Let me ask – if we were to start this nation all over again today, do you think we would put “In God We Trust” on our currency? Are we a nation still under God?
It was a cold winter day on January 20, 1981, the clouds threatened to snow any minute. This was the day when Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president. He did something that no other President before him had done – he was sworn in on the west side of the capital overlooking the Washington Monument.
Reagan noted that when he got up to take the oath of office, all of the sudden the thick clouds just seemed to disappear into thin air. Reagan said about that day, I felt an explosion of warm light on my face just as I was reciting the same oath that George Washington recited. Not only was my right hand on my mother’s Bible, but my hand was over 2 Chronicles 7:14 – a verse that was very important to me and my presidency.”
By the way, next to that verse in his mother’s Bible – Nelle Reagan wrote,"A most wonderful verse for the healing of this nation.”
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Did you know that the average age of the great civilizations in history lasted only 200 years? Technically that means that America is on borrowed time! There is no question that America is a hurting nation and seriously showing signs of crumbling from within! How is her pulse?
Areas that are greatly affecting America’s pulse rate:
• Even though we only have 6% of the world’s population, we have 80% of the world’s divorces.
• America leads the world in murders, rapes, violent crimes and drug use.
• America consumes 79% of all the whiskey, liquor and beer in the world.
• America has the highest high school drop out rate of any other industrialized nation in the world. And we spend more on education than any other nation.
You tell me – how strong is her pulse rate? Is there still any sign of life? Does America have a heart problem? Has sin so clogged her arteries that there is very little blood flow left?
America’s greatest threat is not – terrorism, liberalism, socialism, atheism, revisionism and intellectualism. It’s not North Korea, Iran, India, Pakistan or China. America’s greatest threat is not bigger government, spineless politicians, and rising debt – her greatest threat is God!
The way I see things – America is ripe for revival!
In this verse God not only says that there’s a possibility of revival but also the probability of revival. This verse is not just for Israel but for God’s people anywhere at any time! God’s people with God’s power 233 years ago birthed this great country and today we as God’s people with God’s power can bring a rebirth to this nation!
Revival starts only with the people of God who are called by His name, gathered in His house, dependant on His Spirit and armed with His Word. Think about it – revival is not for the sinner but for the saint! Because sinners need regeneration and saints need revival!
Psalm 85:6 “Will you not revive us again that Your people might rejoice in You again?”
My biggest concern is that God’s people are waiting for America to get right first and then things will get better! For example – if we could just elect enough godly people to government, get rid of all the abortions, end the drug addiction and save social security – then everything will be better!
You see - if we really get down to it – instead of the church waiting for America to get right, I think America is waiting on the church to get right!
It’s not the atheist, Buddhist, abortionist and the Satanist that’s need revival…it’s the lukewarm Christian and the lifeless Church that it and it starts right here with me and this church!
Gypsy Smith, a British Evangelist in the early 20th Century believed that the way to have a revival is to draw a circle around yourself, get down on your knees and pray, “Lord send a revival and let it begin inside this circle.”
My goal today is to turn on the light for some and light up the burners for others! God is saying to all of us – “If My people who are called by My name” will do 4 things, there will be revival! This is a pivotal prayer for America!
1. We Must Conquer Pride.
“Humble themselves”
“Humble” = to bend the knee or submit to authority.
This is one of the essential ingredients to experiencing revival in a church, city, county or country! Right now my concern is that we haven’t gotten low enough to experience revival!
Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near those who have a broken heart.”
Remember a few years ago when Mr. Newdal and the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco tried to take “Under God” out of the pledge of allegiance? Why was that so serious? Why only those 2 words? Why did they say it was unconstitutional? Because the Courts in America have become a snap shot of America! America reeks in her pride and is rank in her self-sufficient and it stinks to high heaven!
Think about it – we are too just to hang the 10 Commandments in the Court house, we are too wise to hang the 10 Commandments in the School House, and we are too good to hang the 10 Commandments in the State House!
The #1 reason we are turning our backs on God and will not submit ourselves “Under God” is not because we are a powerful society, not because we are a productive society, not because we are a pluralistic society, but because we are a prideful society! You see pride says to God, “I don’t need you”, “I don’t want you” and “I don’t care about you!”
President Abraham Lincoln cautioned America over the curse of slavery when he urgently addressed his 19th century nation saying, “We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grow…Intoxicated by unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”
If we conquer pride – we will have revival!
2. We Must Continue In Prayer.
“Pray”
I’m convinced that the devil laughs when he sees the strongest saint standing on his feet and the weakest saint on his knees! We will never have heaven sent revival without prayer!
Notice God says “Seek my face” as we pray!
This means taking time out of our busy schedules, climbing the corporate ladder, raising the kids, in between our personal wants, the doctor’s report and get back in God’s presence more than just Sunday!
Until America seeks “God’s face” we will continue to make the wrong decisions about solving our problems!
• We say we want more money for our schools – so America legalizes gambling – did we seek God’s face?
• We say we need to stop teen pregnancy – so America legalizes abortion, shouts down abstinence and pass out condoms like they are candy – did we seek God’s face?
• We say we need to protect our children from sexual perverts – so America gives them less than a year in jail – did we seek God’s face?
• We say we want to stop AIDS – so America proclaims “Just practice safe sex!”– did we seek God’s face?
• We say we want to stop the flood of illegal immigrants – but America gives them welfare and a drivers license – did we seek God’s face?
Do you ever get the idea that we’re just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?
What is revival? It’s the light of God that shines in a nation’s darkness, it’s the love of God that breaks through a nation’s dullness and it’s the life of God that flows through a nation’s deadness! Pivotal Prayer is the key concerning America’s revival!
We need to be a nation of people that are more interested in the person of God than personal gold, more consumed in God’s righteousness than getting rich and more determined to achieve spiritual victories than acquiring personal vices!
If we continue in prayer – we will have revival!
3. We Must Commit to Purity.
“And turn from your wicked ways”
This phrase in the New Testament is only one word - repentance!
Psalm 66:18 “If I regard sin in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
Isaiah 59:2 “Your sins have hidden His face from you so He cannot hear you.”
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
So let’s look at our own lives and ask how are we doing?
If we commit to purity – we will have revival!
4. We Must Claim His Promise.
“Then I will hear their prayers, forgive their sins and heal their land”
Something that blows my mind when I think about it – God want to send real revival more than we want to receive it!
God’s Revival Promises:
• We will receive His favor.
“He will hear from heaven”
• We will receive His forgiveness.
“Forgive their sin”
• We will receive His fruitfulness.
“Heal their land”
God is saying to America, “I will heal any part of your society if society will just let me heal them!”
President Woodrow Wilson spoke his last speech to America with these words in it, “Our civilization will not survive materially unless it is redeemed spiritually.”
William Bennett is a great American, Secretary of Education, and a compelling writer. He wrote in wrote in his best seller, America: The Last Best Hope, “Material gains will never be enough for America, if we achieve full employment, have great economic growth, have cities of gold, but our children have not learned how to walk in goodness, justice and mercy, then the American experiment has failed.”
I ask – what good is it if our 401k’s sour in value? What good is it if every home has 2 Mercedes Benz in the garage? What good is it if every wrist has a Rolex Watch? What good is it if we have Gucci Wallets tucked in all our Calvin Kline Jeans? What good is it if we all have Michael Jordan Tennis Shoes? What good is all if our homes have no favor with God, our lives have no forgiveness from Jesus and our daily walk has no fruitfulness in Spirit?
I heard about a famous preacher by the name of Peter Cartwright.
He became one of the leaders of what we now refer to as the 2nd Great Awakening. Cartwright personally baptized over 12,000 people during his ministry. He was a Circuit rider and spent most of his ministry in Kentucky and Tennessee. He didn’t beat around the bush and was famous for telling it like it was.
In 1830 Cartwright was preaching a Revival at a church in Washington D.C. The pastor and the other leaders in the church found out that President Andrew Jackson was going to attend on Sunday morning. They were excited about the President’s visit, and didn’t want to offend him in any way. So they pulled Mr. Cartwright aside and said, “Listen Peter, the President is going to be here on Sunday and we know that sometimes you can get kind of offensive, so would you mind toning it down just a little. We wouldn’t want to upset the President.” Sure enough, the President attended the service that morning and when Peter stepped up to the pulpit this is what he said, “I understand that the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson is with us this morning. I have been asked to be guarded in my remarks. But the truth is, Andrew Jackson will go to hell is he doesn’t repent.”
The pastor and other church leaders were appalled, but when the service was over Andrew Jackson grabbed Mr. Cartwright’s hand, shook it and said, “Sir, if I had an army of men like you, I could whip the world.”
