My dear friends, tomorrow is the day!  Prayer warriors around the globe are joining together for the “Shake it Up” Prayer Event, where we will go boldly into the throne room of our prayer-hearing God to pray for:

• The Peace of Jerusalem
• Persecuted Believers
• A Third Great Awakening in our Nation that will Impact the World

Over the past two days, we made preparations for the first two prayer points, and today we’ll prepare to pray confidently for a Great Awakening.

We’re going to look at a very familiar passage, 2 Chronicles 7:14, but understand that this verse is part of a promise God made to Israel, not to any others.  That is very clear if you read that verse in the context of verses 11-18.  We cannot simply “claim the promise” here, as it is not made to us (unless, of course, you are Jewish).  But, short of the promise, there is a principle and a pattern in that one single verse we can apply as believers.  Here is the verse:

“[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Though not obligated, God could heal our land if we would humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways.   In fact, I believe God longs to do that for any nation or people group who will heed the call.  After all, God has honored the prayers of saints on at least two occasions to bring about the First (1700-1760’s) and Second (1800-1850’s) Great Awakenings in America.  Both impacted the world.   Yes, I believe America is spinning quickly in the wrong direction, but we have not collapsed yet.

(If you are joining us from a country other than the US, please know that in my heart I desire a great awakening in your country as well.  As we pray together, every plea we make on behalf of America is made on behalf of your nation too.  Thank you so much for uniting together in prayer.)

Certainly humility, prayer, seeking the face of God and turning from our wicked ways is a pattern we should follow, but I want to glean from another passage of Scripture for guidance as we pray confidently for a third Great Awakening.  In the book of Joel, the Lord warned that just as severe natural disasters had shaken them in the past, unprecedented traumas would come upon Israel in the future.  (Again, the context is God’s interaction with His people, the Jews, but the principles still apply to all of us.)  Joel 2 reveals how the spiritual leaders were to respond.  I believe we can respond similarly:

• Blow a trumpet and sound an alarm (v 1). That’s what we’re doing here!  Christians must awaken from sleep (complacency) and get involved in what God is doing.   (You are doing that as you pray!)  The Lord is coming back soon and we must be prepared.
• Return to the Lord with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, mourning and rending of heart (vv 12-13). This is a call for beyond-normal prayer and intercession.  Let’s plead earnestly for the Lord to pour out forgiveness and mercy on us individually, then on our families, our church, our nation, and our world.  Repentance is vital!
• Consecrate a fast (v 15). We must fast from the “normal” things and be about the Lord’s business.  When we make serving the Lord as important as eating food, time on the internet or being entertained, a great awakening might be ignited!
• Proclaim a solemn assembly and gather the people (vv 15-16). Encourage others to spend more time with other believers.  Assemble together for teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer (Acts 2:42), and invite others to join you.
• Sanctify the congregation (v 16). “Sanctify” is to set apart for sacred and holy purposes.  Imagine if every believer (“congregation”) was committed to being set apart for His purpose.  To what are you sanctified?  What is God’s call on your life?  Are you pursuing it? Is the Lord “shaking you up?”  Discover His purpose for your life, then do it!
• Recognize the authority of leadership and pray for them (vv 16-17). When is the last time you prayed for your spiritual leaders?  Pray for supernatural wisdom as they lead and teach.  Pray for protection from the wiles of the enemy, as Satan would love to take them out.  Pray that grace and mercy remain the foundation of their ministries.
• Experience the Lord’s grace and compassion (v13). Be encouraged, and encourage others, that God is a God of grace and compassion, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.  By His grace we are saved and there is no need to dwell on sinfulness.

Fellow believers, great awakenings don’t just happen!  And they don’t happen because “someone else” brings them about.  Great awakenings happen when common, ordinary people like you and me humble ourselves, pray, seek the Lord’s face, and turn from our wicked ways.  Great awakenings happen when we follow Scriptural patterns such as that found in Joel 2.  Great awakenings happen when we pray confidently for the Lord to bring about a third Great Awakening in our nation that impacts the world!

Tomorrow we’re going before our gracious God, fully forgiven, fully free to enter His throne room, and fully welcome to ask our Abba Father to pour out His Spirit on us, that we might be the spark that ignites the next great awakening!  Thank you for hearing and heeding God’s call to be a part of this effort.  May you be greatly blessed!

See you tomorrow for the big event!