to be there, that God would help them and heal them and move that from them. And then the Lord heard Solomon's prayer. In verse number 12 of chapter 7, I have heard thy prayer. I've heard thy prayer. And I'm so thankful that as a child of God, when we call on the name of the Lord, He hears our prayers. It's funny because, not funny, but God's will, how the Lord began to deal with me about this message. And just today on my phone, I've got three separate text messages in a group, and all three of them have said the same thing. We would like for a million people to band together and help us pray for the virus and pray for our country. Are you willing to keep this going through text messages that a million people would bind together in prayer for our country and for each other? I think it's interesting that I got those three separate group texts today while I was studying. I got one just a few minutes ago before the service started. Would you bind together with us in this prayer? The Lord heard Solomon's prayer, and then I find that not only did the Lord hear Solomon's prayer, but it says the Lord talked to Solomon that night, and he showed him some things. Now, I was interested in how this is written in the Word of God. The way that I'm studying this, and you can study it in a different way, but the way that the Lord began to deal with me about this is the Lord heard Solomon's prayer, and then the Lord began to speak to Solomon during the night, and then the Lord shared some things with Solomon. If, if, if, three different ifs, if this was to happen, Solomon, if this was to happen, Solomon, and if this was to happen, This is what you need to do. Verse number 13. If I shut up heaven, then there be no rain. If that was to happen, Solomon, what are you going to do? And I would ask you tonight, if you're listening, if there was no rain, what would we do? What are we gonna do about that? It's out of our control. It's bigger than we are. But what would we do if that was to happen? That's the word there, if. If I shut up the heaven, that there would be no rain. If I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people, what are we gonna do if that happens? If that happened, what would we do? You know, I began to think about that in that way. If this happens in my life or if that happened in your life, what are we going to do? You know, one of my biggest fears during this time of things shutting down. One of my biggest fears of not being able to have church in the church house full of people. One of my biggest fears is, what are people gonna do when all of this is over? And it will come to an end. What's people gonna do? I believe there will be some that will come to the church houses, not just this church, but churches all around our country. They will come to the church houses. They will be excited about the things of God. They will have a new fire deep within their souls. They will have a new excitement for the things of God. When the choir sings, the songs will sound different. When the pastors preach, the message will seem different. When we pray at our altars, the prayer will seem different. And I believe there will be a lot of people just really be thankful to be able to come back and worship with friends and family that God's placed you with. But there'll be also others that during this time, they're not seeking the Lord. They've got out of their habits. They've got out of their routines. They've got out of the habit already of attending a church service somewhere. And my fear is that some people has laid their Bible down and not even picked it up. My fear is that some people has not even tuned in to a service on a Facebook Live or a church's broadcast through their website or whatever. And they've just kindly just backed away and backed off on the things of God. That's scary to me if that's you or if you know someone in that condition. So what will we do if there is no rain? What will we do if our land is devoured? What will we do if pestilence is among the people? What will we do in hard times? How will we handle it? How will we get through it? How will we press on? What will we do, church? How are we going to make it? I've thought about this a lot here lately, and I've seen it happen in a lot of people's lives. When difficult situations comes in people's lives, they handle it in two different ways. And I'm finding it's consistent with every Christian that I talk to, no matter their age. When hard things come in Christians' lives, one or two things will happen. It will make them so bitter, they will get so mad, they will begin to get so flustered towards God that they'll almost begin to push God away in their lives. I've seen that happen to people. And then the other side of that is I've seen Christian people, when hard things come and when situations come, I've seen it make them better. I've seen them fall on their knees and call on the God of heaven and call their friends and call their church family and say, I need help. I need prayer. I need somebody here with me. I need somebody to help walk me through this. And I need the Lord's help. I need the Lord's strength because I cannot make it without the Lord through this situation. And I would ask you tonight, if there's no rain, if there's no rain, if the locusts devour the land, if the pestilence is among our people, what are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? When I begin to study this and think about it, I read after some writers today, and some writers say this about these verses. This scripture does not apply to us at all. If you read this scripture as context, you'll realize that Solomon was the king of Israel and that Solomon was speaking to Israel, and it only applies to the nation of Israel. I understand that. I really do. I get that. I do. I wouldn't argue with that at all. I realize this is talking to the nation of Israel, and I realize that this house that was built, and I realize who Solomon is. I agree with that 100%, but I also know this. As I began to study this, the Lord showed me that I am also a part of his people. And if you've asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord, you are also a part of God's people. Yes, we realize in its context that this is speaking to the nation of Israel. I agree with that, but I also realize that it's also speaking to me. And if you are a Christ follower, if you have realized you as a sinner and you've asked Jesus to be your Savior, you are also a part of these people. You say, prove that to me. I'm glad you asked. Romans 1, 6 says, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. That is the non-Jew, that is the Gentile. We're a part of God's people. The Bible teaches us in Galatians 3, 28, we are all one in Christ Jesus. He teaches us in the New Testament, there is no difference between the Jew. There is no difference between the Greek. There is no difference between the male and the female. We are all one in Christ. We've accepted him as Savior and Lord. So yes, we are a part of God's people. Those who have called on Christ as Savior, we are God's people. So I can read 2 Chronicles 7 and verse number 14 and I can apply this verse to me if my people, if my people, I am a part of God's people, I am a part of God's family. And so are you if you've accepted Christ as Savior. We are God's people and called by His name. The Lord brought a verse to my heart today as I was studying Acts 11, 26. He said they was called Christians first in Antioch. So what I say to you tonight as I am preaching this message, He is speaking and He says, if my people, which are called by my name, if you are listening tonight to this message and you proclaim to be a Christian, a cross follower, one who has accepted Christ as Savior and Lord in your life, then guess what? We can apply this verse to us! If my people, which are called by my name, and I believe this as much as I'm standing here tonight, the Lord began to deal with me with this back in December. Look, you need to get ready. You need to step it up. You need to be what I want you to be. Because something's coming. Who are God's people? It's those who have accepted Christ. What do we call ourselves? We're the family of God. Christians The next thing that he says is my people which are called by my name. It says shall humble themselves Wow humble themselves James 4 6 says God gives grace to the humble James 4 10 humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord first Peter 5 5 and 6 gives grace to the humble humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God humble is a condition of our hearts I'm telling you, in the day that we're living in, I believe that Christ is calling out for people to humble themselves. Humble yourselves. There's no time for us to be full of ourselves. There's no time for us to walk around with our heads up in the air and our chest all poked out. There's no time for that in the day that we're living in. If God's people, those who are called by His name, He says, you're gonna have to humble yourself. You say, Preacher Keith, why do you think all this is going on? I don't know. I don't know. I've been praying that the Lord would give me a little better insight into this so that I could share it with the congregation that I pastor. But I'm going to be honest with you about something. I don't know. I do know this. I know God's ways is above my ways. I know God's thoughts are so far above our thoughts. I have no idea. I'm not going to say, well, this is happening because of this, or this is happening because of that, or this is happening because of this group of people, or this is happening because of that group of people. All I know is this. All I know is what God is trying to show me personally, and I'm thankful for it. I can't even say what God's going to try to show you through this message because I have no idea. But I know what God's showing me. God has reminded me of what He showed me in December, that I need to get ready. I need to be what I need to be for the Lord. I think that's probably a problem in the day that we live in. Everybody wants to tell everybody else, this is why, that's what's going on, this is what's happening in the world, and this is why this is happening now. Let me tell you something, all I know is, is what God is speaking to me personally about, and God has been speaking to me personally in my prayer time since December, that I need to step it up as a Christian. I need to. I can't speak for you. or my family that's here, or Brent's family that's here, or Pastor Jason's family, but I know what God's showing me. And that's all I'm accountable for. That's all I can do. Humble yourself, Keith. Humble yourself, Keith Watkins. Wow. And pray. If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray. Pray. Matthew 6, 6 says, pray in your secret place. Matthew 26 says, watch and pray. 1 Thessalonians 5, 17 says, pray without ceasing. Seek the Lord's face. Hebrews 11, 6, he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. I know, I know this for a fact. Whether there's a coronavirus going on or whether there's not, I know this for a fact. The Lord wants me to humble myself, and the Lord wants me to pray, and the Lord wants me to seek His face. I know that for me. I hope He's showing you what you need to do tonight. Humble yourself, son, and pray. Pray. Don't miss a night. Don't miss a day. Don't miss a morning. Don't put it off. Cut off the TV. Cut off the computer. Quit looking on your cell phone. Spend time with me. That's the only thing that's gonna help right now, church. Spending time with the Lord. Spend time with the Lord. This is for me personally. I'm part of God's people. I'm part of His family. That's who I am. Which are called by my name. I call myself a born again believer, a Christ father. Shall humble themselves and pray. Yes, I'm thankful that there's a text message that is going around for us to pray. I'm thankful that they're trying to get a million people to join up in this huge group text to pray. But what are we gonna pray? What are we praying? Lord help me. That's what I need to pray. If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Wow, the Lord began to deal with me about that. Turning from my wicked ways. Some would even say, oh, I want you to become a cross follower. There is nothing to turn from. Come on now. I was in my house last night talking to my family. I said something to my wife that I shouldn't have said. It was nothing vulgar. It was nothing ungodly. I just made a comment about something in our family, in her family. And the Lord began to deal with me last night, and I told my wife, I said, honey, I'm sorry, I should have never said that. It's those little things in our life. It's those things in our life that we know that we shouldn't say, we know that we shouldn't do. It's just those things in our life, and we know what it is. The Lord will show us what it is. But so many times what we'll do is we'll say, oh, it ain't that big of a deal. Oh, don't worry about it. Oh, you might even be saying, oh, ain't even nobody even knows. Well, you know what? God knows. You say, are you trying to preach to us some type of sinless perfection? No. No, but I read where even the apostle Paul said there's things in my life that I shouldn't do and I don't want to do but I find myself doing them and even the things that I know that I should do then I turn around and I won't do them. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. I'm preaching to me tonight. Lord, help me. Lord, to humble myself and to pray and to seek your face and to turn from those things in my life that don't need to be there. I even thought about writing down a whole list of things tonight and bringing them out in this message. And the Lord dealt with me. No, you won't do that. I don't want you to do that. I just want you to preach that we need to turn from our wicked ways. He's talking to believers. He's talking to those who are in the family of God, to the Jew and the Greek. Turn, turn from that. I prayed last night. I said, Lord, search me and try me and know my ways and see if there'd be any wicked way in me. I prayed that last night before I went to bed. Lord, help me, Jesus. Lord, help you. And as believers, we would get serious about living for our Savior. This is a serious time. I'm glad the Lord hears. I'm glad the Lord forgives. But tonight, I'm thankful that the Lord heals. 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 sins and will heal their land. I'm so thankful for that tonight. If the Lord don't hear us when we pray, if the Lord don't forgive when we mess up, and if the Lord can't heal, then what are we going to do? I mean, what are we going to do? How are we going to make it? How are we going to keep going? If the Lord can't hear, if the Lord don't forgive, and if the Lord can't heal, then guess what? We're in trouble. We're all in trouble. But I'm glad our God has ears to hear and eyes to see and hands and feet. And I'm glad our God knows exactly what's going on in our lives. Jesus says in the book of James, confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. We need to pray like we never prayed before. I believe that. I need to pray, Lord, help Keith. Lord, help Keith. Help me, Lord. I was just thinking to myself, what a blessing it would be if right now, I mean, I was just thinking what a blessing it would be if right now Christians that's listening, how many other people's listening? Some might even have went ahead and cut it off, I have no idea, but how many other people is listening if right now they begin to say, Lord, search me and show me because Lord, I want to be what I need to be for you. See if there be any wicked way in me, Lord, and lead me in the right paths. And as Solomon prayed, Lord, forgive. I bring my gift to the altar, but I have ought against my neighbor. I have something going on with my neighbor, and I leave that gift, and I go and I make that right. And then I come back and I offer my gift in the altar. Lord, help me. Help me, Lord. Lord, would you heal our nation? God, would you heal our land? God, would you heal me, my family, our church family? I can just picture this. I can just picture people all over in our churches spending a long time with God, spending time in prayer, spending time in the Word. I realize none of us are perfect, but having a heart's desire just to seek the Lord's face, having a stronger desire than ever just to pray and call on the name of the Lord, having a stronger desire than ever before in our Christian lives just to walk and be what Christ would have us to be, realizing that yes, we will fall, Realizing, but we gotta get back up again. I just picture in my heart and in my mind, people being serious about the things of God. And then when we finally do get to come back to church. I just picture it. I picture people sitting all over this auditorium. And God's presence being so real in their lives as an individual. That when we come in collectively as a body of Christ, I can just see it. God's Spirit blowing through this place. People coming to the altars and getting born again. The choir singing like it's happened in this church time and time and time again. And at times I feel like the roof's about to blow off of this place. People with their hands up in the air praising and worshiping God. I can see it. But the only person that I have any control over on the face of this planet is me. That's the only one. For the longest time as a pastor, I thought I had to fix everybody. For the longest time as a pastor, I thought, oh no, I've got to try to help fix everybody in the church. And God dealt with me. Son, the only one you can fix is you. Concentrate on what you need to do. Concentrate on what you need to be. God began to do that with me in December. And I ain't nowhere near where I need to be. But I ain't nowhere near what I used to be. And I've got a long ways to go, I'll admit it. But I have a burden like I ain't never had before. I will just do what God wants me to do. That's it. That's all. Lord, what do you want me to do? Your yoke is easy and your burden's light. You're not gonna put more on me than what I can do or handle. But he loves us. We're his children. and He longs for us to spend time with Him. All He wants is for His children to talk to Him. I'll read the rest of these verses and we'll have a prayer. And mine eyes shall be opened and my ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house My name be there forever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. Lord, help me to pray like I've never prayed before. And Lord, help me to seek your face. And Lord, help me while I'm praying, while I'm seeking you, If there's something in here that don't need to be, God, give me the strength to push it away. Through this time, when we begin to assemble back together as a church family, I don't want to be out of your wheel, God. I don't want to be so far off on some crazy something. that I can't even leave the church that God's allowed me, give me the grace to even be able to pastor. But oh God, may my heart be in tune with you. Just in tune with you. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, we love you. We thank you, Lord, for your word. I realize who you're talking to in these scriptures. But God, you made it so real and personal for me. God, I pray that you would help me, God. Help me to seek you. And help me to serve you. Help me to pray. Because God, I know that you hear our prayers. I know you do. Your word tells us. I know that you forgive. And I know that you heal. God, would you help me? And Lord, if they'd be one, just one more tonight, that your Holy Spirit through the word of God has spoke to them. God, would you give them a desire to live for you like never before? Help us, Lord, to pray. In Jesus' name.