And in the fourth generation they [your descendants] shall come back here [to Canaan] again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full and complete. – Genesis 15:16, AMP

Too often we get so caught up in our own, personal concerns that our prayer life centers around ourselves. We do pray for other individuals, but not enough. Sometimes we pray for the communities we live in, but not with regularity. And all too infrequently, we get around to praying for the country we live in. When we do pray for our homeland, we usually pray nonchalantly, without great passion or purpose. Our country, however, needs intercessory prayer just as much as we do, just as much as our neighbors do, and just as must as our communities do.

David Miller, Ph.D. writes in a recent article* for Apologetics Press:

…the Bible affirms that as a nation moves in the direction of spiritual and moral depravity, becoming increasingly alienated from God, that nation positions itself for inevitable destruction. That destruction may come in the form of natural disasters—like volcanoes (e.g., Pompey). It may come in the form of external invasion—as in the case of the fall of Babylonia or Rome. It can even come in the form of direct, miraculous intervention by God—as in the case of Sodom and the other cities of the plain (Genesis 19:29).

Miller goes on to write:

Jesus summarized the history of Israel as one of frequent rebellion against divine precepts. He intimated that they were nearing the limit of God’s toleration and impending punishment when He declared to them: “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt” (Matthew 23:32). It was as if an imaginary cup had been gradually filling up with sin, and that it was nearing the brim—at which time God would respond with appropriate destruction…As the Jews entrenched themselves against the will of God, they were guilty of piling sins on top of sins, until inevitable divine wrath would be forthcoming—as it did when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

The point? There is sin in every land, and with time a nation’s natural tendency towards depravity will threaten its very existence. As Christians, we need to take seriously the need for national revival as the stop-gap to national destruction, and we need to understand that revival starts not when some great, influential spiritual leader takes center stage. It starts when God responds to the heartfelt, broken, and passionate intercessory prayers of everyday Christians like you and me.

Are you doing your part to bring about national revival? When was the last time you prayed for your country like you pray for yourself?

* Is America’s Iniquity Full? by David Miller, Ph.D. www.apologeticspress.org

Shop hundreds of Christian-themed products at our new store! A portion of each purchase goes to support the work of Today’s Quote From God. To visit the Today’s Quote From God Store, please click here.