It's Prayer Time in America

From the Love We're Finding studios in Memphis, Tennessee, I'm Byron Tyler, here with Kerry Vau, the CEO of Love We're Finding. Kerry, today Adrian Rogers' message is it's prayer time in America. Our prayers must be humbly offered in Jesus' name. Humbly pray in Jesus' name, the name that's above all names, right? But I think about what does prayer look like for America? You know, I know in Tennessee where we are, we have 95 counties.

That means 95 mayors, and then a governor, and then two senators, and congressmen, and then we look across this great land. Are we truly praying for America? Are we calling time out during the day and praying for our leaders, praying that God will show up in a mighty way?

I mean, that's a task. That's not a flippant prayer, right? But I think when we do that, when we humble ourselves and take time to pray, we see that God begins to answer those prayers in His time and in His way. Well, Adrian Rogers has said, when the church begins to do what we ought to do, then we'll begin to deal with all of these other problems. Stop pointing fingers, bow the knee before God, and get right with God.

Yes, yes. And so when you look at, and we quote this all the time, 2 Chronicles 7 14, there's a few things that we must do. Humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and here it is again, turn from our wicked ways. If we do that, here are some things that God will do. He will hear, He will forgive, and then He will heal our land.

We always pick up some nugget of truth, and I love that. And also as a reminder that you can hear LWF on the internet and, of course, available on the app. Available on the app. You can go to LWF Ministries app. You have daily devotions. You have From the Vault. You have Today's Sermon. All that is there.

Or go to LWF.org, and all that's at your fingertips as well. What a great testimony. Kerry, as we talk about praying for America, I want to remind those today that 40 Days of Prayer is a guided initiative to inspire you to pray for this nation in such a critical time. Yes, and there's something very significant about 40, right? As we look at the number 40 and what it means throughout the Word of God. And so I think if our constituents and our supporters will make a point to pray, I believe, well, Byron, I'll just be honest. I believe it's the most important election time for America. Well, with his message, it's prayer time in America.

Here's Adrian Rogers. Would you take your Bibles this morning and open to 2 Chronicles 7 and verse 14. You will recognize that verse as a time-worn verse. We've heard it over and over again, but we must, in these days, revisit that verse. I wonder if the American dream that was placed into the bosom of our fathers will become a national nightmare.

I ask this question this way. Is it too late for America? Have we already crossed the place, the state of no return?

I submit to you that we have not. 2 Chronicles 7 and verse 14, here is an ancient promise. Obviously, it was given to Israel, but the Bible says of Israel, all these things happened to them for examples to us. Here's what God says, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Amen. This wonderful nation, born in 1776, must be born again or it will join the graveyard of the nations. God says in Jeremiah 10 verse 10, at his wrath the earth shall tremble and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. Now God, I'm certain, is indignant with America. We have insulted the almighty and we are ready for judgment, but we need mercy.

We have become a proud nation, wallowing in materialism and rotting in sin for what we call pleasure and freedom. Now, there is hope for America, but I tell you this much, America must turn to God or she will die. First of all, I want you to see what I'm going to call the people God has. God says, if my people.

Now, this whole promise that I'm about to give to you is predicated on what God's people do. Now, so many times we say, oh, if only Hollywood would. Oh, if only the government would. Only if the pornographers would.

Only if the abortionists would. But God does not look to them. Folks, God is looking at us.

He's looking to you. Are you one of his people? Are you our? Then stop putting the blame on somebody else. Listen to me. If America falls and fails, it will be our fault. Well, you say, well, if only God would. No, we're not waiting on God. Do you think God is to blame for the mess that we're in?

Do you think that the reason we're in the state that we're in is because God has been indifferent? Ladies and gentlemen, it is not our duty to persuade God to send revival. We must permit him to do so. And it begins at the house of God. If my people, a woman got involved in politics and it's all right to be involved in politics, but she was so enthusiastic.

She told her husband, it looks like we're going to sweep the state. He said, I suggest you start at the back door and the church must start at the back door. The Bible says in first Peter four, verse 17 for the time has come that judgment must began at the house of God. I'm telling you again that the hope of America is not in the white house, not in the state house, not in the school house. It is in God's house.

That's the first thing in this promise. The people, the people God has. Now, secondly, I want you to notice the pride God hates.

He says that my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray. What is wrong with America? We reek with pride. We strut in the face of God and God cannot bless you as an individual. God cannot bless this church.

God cannot bless our nation. When we have such pride, pride is the root of all kinds of evil. We today in America are filled with humanistic haughtiness. And the Bible says we're to humble ourselves. Have you ever prayed God make us humble?

Don't do that. He can, he can bring us to humiliation and he may, but how much better if we would humble ourselves. The Bible says we're to humble ourselves James four verse six, but he giveth more grace. Wherefore he says, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.

Think about that. God resisting you, God resisting America, God setting himself in battle array against us. God resisteth the proud. But now listen, he gives grace to the humble. What America needs is not judgment, but grace. Do you know what grace is? Grace is both the desire and the ability to do the will of God.

God puts a desire in your heart. That is grace. God gives you the strength to live as you ought to live, but God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble. Did you know that pride is number one on God's hate parade?

These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him. And the number one thing in the list is a proud look. A proud look, some people can strut sitting down. A proud look, number one, pride is behind every sin. It was pride that made the devil the devil. And if you're not willing to humble yourselves, you're not going to get very far with God.

Let's move to the third thing in this promise. Not only the people God has, not only the pride God hates, but the prayer God hears. God doesn't hear every prayer.

God puts some qualifications on his prayers. God says we will pray and seek his face and turn from our wicked ways. The prayer that God hears is the prayer that seeks God's face.

You know what is wrong in America? We're not seeking the face of God. We're seeking the hand of God.

Revival is when God has not turned his back on us, when God can smile upon us, when God can find favor in us, when God can turn his countenance to us. Do you think that God can smile at America today? No, God says we need to seek his face.

Do you know what most Americans are seeking? Not God's face. They're seeking God's hand. And they say, oh, God, do something. Beloved, can't you see that God is doing something? God is judging this city. God is judging this nation. And we need to seek not the hand of God, but the face of God. When you say God is our only hope, well, that is true.

But I won't tell you something else. This may shock you, but God is our biggest threat. I'm not as much afraid of what some terrorist nation may do to America as I am as to what God may do to America. God is a God of vengeance, and God will judge us. And so the Bible says we are to seek his face, and we are to turn from our wicked ways. Thus far, the message has been fairly simple. Thus far, you say, well, I believe that I can do that.

But now listen to this. We are to turn from our wicked way. Prayer for revival without repentance is a religious farce. So many of us have the idea that God's going to bless us. Now we're not going to turn from our sin, but we're going to sing God bless America while we're killing little babies. We're going to sing God bless America when sodomy struts down main streets with pride. We're going to sing God bless America when he is cursed and maligned, and when he cannot be mentioned in our public concourse.

Why should God bless America? He will not unless we turn from our wicked way. Actually, to pray without repentance angers God. Listen to this verse, Psalm 80, verse 4. How long, O God of hosts, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Not only does God not hear the prayer, not hear the prayer, it angers God.

How long, O Lord, will you be angry at the prayer of thy people? There was a time when the Israelites had crossed Jordan. There were battles to be fought. There was mighty Jericho. Joshua led the children of Israel against Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down. You remember that? And then they, with their pride, went against another little city, Ai.

Two letters in the name, a small city, a small name. But Israel was ignominiously defeated, and they ran like whipped puppies from the face and the army of Ai. Joshua, the leader, fell on his face and said, O God, why have you failed us?

O God, why have we been defeated? And God said to Joshua, Joshua, get up off your face. Israel has sinned.

What's he saying to Joshua? Joshua, you can pray all you want, but until you deal with repentance, prayer is not some sort of a smokescreen in which you can hide your pride and your sin. You've got to repent. Now, repentance is a sharp-worn term also. Let me tell you what repentance is.

A friend, repentance, by the way, the word is used 969 times in the Bible. The first message that Jesus gave when he came preaching was repent. The last message that Jesus gave from heaven to the church was to repent. The message that God is giving to you today is repent. God has said in Luke 13, 3, except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Now, what is repentance? Repentance is more than a conviction of sin. You may be today living in sin. This message may have convicted you.

When I talk about living together without the benefit of marriage, you may have felt a little stab in your heart because that's what you're doing. But repentance is more than conviction of sin. I read in the Bible where Paul preached to a man named Felix, and the Bible teaches that Felix trembled like a leaf in a storm.

Why did he tremble? Because he was convicted of sin. Repentance is more than confession of sin.

You say, if I confess my sin, if I repent it, no, you have not, if that's all there is to it. Pharaoh confessed his sin. You remember that God sent plagues to Egypt to convict Pharaoh that he might turn from his sin. And the Bible says in Exodus chapter 9 verse 23, and Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along the ground, and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. Now, what happened when the fire and the hail came, or when the lightning was running on the ground? Pharaoh confessed his sin. Exodus 9 verse 27, and Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them, I have sinned.

But what happened when the storm died? The conviction that was born in the storm died in the calm. Repentance is more than conviction of sin. Repentance is more than confession of sin, and repentance is more than contrition, contrition for sin. Tears may accompany repentance, but tears are not repentance. Godly sorrow worketh repentance. I'm not asking today, are you sorry for your sin? I'm asking today, will you turn from your sin? What is repentance?

God says we are today. God says we are to turn, to turn, get that word, to turn from our wicked way. A repentance is a turning. The word literally means a change of mind.

Now, it is both negative and positive. We turn from our wicked way. We seek the face of God. Acts 20 verse 21, testifying both to the Jews and to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are the heads and tails of getting right with God. We seek God's face. We turn from our wicked way. Repentance is a heart change, and repentance, listen to this now, is a wholehearted change. Do you have the idea that you can get right with God in one area without getting right in every area?

Do you think you can do it by gradualism? You say, well, now, Lord, I've dealt with my cursing. Now, tomorrow, I'm going to deal with my adulterous.

No, it is a change. It is a wholehearted change where you say once and for all, now and forever. I'm sick of my sin. I'm tired of my sin, and I turn.

Listen to Ezekiel chapter 14 in verse 6. Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, repent and turn yourselves from your idols and turn away your faces, listen, from all, all your abominations. That's what repentance is.

It is a heart change, and it is a wholehearted change. You say now, if I could just repent of this thing or that thing, then perhaps God would bless America. Congregation, not only must we be broken over our sins, we must be broken from our sins. I am not much. I'm weak. I am made of clay, but I can testify to you there is no unconfessed, unrepentant of sin in my life.

You say, well, aren't you wonderful? No, that is the normal Christian life, the normal Christian life. Not a mother's child in this building ought to go out without saying there is no unconfessed, unrepentant of sin in my life. Repentance is a heart change.

It is a wholehearted change. And Jesus said, except you repent, ye shall likewise, all likewise perish. America will perish unless she repents. Well, you say, what about the pornography? He needs to repent.

What about the dope dealer? He needs to repent. No, God says, if my people, if my people, can you imagine what would happen in America today? If our churches from sea to shining sea had a man of God, each one of them in the pulpit, opening the book of God with the Spirit of God, preaching the Christ of God to the people of God and calling America to repentance.

There's little that would not be changed in America almost overnight, if that would happen. The people God has, the pride God hates, the prayer God hears. Now here's the good part. The promise God honors. The promise God honors. If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked way, here's the promise, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Now don't you tell me it's too late for America, the God that sent revival to England in the 16th century, the God who sent revival on Mount Carmel, the God who sent revival to Nineveh, the God who sent revival to Jerusalem. That God is alive and well, and I'm telling you that God will hear from heaven because He rules in the heavens. May I tell you that God is not a Republican and God is not a Democrat. He is King. He is King.

He is Lord. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, and whatever need to bow before Him and God, the mighty God who rules from the heavens, God will hear from heaven. He will forgive their sins.

I want to remind you of something I've already said in this message. God would rather pardon than judge. Now God is angry at our sins, but He is full of compassion. He is full of mercy and God will, God will, God will forgive our sins. God will forgive America. Well, you say, Pastor, what about the sins of all these wicked people?

We can't deal with that. That's right. He's not talking about the sins of all these wicked people, the liquor dealers in Hollywood and the pornographer and the drug pusher. God is talking to His people. God says, if my people, if my people will hum themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin. Now watch it and will heal their land. When the church gets right, when we begin to do what we ought to do, then we'll begin to deal with all of these other problems.

Stop pointing fingers. Bow the knee before God. Get right with God.

Don't worry about the man to your right or the man to your left. You want a revival? Draw a circle on the floor. Get inside that circle and say, God, begin a revival inside this circle, one by one. I'm only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do and ought to do, that by the grace of God, I will do.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face, then will I hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land. I don't know whether we've crossed the threshold or not, whether we've crossed God's deadline or not, but I'm telling you, if there were ever a time that we need to repent, this is the time. This is the day.

This is the age. Don't put it off till tomorrow in your own personal life. Tomorrow, you will only have less time to repent in and more sin to repent of. Say, well, I'm saved. Well, I'm saved too. When I saved, I repented of my sin, and I turned to the Lord Jesus Christ. But I'm going to tell you something. I've done far more repenting after I got saved than I did when I got saved.

And the reason for that is I've learned far more about God, and I have learned far more about me. I remind you again that the hope of America is not in the White House, not in the schoolhouse, not in the courthouse, but in the church house. Now, we sing, and we mean it. God bless America.

Do you know what we need to do? What America needs to do is bless God. Bless God. May we, as blood-fought Christians, inheritors of a great legacy, say, oh God, we want to bless you. Make this nation a blessing to heaven. It is prayer time in America.

This nation is ripe for God's judgment and in desperate need of God's mercy. Would you join us in prayer? If you can, go to our website at lwf.org slash radio and scroll down to our prayer wall. There you'll find the option to either submit a prayer request or pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually, and we can't wait to hear from you today. Again, scroll down to the prayer wall at our site, lwf.org slash radio. If there was ever a time we need to repent, now is that time. Adrian Rogers said, when the church begins to do what we ought to do, then we'll begin to deal with all of these other problems. Stop pointing fingers. Bow the knee before God. Get right with God. We're so glad that you've decided to join us today and make sure you tune in next time for more timeless truth right here on Love Worth Finding.