God has much more of His presence and power that He wants to give you right now. All that’s required is that you surrender to His will and continually cry out for His help.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God states conditions for spiritual awakening. It isn’t addressed to individuals. It’s something God’s people are called to do when we meet together: 1) Humble ourselves, 2) Pray, 3) Seek God’s face, and 4) Turn from our wicked ways.

None of that involves passively listening to a sermon. A great way to begin to obey that verse is to gather with Christians to spontaneously and humbly walk in the light together by testifying, quoting Scriptures, praying, sharing revelations, confessing, repenting, and singing together as prompted by the Spirit while absorbed in the adoration of the risen Jesus. See 1 Corinthians 14:26.

Unfortunately, instead of walking in the light together, church is often a safe spot for Christians to be religious Lone Rangers. It has become a place where people can hide from spiritual interaction and personal accountability.

Darkness is inviting and alluring because it gives us a false sense of isolation from the rebellion, brokenness, and corruption in our heart. Darkness empowers us to feel like we aren’t that bad and to sincerely say and believe that “I’m a good person,” when the Bible clearly states that “There is none righteous, no not one.”

It’s only by coming into God’s light with other people and humbly uncovering the truth about who we really are deep down inside that we begin to fully embrace grace, mercy, forgiveness, healing, and deliverance. We need to abide (24/7/365) in God’s light, not to hide in the cover of night!

When we stop being hungry and passionate for a deeper experience with God, we settle for less than He wants to give us. When we think we don’t need God and that we don’t need to spiritually connect with other Christ-followers then we don’t pursue God and instead settle into religious complacency.

Ego makes grace a no-go. It’s a grace rejector. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Whether consciously or unconsciously, when you disconnect from God, you reject or neglect His appeals to interact heart-to-heart with Him and with other believers. If your relationship with Jesus is bland and routine. then you’re not seeking first the kingdom of God and walking in the Light with Him and with others in the body of Christ.

So how can we more effectively live out 2 Chronicles 2:14? Let’s meet together to:

1. Embrace humility. Instead of protecting our pride, let’s openly and honestly humble ourselves in front of each other by obeying God’s Spirit no matter how embarrassing it may seem to be.
2. Pray. Praying is not a spectator sport. The preacher can’t do your praying for you. Everyone needs to be free to pray aloud and to pour their heart out to God openly in the congregation. The Bible calls for “fervent” prayer. Let’s embrace and encourage that kind of heart-felt passionate praying when we meet together.
3. Seek God’s face. When we meet, we need to “draw near to God,” not to keep our distance. Let’s be completely honest with God, with ourselves, and with each other as we actively and intently pursue intimacy with the living God. When we meet together let’s be attentive to and courageously obey His inner promptings.
4. Turn from our wicked ways. The New Testament calls the turning away from sin repentance and confession. It says: “Confess your sins to one another.” Let’s be brave enough to actually do that when we gather in Jesus’ name. If you don’t think you have any sins that you should openly confess, sincerely ask God to show you anywhere that you’re off track. When He does walk in the light you just received and openly confess.