"If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sins and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers made in this place, for I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever, and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually."
– 2 Chronicles 7:14-16 ABV
…that's the Alicia Britton version, if you were curious. There are a few mistakes in there (like "sins" instead of "sin"), but since I am working on memorizing more Scriptures, I figured I'd give it a shot. 🙂
Those verses are what I have been (mostly) thinking about lately; that as God's chosen and sanctified people, not only will God always hear us, forgive us, and heal us, but His eyes and heart will be with us perpetually, and His eyes and ears will be attentive to us! What a promise! Of course, that's if we humble ourselves, pray, seek Him, and turn away from our sin, but that doesn't seem too hard when you compare life with God to life without God.
I don't know if I've ever meant this more in my life, but I love God. I mean, I am head-over-heels, can't-wait-to-spend-time-with, ready-to-give-up-everything, that-girl-Alicia-is-kind-of-weird in love with Him! I have found my love for Him harder to express outwardly in Thailand and to be honest, I'm not sure why, but change is from the inside-out anyway; I'll get there. Right now, Psalm 63:1-8 does the best job of explaining how I feel. My prayer for myself, and for you, is that this is how we feel, all day and every day…
"O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy. I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely."
– Pslam 63:1-8 NLT
