If my people, who are called on my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.—2 Chronicles 7:14 New International Version
“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.”
—Ezekiel 22:30 New International Version
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. – James 5:16 New International Version
It was an ordinary Tuesday morning. People in New York City packed onto the freeways and subways to start another workday. It was just another day to punch the clock and play the market in the financial hub of Lower Manhattan. That morning a variety of people—secretaries, financial consultants, business executives, and other workers bustled into the elevators of the World Trade Center.
As they settled at their desks or in their office break rooms, they listened to office gossip or made some early business calls. It was around 8:45 a.m., however, that terror suddenly struck. Thus began a nightmare of events that would end up collapsing both towers of the World Trade Center, destroying a section of the Pentagon and four passenger planes.
For most of us when we heard of these events, it was all surreal—like something out of a movie. Later, however, reality began to settle in as we began to hear about some of the casualties. We experienced most of the stages of grief that day: denial, sadness, depression, and anger. We watched last week on television as normally stoic anchormen broke down in tears. Even our President cried. We sat in our living rooms trapped by the televised images of rubble, smoke, and debris. It was a day of multiple atrocities involving the hijacking of four planes and the killing of thousands of lives, and we could scarcely take it all in. Many of us felt so small and helpless.
Through it all, however, we saw great examples of courage, especially from the members of the New York fire and police departments. We watched as people of different races and denominations united in churches and public squares to sing patriotic songs and pray for our nation.
Like so many ministers I have been seeking God for a message to share during this tragic time. I too have been dealing with my own heartache and since of shock over this. What I keep coming back to is my own helplessness. What I keep seeing is that there is no quick four step formula to healing from this tragedy; however, what I keep hearing from God and many others is that this is a trumpet call to prayer.
When I look at history I think of another time when America faced a crisis. America was facing a great depression and many were in despair. The year was 1857.Our nation at that time was at both an economic and spiritual low. Attendance in churches had dwindled and there was a cynicism among many concerning religion.
It was in the midst of this spiritual crisis that God gave a man a vision. His name was Jeremiah Lanphier. Lanphier had a vision of starting a noontime prayer meeting at a mission in Fulton Street in New York City.
He went to great lengths to advertise this prayer meeting. His first meeting was held on September 23, 1857. When the doors opened at noon, no one seemed to come. At half past twelve, however, the steps of one man could be heard coming up the stairs. Soon another came and then another so that finally there was a total of six people there.
Soon the numbers of those attending the meetings increased. By October 14th over a hundred people were coming to the prayer meetings. Other buildings were needed to accommodate the large numbers of people coming. Churches began to open their doors, but they were not large enough as thousands began to come to these prayer meetings. By March of 1858, Burton’s Theatre which could hold up to 3,000 people was filled to overflowing. Soon firehouses, police stations, and other buildings were requested to house the prayer meetings that had spread like a wildfire in New York City.
But the prayer meetings did not stop in New York City. They spread throughout New York State, New England, and eventually across the entire nation. Many thousands were saved during the revival of 1858. It is interesting that this revival took place three years before the Civil War—the bloodiest war in American history. God in His sovereignty knew that thousands of American lives would be lost and that these people needed to come to a saving knowledge of Himself.
Several thousand American lives died on September 11th. How many of them had a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? Have we yet to experience an even greater tragedy than we did on that dark Tuesday? The Oklahoma City bombing seemed like such a colossal event until we witnessed the events of this month. If there were ever a time for churches to cry out for revival it is now! We see that the revival of 1858 began with just one prayer meeting of six people and eventually spread across the nation!
Now I want you to consider the two opening verses of this sermon:
"If my people, who are called on my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.—2 Chronicles 7:14 New International Version
Our response:
I. We in the church need to humble ourselves and seek the face of God!
On September 11th we saw a visual picture of a great structure collapsing into a heap of ruins. Though the tragedy of that day was great, long ago America’s spiritual foundations have collapsed in many places across our nation. We see evidence of this wreckage in the increase in drug use, teen pregnancy, and violence in schools.
The verse above calls people to humble themselves and seek the face of God. The word for humble is the Hebrew word, kana, which literally means to bend the knee, and to bring down into subjection. I do not believe the attack that Tuesday was a judgment from God; however, I do believe that God would be more than justified in judging our nation. We have been prideful and complacent.
Many are praying that America would be healed, but healing is more than just reconstructing buildings, and bringing the perpetrators of this crime to justice.Healing involves a lasting change of heart on the part of our people--especially those within the church. The place of prayer is the potter’s wheel of the heart. It is the place where we become clay in the Spirit’s hands and reshaped into the image of Christ. By collectively coming to God in repentence, we allow ourselves to be broken and through our brokeness God’s presence flows.
I believe that what hinders many people from coming to church is a lack of genuineness. Nothing is more genuine and precious in the church than true repentence and nothing will bring the lost more to our doors than our own brokeness.
II. We need to stand in the gap for our nation!
“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.”
—Ezekiel 22:30 New International Version
In the Ezekiel verse it speaks of God seeking someone to stand in the gap. The context of this verse was that God was seeking someone to intercede for the nation of Judah, but found no one!
The picture here that I get is that there is a wall of defense with a gap in it that will allow the enemy in. If you think of it as the offensive line on a football team, then this gap would be a hole in the line that allows the quarterback to get sacked. Therefore someone is needed to stand in that gap!
America’s spiritual walls have been broken for a long time. The tragic events of Tuesday, September 11th only highlight the need for intercessors to stand in the gap on behalf of America. I think of Nehemiah before he was called to direct the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. He fervently cried out to God in prayer. We see this in Nehemiah 1:6-9:
"Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you.
"We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
"Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, `If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name." New International Version
We see here Nehemiah assumed a priestly role in representing his nation to God in prayer. An Old Testament priest had two roles: he represented God to the people and he interceded for the people. Although Nehemiah wasn’t literally a priest, he assumes this priestly function. He asked for mercy on behalf of His nation and prayed for restoration. In 1 Peter 2:9 we are reminded that we are a royal priesthood. This applies to all believers--not just the clergy. As members of this royal priesthood we have a duty to intercede for our nation and for those who are lost.
III. Continued fervent prayer is the key to revival
Do our prayers really make a difference? Consider what is written in the following verse:
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. – James 5:16 New International Version
This verse reminds us that our prayers are effective! In the King James Version, this passage is worded this way: "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
The dictionary defines fervent as "ardent, passionate, very hot!" It’s time we turned up the heat in our churches and in our prayer closets! This kind of fervent prayer is what this country desperately needs right now!
In the speech the President gave before Congress he also emphasized this need.
If you are like me, you have been watching images of rescue workers in New York digging through the rubble and wish you could be there to help. You may even feel frustrated because you don’t think there is much you can do in the midst of this crisis.
The truth, however, is you can help! Besides contributing money, you can pray! If all Christians started fervently praying for our nation, I believe we would see a great revival in the land. To pray for revival is not only our spiritual duty, but our patriotic one as well!
Like so many of you, I sit home and continue to watch the news reports of this crisis. I watch as generals and admirals are being interviewed as our forces are being mobilized for war. I see the ominous prospect of American lives being lost on the field of battle again and my heart is heavy.
In the midst of all of this there is only one place I can come back to--the place of prayer. Of all the weapons in our arsenal, of all the resources our nation has to muster, it is only our prayers that will truly get us through this crisis!
It is only the sovereign hand of God that will heal this nation and bring many to salvation. It is good that many people are waving flags these days, but even more needed are bended knees. Our country has not experienced a widespread revival since 1858. We as a nation have built our foundation upon the dollar. The World Trade Center was a symbol of American commerce and we saw these great towers collapse in less than a day. The events of September 11th remind us how fragile we are and how fragile the foundation of this nation has been.
Since the tragedy there has been talk of rebuilding the World Trade Center. While rebuilding this structure would be a testimony, we more desperately need to rebuild our spiritual foundation. It is only then that our nation will be truly healed and we could earnestly say: "In God We Trust!"
God Bless America!
