Our focus this week in Crisis Counsels is the Word that God speaks to King Solomon following the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem, where God tells Solomon that the people will find an answer for times of trouble if they turn to God. II Chronicles chapter 7 says:

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer . . . When the heavens are shut up so that there is no rain, or the locust devours the land, or pestilence comes among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
II Chronicles 7:12-14

Yesterday we noted how these verses call people first of all to “humble themselves.” The verses then continue with the instruction to pray and to seek God’s face. To seek God’s face means to enter the presence of God; and this essentially is what prayer is. It is not simply speaking words to God. To pray means to join in fellowship with God, in which we are not only expressing our concerns to God but listening for God’s answers, and opening our hearts to the touch of God’s Spirit. This is what we most fundamentally need in times of crisis. We need not only particular forms of help from God; we need God. So, in the midst of crisis, we are enjoined to “seek God’s face.”

Prayer – Draw us, O Lord, into connection with You. Share on X

If you missed Sunday worship, you can join with the recorded service of either the 9:30 or 10:30 worship hours at live.kentmethodist.org

About the Author

Dr. David A. Palmer has been the senior pastor at the United Methodist Church of Kent since 1995. He has a B.A. from Wittenberg University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. A native of Wooster, Ohio, he has served three other churches in east Ohio before coming to Kent. He and his wife, Mavis, have three children.