“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” (Revelation 3:11)
Many of us think eternity is “way out yonder.” But eternity is only a heartbeat or trumpet call away. Jesus is coming “in the twinkling of an eye.” Suddenly, cataclysmically, just like that—He comes.
Whatever we do, we must do with urgency—with all our heart and might. Our nation, indeed our world, is in crisis. We’re living in the last days. In the last 70 years, we’ve seen Israel restored as a nation after centuries of doubters scoffing that it was impossible. We’ve seen the development of the computer and microchip. Before long, bankers and politicians will want to abolish money and dictate that everyone must have a number to buy or sell. We live in days never seen before.
God is our sure defense and hope, prayer our greatest resource, yet surveys show even many ministers don’t spend 10 minutes a day praying! We mutter little prayers when we’re in trouble, but how many times do you miss a meal to pray? How many all-night prayer meetings have you had? How often do you pray with tears, urgency, and fervency? When the devil sees our prayer life, I believe he stands off and laughs. He knows that when we leave out the power of God through earnest, persistent prayer, our efforts are vain.
The prophet Daniel, as he read Jeremiah’s prophecies, realized the days were critical in God’s timetable for Israel. Similarly, I believe the hour today is desperate—saints must wake up and commit to serious prayer. Only believing, repenting prayer can hold back the flood tides of sin and judgment and release the cleansing power of the Lord Jesus Christ upon our personal lives and our nation.
A Call to Prayer
I’m calling the saints of God to prayer. Not ordinary prayer, but extraordinary prayer—serious, concentrated prayer to touch the heart of God.
Daniel set his face to pray (Daniel 9:3). Have you ever desperately sought the Lord? Your rhetoric or eloquence doesn’t get your prayers to God, but faith and fervency. We witness without tears. We pray without fasting. No wonder we sow without reaping and have powerless prayer lives. Prayer and fasting are the order of the day.
We’re in a cosmic battle, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. Prayer is an intercontinental missile that travels at the speed of light. No other missile can shoot it down. We can pray with fasting and send that missile against the enemies of righteousness. Our Lord Jesus expects us to pray (Matthew 6).
Israel was in trouble because of national sin. God had brought the Babylonians (modern day Iraq) against them. Sometimes when God’s judgment is coming against a nation, if that nation will fast and pray, His judgment will be stayed (Jonah 3:5). Our God is a God of righteousness, judgment, and justice, but He’d rather show mercy than send judgment.
At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. (Jeremiah 18:7-8)
Shatter the Enemy’s Strongholds!
America needs to confess our national sins of pride, materialism, neglect of the poor and the needy, racism, sexual immorality, the merciless killing of the unborn, and Godless humanism that bans the name of God from the public square.
Pray confessing personal sin and national sin—not merely to get out of trouble so people can go back to their own careless, selfish lives! Our desire must be for the glory of God. Do you want revival for your nation’s sake or for God’s sake? When we begin to pray for the glory of God, God moves in.
You may say, “Oh, I know about the untapped power in prayer.” But it’s time to not just know but act! It is prayer time in America. People who know our God must seek His face for our nation.
