I am gripped by the reality of the time in which we are living in America; this hour of history in this nation. In 1997, Thom S. Rainer published a book called The Bridger Generation that provided information of the changing demographics of church engagement between four different consecutive generations. The data showed the estimated proportion of each generation reached for Christ over the course of four consecutive generations leading up to the generation born after 1984:
- Born between 1927-1945: 65% evangelical believers
- Born between 1946-1964: 35% evangelical believers
- Born between 1965-1983: 16% evangelical believers
- Born between 1984-current (projection based on trends): 4% evangelical believers
So, what does this tell us? Of your generation, only a mere 4% goes to church, worships Jesus, and holds onto the Bible as the Word of life. This generation may not be annihilated, but we’re almost there. Are we ready to call this is a crisis? Are we ready to sound the alarm and say, “We need a revolutionizing, turning of the generation in America back to God”? Are we ready to declare this hour of crisis requires a radical response, or is it still business as usual? Do we want the number to fall below 2% before we say, “Lord, help us!”? What we need in America are Acts 2 and Joel 2 responses: to cry out to God for another gut-wrenching revival in America.
O Lord, when will You give us a generation who is yoked with the burden of the Lord for America, for the nations, for our next generation at this very hour? Do we live to be yoked with the burden of the Word of the Lord and the burden of intercession for this nation? Unless a historical revival breaks into this land and turns the flood of darkness back to where it came from, this nation will not turn.
Why is God raising up prayer rooms across America today? Why is this prayer movement set in the context of the current historical moment? The battle is not over and the key is in your hand. I am not ready to put up a white flag and admit defeat. Even if there is only 4%, all we need is a generation of fiery revivalists in America who will go into prayer and fasting and call down fire from heaven to come and turn this nation back to God. That is how good old gut-wrenching revival happens.
Human ingenuity, ideas, ideology, philosophy, political activism, strategy, and methodology all fall short in turning a nation back to God with a revolutionary force. We need an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We need a historical revival in America. We need a historical revival that will shift the fundamental DNA of the civilization in America in a revolutionary magnitude.
There is truly a need for us to stand during this onslaught and say, “Lord, clothe me with the two-fold burden of the Lord: the burden of prayer and the burden to proclaim the Word of the Lord.” The Word of the Lord is going forth and running across the earth, looking for a generation of people whom He can clothe and upon whom He can put a burden. He wants to clothe that generation with a burden of intercession.
We must understand that some of the greatest works of God can be accomplished on our knees. Nations would turn, cities would be opened up to God, and the hardest sinner’s heart would melt as we go on our knees and cry out to God to have mercy upon America. Let’s put our face to the floor, and cry out for God to have mercy on America. We need a tangible burden of intercession.
We need to prepare a generation for eternity. We need God to rend the heavens and come down. We need God to clothe us with the burden of intercession. We must contend for revival because many people are not prepared for the type of scenario that is coming upon America and the world. We must prepare. If we are called to just do this one thing, let’s do it well.