America At A Spiritual and Moral Crossroads

by Franklin Graham

The United States is at a spiritual and moral crossroads. Change has been taking place, and it's not the kind of change we want.  Government at every level is increasingly dismissive, even hostile, to God and the role of faith in civic and political affairs.

The moral fabric of our country is slowly but steadily unraveling, as Bible-based morality  - the very foundation of our nation  -  is seen as irrelevant and intolerant.

Our courts and schools continue to suppress public expressions of faith, eroding the hard-earned freedoms secured by earlier generations.

I am reminded of the words of Abraham Lincoln who, in a time of grave national peril, proclaimed that our nation should set aside a day for corporate prayer to confess our sins.  Lincoln said that as we acknowledge our transgressions, we should do so "yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon . . . announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

"We have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own . . . We have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us!  It behooves us then . . . to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgivness."

America is a nation that has largely forgotten God, has abandoned the faith of our founders and is pursuing a godless agenda.  I see the exercise of raw political power without any sense of humility and dependence on God.

God sees it all, too.  My mother used to enjoy pointing out God's response to all the schemes of the wicked (Psalm 2:4).  He knows exactly what His purposes and plans are for this nation and for its people.  He is steadfastly at work accomplishing His agenda that will ultimately bring Him glory and prepare the way for His soon return.

Until He does, prayer is a mighty weapon He has entrusted to us. Charles Spurgeon said, "Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence." Through our petitions, as imperfect as they may be, God works to achieve His good and perfect will.

Thank you for joining with me and believers from across this country to seek God, humble ourselves, turn from wickedness and ask for His blessings.  Our Lord promises in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that when we do this, He will hear from Heaven, forgive our sins and bring healing to our land.

It is healing we desperately need.

("Calling Our Nation to Prayer" by Franklin Graham, 2010 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, from Intercessors For America, www.IFAPray.org)




"There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation.....
     One is by sword....
     The other is by debt."   John Adams 1826