IT IS BEYOND the obvious to state that American citizens are rapidly losing what little faith or trust (for a better word) they have in their government (needless to mention those who have long since cast off respect for the current administration). Nevertheless, there are some who still carry the torch of optimism and insist that America is on the road to recovery. Despite the mishaps and downgrade of a once great nation, people still look to the government as a saviour and redeemer to regain the lost American Dream, but as Leonard Ravenhill once said: “The answer to our problems is not in the white house but in God’s house” ought to be a sharp and sobering reminder, especially to those who profess faith in God. God will allow and even orchestrate disillusionment until we turn or return unto Him.

Many people are anxious in regards to America’s future – fearful of losing their Constitution, their autonomies and independence. Numerous people are even talking of arming themselves for the ‘big war’ for the cause of securing freedom and self-rights, but nations have not been saved by ‘bullets’ per se but by prayer. When will we stop reverting to the ‘arm of the flesh’ and the weapons of this world and start to seriously know the weapon of prayer? Mary, Queen of Scots feared nothing more than the prayers of John Knox; they were far more powerful than all her armies. Do we have that kind of faith today? Do we know the power of intercessory prayer Rees Howells knew that altered the course of World War II?

To turn a nation around will take more than a mere twenty-four hours of national praying; God is not interested in such façades; it is all lip service in the midst of an agony that is far from truly seeking God. Did we not witness this during the aftermath of 9/11 where thousands across the whole nation of America attended church all of a sudden and expressed a ‘deep desire’ to seek God? On what grounds were they seeking God? How long did that continue? I’ll tell how long it lasted and that was until the nation found its ‘feet’ again and then God was ‘thrown’ back to one side. God is waiting to be sought by a people who are desperate for Him and His ways. How on earth do we expect God to answer our prayers when we don’t want His ways? We may want His ‘ways’ and express in words, “God bless America” assuming that such a mentality ensures a safe, blessed and prosperous future (that is the only thing America wants to spiritually invest in just like with Israel that wanted a king to rule over them instead of God Himself – 1 Samuel 12) but when it comes to the Lordship of Christ (where we truly recognise that our lives are not our own and where His leadings and desires take pre-eminence over our own), it is a whole different matter. Until Christ is King in our lives we have a fake and devilish ‘Christianity’.

Seeking God will be more than a concern to ‘save’ our nation; souls need to be saved more than anything else; we don’t need better politicians per se, we need godly men and women raised up who know their God and who, through Him, shall do great exploits – not motivated by a desire for notability, but for His name’s sake and glory alone. E.M. Bounds said that it wasn’t the political leaders of this nation that made this country great but men of great prevailing prayer.

No nation will continue to stand, no matter how strong their leader is if God is not exalted; no leader will save a nation if its people have forsaken God. “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.” (Psalm 118:9)

There is greater chance of God turning a nation’s captivity when people walk (through repentance and the fruits thereof) in His ways. This is by no means equating America with Israel; earthly theocracy, in God’s economy, has been done away with. When Israel continually disobeyed God, she was taken captive by her enemies. When any nation walks contrary to God’s laws it is subject to His judgement, either to an immediate punishment (as in physical calamity and destruction) or intensified spiritual blindness that accelerates depravity and is therefore reserved until the great Day of wrath. Even those who remained faithful to God (Jeremiah and Ezekiel being among those few numbers) were still subject to exile along with those who stubbornly opposed God’s ways. The repercussions of God’s judgement do not always exempt those who are obedient. However, such (who are the true Israel; “not all Israel is Israel” – Romans 9:6-7) are not made the object of His wrath, but rather continue in His everlasting love despite circumstances being unfavourable to one’s ideology of prosperity and comfort.

This is not promising the saving of America. Nations will rise and nations will fall, but as Christians, we look for a City to come; we are already born into a kingdom that cannot be shaken. The early Christians lost their lands and were dispersed all over the world through persecution; what makes us presume we’re immune to such being repeated? This is not palatable to what many prefer to hear, but there comes a time when Christ says follow Me, regardless of the consequences and despite the present circumstances or the great possible grim scenarios. Listen to the psalmist: “Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:2). God was their refuge, not their homes or land; He was their strength, not their sense of independence and acquisitions; He was their very present help in trouble, not their king, army or counsellors (politicians).

I see and hear a number of great leaders saying we need to fight for our nation, to oppose corruption that’s being endorsed by this administration. The name of God may at times be mentioned in these moving speeches – and I thank God for such people, but it still will not turn a nation around. It may deal with it symptomatically only to subject America to its repeated root cause of independence from God. This nation once got rich – ridiculously rich and then forgot God; now it doesn’t even want God! “…if riches increase, set not your heart on them” (Psalm 62:10); “Whoever trusts in riches will fall” (Proverbs 11:28). America prospered because God once came first.

There are to be no negotiations with God; no matter what the future holds for this nation, will we yield our lives to God where we are now? It is not the country’s financial gain that calculates success but rather that we are living obediently in God’s economy; “Righteousness exalts a nation” (Proverbs 14:34). It is not so much that we have a strong military, but a God Who is our Shepherd and Defender that makes all the difference. Come what may, our success is not prosperity and trophies of war, but when we’re on our knees before God, knowing that we cannot live without Him, that life indeed is nothing without Him, even with all the extravagance at our fingertips. With that in place we may see America recovering what she once had, but even if worse comes to worse, it is not the ‘end of the world’ or rather our purpose on this side of eternity as we eagerly look to a City to come that has imperishable foundations and Whose designer and builder is God.