By Mary Carothers

What would you say is the biggest problem facing our country today? Our economy? How about crime? Or perhaps foreign affairs? Not too long ago I would have said the breakdown of moral values in our culture was our biggest problem. But according to God’s Word, I would have been wrong. All of these problems are serious, but they are the result of our basic, fundamental problem. I Corinthians 10:11 tells us that the things that happened to the Israelites in the past were recorded in the Bible as examples to warn us so that we could avoid making the same mistakes. What was their mistake? They turned away from the Lord in their hearts. When they did, it was only a short step to moral breakdown. And then to every other kind of evil. God had warned them. He told His people that if they turned away from Him and followed the lifestyle of the ungodly, that the land would vomit them out (see Leviticus 18:28).

I fear that we Christians have become desensitized to sin. In disobedience to God’s command in Romans 12:2, we have allowed the world to shape our values.

We need a revival that has as its foundation a real spirit of repentance. We Christians who are called by God’s name must humble ourselves and pray – earnestly seeking the Lord – repent and turn away from our lukewarmness and the sin in our lives. Only then will God listen and heal our land. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available – dynamic in its working (see James 5:16 Amplified).

If we who belong to Christ will make a commitment to pray – earnestly and consistently – confessing our own sins as well as those of our nation, I believe we can change history! We need a revival in our land! Historically, revival has nearly always been preceded by persevering prayer and widespread repentance. Let’s follow Daniels’ example in chapter nine. When we like Daniel of old, repent of our sins and cry out to the Lord for mercy, who knows, God may yet turn and heal America. Then we will once again be the blessed nation whose God is the Lord! (see Psalm 33:12). (Reprint from January 1994)