That is a difficult prayer to pray, but it is one that I have been prompted to pray for many days. I am hearing the same cry from friends and fellow servants of the Most High God. A friend in South Carolina said, “God did not send this crisis, but He is using this crisis to draw people to Him.”

Another dear friend shared these words with me: “Many are praying, but only for God to deliver us from this crisis. However, our hearts are not repentant and humbled.”

She went on to say, “Picture a child crying for something he wants. As soon as he receives it, he is happy and goes back to what he was doing. But hear the cry of a child who is desperate … The cry is different and the response of the parent is different. The child is changed from the experience.”

When this crisis began, one word continually came to me in prayer: Opportunity. Those who have the Light of the Lord in their hearts are given an opportunity to shine that light perhaps like never before. As our neighbors walk in fear, we can walk unafraid as Psalm 91 reminds us of the protection of those who make the Lord their refuge. As people have no peace, we walk in the “peace that surpasses all human understanding,” a peace that Paul the Apostle said will “guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” We thank God for this opportunity and pray we will be faithful beacons of the Hope and Truth of the Living Most High God.

After a week of praying in this way, the Spirit of the Lord directed me to the story of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke. In that story, I saw things happening today: The priest and the Levite so concerned about their religious work that they could not see, or chose not to see, the hurting person in front of them. But the Samaritan in the story came and brought healing and salvation to the person left to die on the side of the road. We who know this story must remember that Jesus told this story in response to the question, “Who is your neighbor?” The Living God asks us now, “Who is your neighbor?” Many are in fear and despair in the shadow of our steeples.

But now my prayers have changed. I, like all in my nation and the world, are crying out for an end to this pandemic. Spirits of death and fear are all around us. I pray for this to end! But I also pray for this not to end until God finishes what He desires to do among His people.

Why do I pray for this? Because our nation has rejected God. Many mock Him and mock those who call Him Lord. They despise the Truth that has been a foundation for our culture since we began as a nation. They hate His standards and teaching about life. They kill unborn children. They seek to destroy traditional family. They want to remove God from our culture.

We who love God and serve Him respond not in anger but in brokenness, crying out to God for healing in our nation. Right now, we are crying out to God for physical healing in our nation. We must also cry out to God for the spiritual healing that our nation so desperately needs!

The Living God has given His people an opportunity like we have never had before. It is an opportunity for much of our lives to be removed from us – work, school, entertainment, sports, and more. It is an opportunity to be in our homes focusing on our families and on God and His Truth. It is an opportunity for our hearts to be broken and our spiritual flesh to be crucified. It is an opportunity for repentance and change. It is an opportunity for new wineskins so that the Living God can pour out new and fresh “wine” upon us.

Hear the voice of God calling you to Him. Hear our loving Heavenly Father offering to wrap His arms around you. Hear His frequently quoted words in 2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land.”

The next verse is vital to our times right now. The Living God says, “My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to every prayer made in this place.”

What if God is ready to answer the prayers of so many for healing and spiritual awakening? Perhaps God has chosen this time to prepare our hearts and lives for that spiritual awakening.

Don’t miss the opportunity that the Living God has given us all to come before Him in humble prayer and repentance, asking Him to change our ways and prepare our hearts for one more outpouring of His Spirit upon us.

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”