Thomas Paine did not know
anything about crisis when he wrote the pamphlet series The American Crisis
that began with the words, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
We are living in a day when gambling is pervasive in our
country. And millions of families are afflicted with problems related to
gambling and gambling addiction. We are legalizing recreational drug use while
we are forced spend untold energy and money trying, often unsuccessfully, to redeem those whose lives are
pillaged by drug abuse. We are reducing love to lust and glandular tension and
legitimizing something we are calling same sex marriage. The recent massacre at
Sandy Hook Elementary in the upper-middle class suburb of Newtown, Connecticut
reminds us of the violence in a society where television, motion pictures and
video games target our children and others with violent themes. We continue to
murder millions of unborn babies every year in sacrifice Moloch the God of
sexual indulgence.
But understand this. Neither Thomas Paine nor
identify our times as the days that vex men’s souls. These are the days that
test the mettle of prayer warriors. How seriously are you praying for God to
intervene in the lives of people around you, your family, your neighbors,
people you come in contact with from day to day. Have you prayed for people in
Hollywood that put out filth that destroys the fabric of society and spreads
its contagion to the rest of the world?
Are you willing to pray when you see no outward sign of
revival? Will you keep praying when God’s judgment falls on America, like
Abraham before Sodom and Daniel over Judah carried off to Babylon? These are
not the days for Summer Disciples or Sunshine Prayer Warriors. These are the
days for God’s people to step up and pray in the gap before it is too late, and
even after it seems to be too late to save our nation.
