Stem The Tide!

Can you feel it? The rising tide of evil that is threatening to overwhelm our nation? The hurricanes of this spring now seem like a word picture the Lord was giving us. My question to the church is “will this be Gustav or Ike?”
The waves of Gustav threatened to overwhelm our nation. Forecasters were saying it would be the “storm of the century” and it was poised to be just that. We were told to expect massive flooding, worse than Katrina, with winds that extended their destructive force far into the heartland and waters that would ravage huge portions of our coastlands. The levies would not hold. The map would be changed forever.
But God called the church into prayer. Throughout the world, prayer armies were mobilized. We stood in faith and in our authority as the Bride of Jesus Christ we said “NO! You will not come here with the devastation you intend! Be still! Calm down! No floods! No ravaging winds!” And we all stood in awe and thanksgiving as “the storm of the century” made land fall as a category two. The levies held! The coastlands were protected!
Then came Ike. We reasoned that Gustav was no big deal. This one won’t be either. Oh, sure, people moved out of the way and some people prayed, but did you see the mobilization that happened with Gustav? No. And the storm that should’ve been less damaging did more damage. Rather than giving God glory for the great miracle he wrought over Gustav, we reasoned to ourselves that it was never a big deal. There was no miracle. They are never a big deal. Yawn. And water ran into the streets. People were without power. Galveston is a wasteland.
Some may say “God is sovereign; He will do what he wants to do.”
To that I say, “yes, but He is always looking for intercessors.” It is evil to see evil flooding your nation and not stand before the Lord and cry out for the tide to be stemmed! Remember in Jeremiah 29:7 the LORD tells Israel to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” This is specifically referring to Babylon, one of the most wicked nations to rise up in world history, but also one of the wealthiest and the place from which the great intercessor, Daniel, prayed and fasted for the nation of Israel.
We must not rest drunkenly in the sovereignty of God saying “God will do what he wants. Man has no influence.” This has never been true and it MUST NOT BE TRUE NOW! The sovereign LORD is always looking for a man “who will stand in the gap on behalf of the land” so that he will not “have to destroy it” (Ez 22:30). May it not be said in America that He “found none”!
I believe with many of you that America is in a time of judgment. We have slaughtered ¼ of two generations. When we had the choice, we chose death. We have danced with Jezebel through our entertainment choices and our immorality, thinking we could have a little bit of her and a little bit of the Uncreated, Holy, Unchanging One! But that does not mean that the church must not be on her knees, crying out for mercy! Almost all of the great intercession passages – Daniel! Ezekiel! Jeremiah! - were written and prayed during Israel’s judgment for her apostasy. It was from a place of judgment that God was looking for that intercessor to “build up the wall and stand in the gap”! We must come before the LORD with fasting, repentance, and crying out – rending our hearts, crying “LORD forgive! LORD heal!”
I do not ask for an election that will give us a false sense of God’s favor. I do not want four more years of being lulled to sleep while our nation goes to hell. If the storm of judgment is upon us, may the church fall to her knees crying out to the Righteous Judge Who Judges Justly for mercy. But may that mercy be accompanied with truth! May that mercy be accompanied with passion from the Bride to the Bridegroom!
Sovereign Lord, stem the tide of evil that is threatening to overwhelm our land! Hold back the devastation! May we see the glory of God in this nation! May righteousness and pure, holy passion run through our streets! We have the boldness to ask it because of the powerful, all conquering name of Jesus Christ who did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped but humbled himself and defeated the evil one! May his name be glorified! May the thing that the enemy intended for evil be turned for the good of those who love you and are called according to your great purpose! May the Church find her place in the army of God and may she war for this nation! Amen!