FAITHFUL OBSERVATIONS

By ROBERT SHILLINGSTAD

Special to The Press

Our column this week is a little different, focusing on the division in America. Pew Research says that for more than two decades, partisan polarization has been a powerful force in America. Pew says it is striking how little common ground there is among partisans today. Our country has been divided on many fronts, affecting politics and more importantly, civil discourse.

Our topic this week is on prayer and how that might bring us together and give us a direction that is both more optimistic and less partisan. Tony Perkins of Family Research Council has issued a challenge called Call2Fall to churches. We asked him about it.

Q: What’s involved?

A: The Call2Fall is not a fancy program or a big show. Simply set aside a definite time during worship on July 1, 2018, when you call your people to get on their knees and faces before the Lord in repentant prayer for God to reshape our lives and renew our land.

Q: Who can join?

A: Call2Fall on our knees is for every Christ-follower in America. Specifically, there are multiplied millions of believers who realize that America is in trouble and that neither Washington nor Wall Street has the answers. We are hoping that at least 40,000 churches will join in a corporate act of humility, repentance, and desperate prayer on our knees before the Lord.

Q: Where will we do it?

A: Call2Fall on our knees will be happening in the many places Christians meet on Sunday. We realize that the church gathers in worship centers, store-fronts, homes, and various other places all across America. We are encouraging believers to kneel at least 3 to 5 minutes before the Lord wherever they may gather that day.

Q: When will it happen?

A: Call2Fall in corporate humility before the Lord is set for Sunday, July 1, 2018. Why that Sunday? Because on the Sunday before we celebrate our “Independence,” we should also express our “Dependence” upon the Lord. Throughout this special day, we encourage believers to spend time on their knees in crying out to God to heal our souls and our land.

Q: Why a Call2Fall?

A: First, the Scriptures teach it. The key verse is 2 Chronicles 7:14:

“If my people, who are called by my name, will 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.”

Second, our history records it. Our Founding Fathers sensed the need for a Call2Fall in view of the monumental struggle we were engaged in with Britain. The First Continental Congress called for a day of public humiliation, fasting, and prayer throughout the Colonies on July 20, 1775, just after war broke out. James Warren wrote to Samuel Adams:

“Three millions of people on their knees at once, supplicating the aid of Heaven, is a striking circumstance, and a very singular one in America. May the blessings of Heaven follow in answer to our prayers …”

Another contemporary quote on this topic came from Franklin Graham:

“We need another great awakening, a fresh revival that puts us on our knees, brings us to repentance for our sins, and turns our hearts back again to worship and obey God.

“There is no other way for America to be great again …”

In fact, Franklin Graham is touring the western United States including the Pacific Northwest, holding specific prayer events. He will be speaking at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center on Aug. 9 at 7:30 p.m. for this purpose.

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For information on the “Call2Fall” that is targeted for July 1, go to Call2Fall.com for resource materials that lay out a plan for 40 days of prayer and beyond. For more information on Franklin Graham’s event in Spokane, go to pnw.billygraham.org.

No matter your political or religious persuasion, there is no doubt that our country needs a return to civility and righteousness.