Anne Graham Lotz & new Southern Baptist Convention president call for urgent prayer for a Third Great Awakening.

June 22, 2014 By in Epicenter

AnneGrahamLotz-calltoprayerronniefloyd-calltocolumbus“If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

(Washington, D.C.) — In recent days, two prominent Christian leaders have issued calls for Christ-followers to faithfully pray and fast for the Lord to bring about a Third Great Awakening in America, to purify and mature the Church, and to reach the lost with the Gospel before the Second Coming.

I wholeheartedly concur and am grateful for their clear voices. I pray that believers will truly heed the wisdom of these two leaders and turn their hearts to the Lord in the spirit of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and the Book of Joel. 

As anyone who has read my non-fiction book, Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time?, knows, I am convinced that we stand at the crossroads: either America will experience a sweeping revival and repent, or we face collapse as a country.

Anne Graham Lotz, the internationally-respected Bible teacher and daughter of Billy Graham, is one of the two leaders speaking out with a renewed passion for a broad-based revival in the Church and the spread of the Gospel.

Dr. Ronnie Floyd, the internationally-respected senior pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, and just elected this month to be President of the Southern Baptist Convention, is the other leader making prayer for a Third Great Awakening a top priority, and he is doing so inside one of the world’s largest evangelical denominations. More on his message in a moment.

My dear friend, Anne, recently served as the Honorary Chair for the National Day of Prayer 2014 this past May.  At that time, the Lord directed her to speak from the Book of Joel, chapter one, on the theme, “The Day of the Lord is at hand.” She warned that before Christ returns, which she believes is “imminent,” God will bring judgment to America (you can watch that message here). Anne also taught from Joel 1 at the 2011 Epicenter Conference we held in Jerusalem. It was a very powerful message, and I would commend it to your attention (you can watch the video of the message here).

Now, Anne is spear-heading a summer prayer movement. She writes, “In obedience to the Lord, I am blowing the trumpet…sounding the alarm…issuing a national prayer initiative entitled 7 7 7:  An Urgent Call to Prayer. The Call is for God’s people to pray for each of the first seven days in the seventh month—July 1-7.  Then on the 7th day, July 7, we are to pray and fast for 7 hours. The purpose is…

  • For God the Father to restrain, protect, and deliver His people from the evil that has come into our world.
  • For God the Son to be exalted, magnified, and glorified in His church, in our nation, and in our lives.
  • For God the Holy Spirit to fall on us in a fresh way, compelling the church to repent of sin and our nation to return to faith in the living God, resulting in a great national spiritual awakening. To sign up for daily prayer updates from Anne, please click here.

I have not yet had the honor of meeting Dr. Floyd, but am deeply encouraged by the message he delivered upon his election to lead the SBC this year. Here is a summary. Please read it and share this — and Anne’s message — with as many people as you can.

Yes, America is in big trouble. And yes, there are serious troubles inside the Church. But the Scriptures are clear: Jesus Christ is sovereign, and He is good. His lovingkindness is everlasting. He is coming soon. And we must be ready. May you and I be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12) until we see our Savior face to face.

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Message From Dr. Ronnie Floyd, new president of the Southern Baptist Convention:

As the newly elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention, I want to call every pastor, every church leader, and every layperson from a Southern Baptist church to join me in Columbus, Ohio, on June 16-17, 2015. As I work with our Order of Business Committee as well as other leaders, I will respectfully request for us to dedicate as much time as possible in next year’s convention to pray extraordinarily for the next Great Awakening. I want to call you to Columbus, Ohio, to what could be one of the most significant prayer gatherings in our history to pray for the next Great Awakening.

Extraordinary Prayer for the Next Great Awakening

Yes, we have to conduct business at the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, and we will do it with great diligence; but we will also bring to fruition a year-long emphasis of praying in an extraordinary manner for the next great spiritual awakening in America. For the next year, I want to humbly request from each church, each national SBC entity, and each state convention that we begin to pray in an over and above way for God to move mightily in our lives, our churches, and our nation.

Why is this Important?

Why is this important? Our convention has bemoaned our continual decline in baptisms, membership, attendance, and giving far too long; now is the time we take aggressive action by calling out to God together in prayer; at the same time, we must take the needed strategic actions to change our trajectory as a convention of churches. While we face these critical times, we know God is doing some amazing things right now through Southern Baptists. As we celebrate those to God’s glory in Columbus, we will also call out to God in urgent desperation.

Why is revival in the church and awakening in the nation so important? I have been greatly convicted that one of the reasons God has placed me as President, for such a time as this, is for the purpose to call His people to what Jonathan Edwards called “extraordinary prayer.” We need extraordinary prayer for the purpose of revival personally, revival in the church, and spiritual awakening in America, so we can see commitment to the Great Commission escalated, and accelerate it to its completion in our generation. I believe this should be our heart and our goal.

I have been privileged to catch a glimpse of extraordinary prayer in the Praying Pastors gatherings. We have led over 1,500 pastors in these four gatherings, two of which have been national gatherings. God is doing something very unique right now, and I believe that extraordinary prayer is our number one need. In extraordinary prayer, we recognize that only God can do what is needed in us personally, congregationally, denominationally, nationally, and internationally.

Pray Now for the Next Great Awakening

We’ve had a great conservative resurgence in the SBC. We are in the midst of a Great Commission resurgence in the SBC. In order for the Great Commission resurgence to be elevated to the proper priority, we need a great spiritual movement and a mighty spiritual awakening, which this nation has not seen in a long time. Yes, we need to pray now in an extraordinary manner for the next Great Awakening.

Mark Your Calendar: June 16-17, 2015

Mark your calendar now for June 16-17, 2015, and join us in Columbus, Ohio. Why should you come? Who knows, this may be the moment, the time, and God’s place to begin the next Great Awakening in the United States. And consider coming in early for Saturday, June 13, to join us in Crossover Columbus. Consider these facts about Columbus, Ohio:

  • 15th Largest city in America
  • 139 Languages spoken in Columbus
  • 111 SBC Churches in Metro Columbus Baptist Association
  • SEND CITY in our national church planting strategy
  • Home of the Ohio State University

Soon We Will Begin To Connect Together

Our team is right now beginning to work on various ways we can begin to connect together via technology. We will use email, Twitter, and Instagram to help all of us be a part of a movement toward Columbus, Ohio. But greater than that, a movement of praying for the next Great Awakening in America, so that we can see commitment to the Great Commission escalated, and accelerate it to its completion in our generation.

Please call upon your church and others to pray for me daily. I want to represent our Lord, our church, and our Southern Baptist family in the highest manner. I cannot do that without you praying for me daily.

Yours for the Great Commission,

Ronnie W. Floyd

[To learn more, please click here.]

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