The National Day of Prayer is this Thursday, May 6. The First Coast (metro Jacksonville, Florida) National Day of Prayer will be on Zoom this year from 7:00-8:00 pm. We will also be featuring live congregations in our area. The Zoom call IS OPEN TO ANYONE, ANYWHERE to join us in prayer. The Zoom link for the event is below.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82956602391?pwd=bXcrc2g4NmFvYzhYWkl5VWk2QXd3dz09
My wife, Myrna, and I are honored to coordinate this effort, especially since we are facing probably the most crucial time in the life of America.
With the moral and spiritual decline reaching seemingly a “crescendo” in our nation – with crises just in the last year or so such as the pandemic, riots, corruption, mass shootings, increased drug addiction and suicide, perverted sexual sin, the cancel culture, attacks on our free speech and Christian rights - we are seemingly headed into a hopeless “abyss” as a nation.
These problems did not just occur instantly but are the result of a decades-long decline in our Christian spiritual fiber that this country was molded by and which defined us for many years.
Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose for His inheritance.”
This applies to any nation. It is not too late for America to return to God as it has during previous revivals and awakenings, such as in 1730, which eventually led to the birth of this nation, in the early 1800s, and in the early 1900s. Although our country’s current critical condition may be unprecedented, each one of those previous awakenings in the U.S. were preceded by moral and spiritual crises, with things such as alcoholism, crime, atheism, lack of religious fervor, and rampant sin occurring as we see today. This led people to desperately seek God to save them and the nation. People humbled themselves and prayed, sought the Lord, and turned from their wicked ways; and God then brought healing to the land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
But sadly, it appears that people today are not burdened enough to do that. I am talking to myself, also. What will it take for us to humble ourselves before God, to repent, and to seek Him? Do we need to lose our jobs, retirement, health, and comfort before we turn to God? It is unpleasant to say, but things will definitely get worse if we do not act. We are in a spiritual battle, as it says in Ephesians 6:12, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
The enemy, Satan, will not relent in his attacks on us unless we come against his limited power by a greater spiritual weapon - the infinite power of the Holy Spirit. We can only fight the dark spiritual, demonic forces with a greater spiritual power. We can never defeat these demonic forces in our own human strength.
This will take humbling ourselves through prayer and fasting, repenting of our sins and seeking God through intimacy with Him. This will also take a renewed love and commitment to reading and meditating on His Word, the Bible, and depending on the Holy Spirit to speak to us through it, not relying on our flawed intellect.
Our churches need to go back to preaching God’s Word, as Jesus did and all the prophets in the Bible. We need to intercede for our nation and cry out for mercy from God like the great men in the Bible, Nehemiah and Daniel, and the prophets, Joel, Ezekiel, and others. Ezekiel 22:30 states, “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.” We need to be the ones who step up and “stand in the gap” and repent on behalf of the sins of our nation. One example would be that we need to “stand in the gap” and repent for the slaughter of tens of millions of the unborn in the U.S.
This will all only come through us making an intimate relationship with God through the Holy Spirit our utmost priority. This is what we were created for, to walk and talk with our Creator, who will speak to our heart, tell us how much He loves us, and tell us many other wonderful things. Psalms 63:3 states, “Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!”
We will never really live life to the fullest until we are filled with God’s perfect love. This only comes through intimacy with Him, where we come to Him in prayer and journaling and let Him do most of the talking. He will love on us and lead us to repentance as needed.
Everything we are looking for as individuals, we can find through an intimate relationship with God - overcoming the fear of death and experiencing complete forgiveness, total acceptance, unconditional love, joy in our hearts, total freedom, and much more.
It is up to us as individuals to bring revival into our own life and join with other believers to cry out for revival and awakening in our nation. God will hear us and heal our land and bring healing to us.
As we humble ourselves and seek intimacy with our perfectly loving creator, we will usher in the fourth great awakening in the U.S. It takes paying a price to humble ourselves and do what God asks, but it is really not that difficult and well worth it to transform us and our nation according to God‘s will – which is the very best way to live!
Will you join us as we seek revival in our own lives and also pray for revival and awakening for our nation on the National Day of Prayer this Thursday, May 6? We invite you to pray with us on our Zoom call at 7:00 pm as we declare God‘s Word in anticipation of His bringing healing to our land!
Revival IS happening - Click below for miracles, healings, and salvations
