(Washington, D.C.) — In 2012, President Obama concluded the State of the Union address by saying, “The state of our Union will always be strong.”

In 2013, the President told Congress and the nation, “We can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is stronger.”

Will he say it again tonight? More importantly, is it true?

A new poll finds only 3% of Americans believe the state of our union is “strong.”

Here are some of the reasons why:

• We are giving our children and grandchildren more than $17 trillion in federal debt, and it just keeps climbing and climbing with no end in sight and no plan to pay it down.
• We have aborted some 55 million babies since 1973, and many Americans seem to believe there will be no consequences.
• We are deeply worried about widespread drug and alcohol abuse, a wave of violent crime and mass shootings, the loss of moral values among our children, and a serious decline in confidence in major institutions, including the presidency, Congress, and the Church.

Is it any surprise, then, that a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll reveals “deep pessimism” among the American people about the current status and the future of the country?

• Only 28 percent believe the country is headed in the right direction
• 63 percent say America on the wrong track
• 71 percent are dissatisfied with the state of the economy
• 68 percent of Americans say the country is either stagnant or worse off since the President took office in 2009
• Only 31 percent say the country is better off.
• Again, only 3% of Americans say the state of our union is “strong.”
• “A deep pessimism continues to fuel the public’s mood,” notes Mark Murray of NBC News who wrote the story.

The central question we need to be asking as a nation is this: Is America headed towards implosion, or a Third Great Awakening?

Yes, we need strong, principled leaders with deep convictions who will return us to the Biblical principles that our Founders wove into the Constitution. This election season will give us the opportunity to choose new Congressional leaders and many Governors and state legislators, as well. But even in the best case scenario, even if we elect the right people who are serious about making major reforms in Washington and have a track record of results, they will not be able to save this country alone.

We need so much more — we need the Lord to rescue us, to have mercy on us, before it’s too late. We need a series of spiritual revivals to break out in every region of the country to wake up a slumbering Church and reinvigorate pastors and lay people to preach the Gospel, make disciples, plant new churches, and care for the poor and needy with great boldness, courage and compassion. We saw God do this in America in the early 1700s with the first Great Awakening. We actually saw God do this again in the early 1800s with the Second Great Awakening. Now is the time to plead with the Lord for a Third Great Awakening.

>> To learn more about Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time?, please click here.