A New Spiritual Wake Up Call for America

By Billy Wilson
executive director, International Center for Spiritual Renewal

On September 11, 2001 the United States received a violent, physical wake up call to the terrorizing realities of the 21st Century. Americans experienced vulnerability and pain at levels previously unknown to our generation. Millions of people reacted to these attacks by going to their knees in prayer for our nation and by getting to their feet to help those who were suffering. Americans responded to 9/11 with prayer and charitable action. The same response is needed now.

On September 11, 2009, a new wake-up call must be issued to the spiritual realities of the 21st Century. Millions of Americans are in crisis and our sense of vulnerability has only increased. Although we have been kept relatively safe from physical attacks on American soil, we have experienced internal struggles and failures that have left us with deep uncertainty. Escalating debt, unemployment, division, moral collapse, and a lack of united purpose have caused many Americans to feel lost. America's place in the global order is shifting and simultaneously the American church has experienced decline.

We now find ourselves in a national spiritual crisis where the personal faith of many Americans has waned. Only 17% of Americans attend church on any given Sunday. America has become the third largest Christian mission field in the world. More Americans than ever have reached adulthood without the stability of a traditional family or the foundational strength of Biblical knowledge. This crisis is deeper than the White House, or the courthouse, or even the schoolhouse. This is a crisis at your house and my house. Grassroots America needs a wake-up call.

While the bad news is that we are in a 21st Century spiritual crisis, the good news is that America has survived similar crises before. In the mid-18th century, spiritual darkness was prevalent. Although many attended church, their commitment to Christ was less than evident. In the midst of this crisis, Jonathan Edwards and many others began to sound an alarm for heart-felt religious experience and true conversion. Edwards' call for extraordinary, united prayer ignited the First Great Awakening where 1 out of every 5 colonists became Christ followers. America's moral courage was also strengthened, preparing the nation for the struggle to independence.

After the Revolutionary War, America was once again in crisis. Crime was rampant, debauchery persistent and faith declining. In the late 18th century, Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall, wrote to a friend that "the church is too far gone ever to be redeemed". Once again, calls for united, extraordinary prayer were issued and the Second Great Awakening was the result. Early 19th Century Christianity transformed grassroots America in dramatic ways encouraging many positive changes including the moral resolve necessary to overthrow slavery.

Numerous other occasions in America's history could be cited to indicate that united, extraordinary prayer brought new seasons of spiritual alertness and awakening. Such prayer remains our nation's greatest need.

On September 11, 2009, thousands of believers across the nation will gather at county courthouses and city centers for a time of united, extraordinary prayer called Cry Out America. People will join in humbling themselves before God and asking for His grace on our nation. Specifically, Cry Out America will be praying for a grassroots Christ awakening in 21st Century America. Wherever you are on 9-11-09, we invite you to go to your knees in prayer and then rise to your feet to help those who are suffering among us. You can find out more about Cry Out America and the Awakening America Alliance at www.awakeningamerica.us or by calling 1-888-9AWAKEUS.

Billy Wilson serves as executive director of the International Center for Spiritual Renewal and chair of the Awakening America Alliance, a non-partisan coalition of denominations, para-church organizations and local churches formed in 2008.

By Billy Wilson |  September 10, 2009; 10:00 AM ET Save & Share:                 
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