Have We Forgotten How to Pray?

Main message: The sermon calls Americans to humble themselves, repent, and return to persistent prayer so God can heal and revive the nation, reminding listeners that the country was founded on Christian principles and that prayer—not politics or human effort—is the means of renewal.

Key points:

• The nation was founded with Christian intent (Mayflower Compact, founding fathers) and historical leaders repeatedly sought God in times of crisis.
• Success breeds self-sufficiency and spiritual drifting; Abraham Lincoln’s Civil War prayer is used to illustrate how a nation can "forget God."
• Prayer is the essential remedy: humility, seeking God's face, and repentance open the door for God to hear, forgive, and heal (revival follows prayer).
• Historic moves of God (Great Awakenings, Jeremiah Lanphier’s noon prayers, Azusa Street, Billy Graham crusades, campus revivals) began and were sustained by prayer.
• 2 Chronicles 7:14 is presented as a framework: if God’s people humble themselves, pray, seek God, and turn from wickedness, God will hear and heal the land.
• The congregation is invited to a posture of dependence (kneeling) and to dedicate themselves and the nation back to God in prayer.

Scriptures mentioned: Psalm 105:5, Psalm 103:2, 2 Chronicles 7:14