In grave and uncertain times, men are called upon to abandon preference and mitigate upon the Earth the principles of heaven. These principles are the revealed intentions of a holy God for a wandering and broken humanity.
These immutable principles of heaven are administered by the spirit of prayer in lives of courageous men and women. It is in these times we live, and it is these principles we must decree. The spirit of prayer guides us in all humility to boldly bring our appeal before the One who is holy, just and good.
We have no other recourse and no greater appeal than to the One who has promised to come. John Locke wrote in the Second Treatise of Civil Government that those “who having no appeal on Earth to right them, they are left to the only remedy in such cases, an appeal to heaven.” It is time for America to make her appeal to heaven.
My wife, Jennifer, and I arrived early one very snowy wintry morning at the memorial of Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace. The simplest of log cabins is enshrined in a beautiful edifice with magnificent symbolism of our 16th, and some may say, our greatest president.
The 56 steps that lead to the vault like door to the memorial mark the number of the years of his life. We were the first guests of the day. The U.S. Parks Service personnel seemed surprised that we would dare try to make it out under the weather conditions. They told us the memorial was closed because the deep snow had not yet been cleared off to the site. We were disappointed but not distracted.
They began to inquire as to why we would make such a trek early on a Sunday morning. I began to share with them about United Cry DC16 and the call for 30,000 pastors to gather and pray, not protest, that America might come into her promised awakening. I told them it was to be held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on April 9, 2016. A young lady with the Parks Service said she had worked there for a while and, “like you,” she said “I am a really big fan of Abraham Lincoln.”
She sent for a snow blower and she walked along behind it as they carved a path through probably 6-8 inches of snow leading us on a clear path to the door of the memorial. We stepped inside and were in awe of the humble log cabin that once graced the wild elements of the Kentucky frontier, and once house a awkward boy who would become President of the United States.
The unprecedented times in which Abraham Lincoln lived demanded a leader unparalleled. Still today, many presidents who have followed in his path have longed to learn the way of his steps. What grace was upon him that enabled him to lead without fear and love without guile? Was it the humble beginnings on this wilderness frontier?
Was it listening as his mother read the Bible and he noticed a glistening in her eyes, or was it because on Knob Creek in the Kentucky wilderness he saw for the first time slaves traveling down the old Cumberland Road to be sold? Abraham Lincoln learned to abandon preference through humility and mitigate the principles of heaven upon the Earth as president of the United States. He would become known as “The Great Emancipator.”
Where are those who will abandon preference and administer the immutable principles of heaven upon the Earth today? A people will fall when our remedy is violence and our words vitriol. We must return to a place of humility and learn there the principles that truly made this nation great. It was Lincoln who declared:
“And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord” (March 30, 1863; Proclamation Declaring of National Fast Day).
Immutable principles, like the Father Heart of God. We celebrate most vociferously those things that divide us, unaware that it is through our division that our destruction looms. The Father Heart of God is most splendidly revealed through the cross of Jesus and the power of His resurrection, ascension and the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. He has responded to the darkest depths of man’s depravity with the glorious hope of His love. The spirit of prayer aligns us with the heart of the Father and restores us in love.
When a nation seems to be reeling on the brink of chaos, with political voices screaming and the voices of the pulpit silent, it’s time for the wilderness leaders to arise in humility and pray without ceasing. It is in this posture of humility the Lord embraces a nation in holiness.
So many incredible things are happening all over the nation and there is a sound of awakening in the air. America’s hope is not discovered in the latest prophetic decree; it is renewed in the place of humility and a posture of prayer. The spirit of prayer is America’s hope.
I remember hearing a powerful minister years ago ask a stunning question: “Will America return to God through desperation or through revelation?” O that it might be by revelation!
Let the spirit of prayer grip our hearts, that every barrier seeking to divide us will be consumed upon the altar of intercession. There is emerging in the land a generation no longer willing to tolerate the indifference of the past and who together are standing to make a united cry for America’s awakening and transforming revival. The Lord will come and heal the land (2 Chr. 7:14). {eoa}
Rick Curry was born in Richmond, Kentucky, and has been involved in full-time ministry all of his adult life. He is the lead pastor of King’s Way Church in Pensacola, Florida, and provides apostolic oversight to its affiliate congregations. He is currently leading with other key leaders a significant revival that is quickly spreading all along the Gulf Coast and in many other regions of the country.
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