Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, called the nation to urgent prayer. IHOPKC has responded seriously. Anne is not better than any one else. But she is in-the-know. She’s wired. Her father advises many presidents and other important leaders. The family has friends who know what happens behind the scenes. When praying woman or man who is wired makes an urgent call to prayer, it’s wise to respond.
Here are my own feelings about this weeks urgent call to prayer…
There have been a number of statements and Scriptures about a nation being offered mercy if it “returns” to the Lord. My own random Bible reading last night was, for the first time, randomly opening to Jeremiah 4, “If you return…” Another friend stumbled on Psalm 47, which declares that the Lord God is king of all and praises Him for being so. Allen Hood, from IHOPKC (see link above) explains that he believes the nation is facing judgment, not from any prophetic dream or vision, but simply from the Scriptures.
So, about these Scriptures…
Revelation 3:19—God disciplines those whom He loves, as does any loving parent train children to make choices that will bring a long, healthy life. That’s what God’s “judgment” is. That’s what it always has been. Many preachers today seem to have forgotten this—whether they preach from anger or from passive-aggressive “sympathy”.
Personally, I feel in my heart that there are two factors in our nation’s future. Hardship will always come. The questions isn’t whether a nation will have challenges, but how each of us will be involved. I don’t believe God is calling the nation to a democratic election of whether to suffer nation-wide judgment. It’s not as if God has said, “If 51% of Americans pray to me, then I won’t judge them, but if only 49% pray, then I’ll nuke the whole place to glass.” God has not said anything of the sort. Though, we tend to have that idea when praying for national repentance.
I believe that God is calling every individual American to a choice. If we repent in our own hearts, obeying the wise, successful teachings of the Lord, then we will thrive during whatever times are ahead. God does not punish a good man for his neighbor’s foolishness. A “call to national repentance” is a nation-wide call to individual repentance. The same is true of an urgent call to prayer.
Consider Israel in Egypt: Egypt had the plagues, but Israel did not, even though Israel was in Egypt. Israel survived by walking through the Red Sea; Egypt’s army perished by walking through the Red Sea. The difference was not in any action or food hoarding or stockpiling weapons. The difference between Egypt and Israel was their posture toward their loving and fair Creator. Egypt wanted to enslave a nation. Israel wanted to end injustice.
The first issue with our nation is that our national repentance is about nation-wide individual choices. The second issue is what our choices relate to: We must set our hearts before the Lord to grow and become strong every day. There is not only one potential hardship on the horizon. Like any nation, America is like a ship at sea. We will encounter many waves. This matter of prayer is not about trying to survive only one wave of the ocean; it’s about learning to surf the waves rather than fear them.
Here is a link to her Day One post: http://www.annegrahamlotz.com/events/urgent-call-to-prayer/urgent-call-prayer-day-one/