Franklin Graham has spoken the Word of the Lord to this nation.
On January 14, 2026, he said, “I would like to call for a time of prayer and repentance today, Jan. 14, at noon.
Why did he call us to prayer?
“As a nation, our sins are so great. We have increasingly turned our back on God and His commands, embracing godless secularism. We need to ask His forgiveness and seek His face.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
He went on to say, “Pray for our leaders, and pray that God would bring calm to our streets.” ( 1 Timothy 2:1-7)
He continued, “There are many who would like to stir things up-there are even those who would like to destroy this great country. Pray that these efforts would be thwarted and their plans would be brought into confusion.” (Ephesians 6:10-18)
Addressing the Church he said to “Ask God to use His Church to be His instruments of peace in this time of great uncertainty.”
Concluding, he reminded us to “…give God the glory for this great nation and thank Him for His hand of blessing, protection, and mercy.”
He has expressed clearly and emphatically what God sees!
Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27.
God’s heart longs to forgive our sin.
God is telling us to turn from our wicked ways.
God wants to heal our land.
What is my response?
What is your response?
What will be the response of the Church?
What will be the response of this nation?
This is not a political issue!
This is an issue of the heart of our nation.
And because it is an issue of the heart not everyone in our nation will humble themselves and pray.
Some have severely criticized Graham’s call to prayer.
That is not surprising.
Why?
Because their heart seeks to take care of the things of life, and this nation, apart from God.
The fact is that we cannot separate ourselves from God and His Sovereign reign over the nations of the world.
See Psalm 22:28; Psalm 47:8; Daniel 2:21; Proverbs 21:1; Matthew 28:18; Revelation 11:15.
This nation is in spiritual conflict; and we are witnessing, daily, in our nation, through the natural lives of humans, what is taking place in the angelic realm in the heavenlies. Ephesians 6:10-18.
There is conflict.
What does this conflict look like?
Please Read Matthew 24-25; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; 2 Peter 3:1-18; Jude 14-19.
I also encourage you to read or re-read the previous post entitled, ‘Arise, Shine For Your Light Has Come’.
Why?
Because, before we can arise and shine as believers, we must repent of our sins; turn from our wicked ways;and live a life set apart unto the Lord; In short we are “… turn our eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
This is not about what we know intellectually, doctrinally ,or how many are the works that we are doing for the Lord.
This is not about our political opinions, preferences, or people in places of authority in our nation’s government.
This is about realizing that apart from God, there will be no change.
That is the emphasis of Franklin Graham’s call to prayer.
The people of this nation must come to the understanding that the government is not going to save us.
Our hope as a nation is dependent upon God intervening and bringing about change in our hearts.
Therefore, we need to call out to God; seek Him; ask Him to forgive us for turning our backs on Him; ask Him to intervene in the affairs of this nation; and bring healing to this nation.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we are not exempt from this calling out to God.
The truth is that we, too, are responsible for the condition of despair in this nation.
Our crying out, our seeking God’s face, our asking for forgiveness, our acknowledgement of our wrong, our plea to heal our land, places upon us a greater responsibility.
How so?
It means being in the world; but not a part of the world. (John 17)
It means living a different lifestyle.
This is a personal decision for each one of us, who confesses the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior, must decide.
How am I going to live in the midst of this conflict?
When you make that decision, you will be taking a STAND.
Your STAND may be before one person, or many people.
Your STAND may be in your immediate family; or it may be at your place of employment.
When you STAND up for the Lord, you will always have an audience of One, Acts 7:54-57.
Stephen saw Jesus STANDING at the right hand of God.
Jesus went to cross for Stephen; when Stephen took a STAND for JESUS, JESUS took a STAND for him.
When you take that STAND, will you continue to STAND?
Or will you compromise?
What will STANDING look like?
Jesus told us what to expect. (Matthew 5:5-11; 1 Peter 3:13-4:19)
How severe can this ‘suffering’ get?
Ask Jesus, He went to the cross.
Q: What did Jesus tell Peter when they were walking on the shore of the lake after His resurrection? John 21:15-23.
There are other passages of scriptures that tell about the same types of outcome.
See Hebrews 11:32-40; Acts 7:1-60; read the history of the lives of the Apostles and how history records their dying; read the Book of Martyrs.
Q: What has it cost the followers of Jesus Christ, Who is the Way, throughout the history of the Church?
Q: What is it costing the persecuted Church today throughout the world?
[See Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), cbn.org; see Voice of Martyrs (VOM.org); see Open Doors( opendoorsus.org); or you can just: Google -persecution of Christians.]
Jesus said, If you want to follow Me, then you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.
Revelation 12:10-12 tells us of our potential cost. (Read Revelation 12 for the context.)
“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of God, and the power of His Christ have come; for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” NKJV
The Spirit Filled Life Bible, KJV, pg. 1964 makes this commentary for Revelation 12:11. “They overcame him by appropriating the victory of the finished work of Christ, by the public confession of their faith and patient endurance (see note on 1:9) even in the face of martyrdom (13:10). The church’s constant posture under the authority of the cross’s victory by the blood of the Lamb and steadfastness to the promise and authority of God’s Word-the word of their testimony– is the key to their overcoming.”
The MacArthur Study Bible, pg 2008, notes for Revelation 12:11 NKJV, says, “blood of the Lamb. No accusation can stand against those whose sins have been forgiven because of Christ’s sacrificial death. (see Romans 8:33-39)”
Note the relationship of standing and the forgiveness of sins. We can stand because we have been forgiven. Therefore, we need to repent and receive forgiveness of our sins so that we can stand.
Continuing with Revelation 12:12, pg 1965,(Spirit Filled Life Bible) the commentary says, “The defeat of the devil causes rejoicing among God’s people but woe among people of the world. Note the intensification of evil workings of hell as the age progresses and adversary knows he has a short time.”
Q: Are we living on such a day where we are witnessing “the intensification of evil workings of hell as the age progresses” to its end; and our “adversary knows that he has a short time”?
Today there is ‘unprecedented unrest; increased lawlessness; rebellion against authority; chaos, confusion, insurrection; and as 2 Timothy 3:1, NKJV, records, “But know this that in the last days perilous (marginal note: times of stress) times will come.
Yes, we are living in stressful times.
We are living in the last days.
These days are increasingly perilous-extremely stressful.
Q: How are we to handle stress ?
We are encouraged to take refuge in the Lord.
Read Psalm 46.
In this hour, believers are told to STAND.
The Church is told to STAND.
But, remember, before you can STAND, you must REPENT .
In order to move ahead with God, WE MUST REPENT.
How do we know this?
Jesus instructed us to repent. Matthew 6:12, Amplified Version, “And forgive us our debts (note: sins, moral failures) as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].
Q: What is the implication if we do not ‘daily’ repent? (1 John 1:5-10)
[See Grace To You, gty.org, “What is Biblical Repentance?; See GotQuestions.org; “What does the Bible say about Repentance?”]
I will share AI’s, googled answer.
“In the Bible, repentance is a profound Spirit-led change of mind and heart that results in turning away from sin and towards God, involving sorrow for wrongdoing, a decisive shift in attitude, and a commitment to a new, obedient life under God’s sovereignty, of demonstrated through changed action like confession and restitution. It is more than just feeling sorry; it’s an active return (Hebrew: shuv) and transformation (Greek: Metanoia) of one’s entire life direction, leading to forgiveness and spiritual renewal.”
When you choose to ARISE,(STAND), your light will shine, and”the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.“
What does it mean to STAND?
The reality of the ‘ meaning’ to STAND will be understood when you make your confession that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, and you experience the reaction of the hearer(s) of your words.
For the Church, Ephesians 6:10-18 explains our ongoing spiritual conflict.
This conflict is also applicable to each believer in Christ.
Read Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus. See John 3:1-21.
At the close of the dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus explains the spiritual conflict regarding the depravity of the human heart.
Jesus knows what is in man’s heart. See John 2:23-25.
Look closely at John 3:16-21, and you will see the resistance that is in each human heart regarding being told that they are a sinner in need of a Savior.
STANDING against humanity’s sin nature is confrontational.
Confrontational does not mean being arrogant, presumptuous, haughty or unloving.
It means learning to speak the truth in love( Ephesians 4:15), seasoned with grace (Colossians 4:6).
It also means that it is ok to be” angry and sin not”; but, “not to let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26-27).
And added to this, Jesus in another context said these words, “… let your heart be troubled” (John 14:1).
I am not sure that I can STAND all of this! (pun intended)
STANDING is what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying in this hour to His Church by His Spirit according to the Word of God.
It is a clarion call.
Will you hear it?
How will you respond?
It’s time to STAND UP for the Lord!
Buckle Up!
There is a Seismic Spiritual Shaking coming!
In the midst of this shaking, our Father God will be there for His people.
“On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”***
[Wow! I just saw this, when you remove the letter ‘t’ from the word ‘stand’, you get the word ‘sand’. Consider this: if we assign the letter ‘t’ for TRUTH, then when you take your STAND based upon the TRUTH of the Word of God, you STAND on the solid Rock, Christ Jesus; but if your standing is not based upon the truth of the Word of God, then you are standing on sand (no letter ‘t’, no truth),and no firm foundation.”
(That reminds me of a song, “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord…”—I better stop, I am getting carried away)]
Be encouraged!
Isaiah 4:2-6; Psalm 91:1-16; Psalm 62:1-8.
a brother in Christ, deo
***AI comment: “The phrase “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand” comes from the hymn “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” by Edward Mote, inspired by the Biblical text passages like Matthew 7:24-27, where Jesus speaks of building a house on rock (obedience to His word) verses sand (hearing but not doing). Key Old Testament verses that use the “rock” imagery for God include Psalm 62:2 (“He only is my rock and my salvation”) and Psalm 18:2 (The LORD is my solid rock, my fortress, my rescuer”)
“In essence, the phrase points to the Biblical concept of Jesus Christ as the unshakeable foundation for faith, as described in passages like Matthew 7 and the Psalms.”
[Note: the capitalization of the word Biblical is my editing.]
Living Words of Encouragement 