On Good Friday, President Donald J. Trump presented an incredible Easter address from the Oval Office in which he acknowledged “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” and referred to “His glorious Resurrection.” He also thanked the American people for praying for him and his family, and asked for prayers for the nation.
I don’t think there has been such a bold statement of faith and call to prayer from an American president since Abraham Lincoln’s Prayer Proclamation for April 30, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War (see Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 186-84).
This address should be seen as a wake-up call for the American church. It is time for us to wake up and step up. This could be the time of the reawakening for which we have prayed.
Ten years ago, when I had given up on America, God pulled me up short and assured me that America “could” see another great, national, spiritual awakening. My hope was restored, but it was clear that the promise was conditional. Never forget that the promise of a national healing in 2 Chronicles 7:14 begins with, “If My people.”
It is time, therefore, to put aside our religious games. It is time to lay down our spiritual pride and realize that we are more like the Laodicean church of Revelation 3:14-22 than we would like to think. That church was very self-sufficient and proud, claiming to be rich and in need of nothing. But in the words of Jesus, they were “wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.”
It is time for us to humble ourselves by acknowledging that we (the American church) are not as great as we think. We are actually very needy, and according to 2 Chronicles 7:14, acknowledging that fact is the starting point for another Great Awakening and national healing.
President Trump has opened the door. It is up to us to now walk through it.
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Dr. Eddie Hyatt is the author of numerous books on America’s Christian origins, including his latest, 1726: The Year that Defined America, available from Amazon and his website at eddiehyatt.com. He is also the founder of the “1726 Project” that is dedicated to helping America reconnect with her Christian roots in spiritual awakening.
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