It's been an interesting thing to watch as believers stand in pulpits and assault our culture as evil. And certainly, none of us would have any reason to doubt the truth of that statement. We live in a world, even in the so–called Christian America, that is filled with evil. And yet when we go back to a simple verse which outlines for us what can make a difference in our lives and in our nation, we don't find a commentary on cultural finger pointing. We find a commentary on us—Christians. It says, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Everyone who has ever done a definitive study on revival has pointed out that revival doesn't start in the culture. It starts in the Church. It starts in the heart of the Christian. And perhaps one of the things we can learn from some of our failures in these past years is that if we ever get to the place where we get so culture–minded that we are not Christ–minded, we are doomed to failure. We offer the world only the emptiness of our own rhetoric. We must come to them with hearts that are overflowing with the love of God and the peace of Jesus Christ. And then we can make a difference in this world.

I could prove to you from history that the greatest changes in American culture have not started in huge rallies, or even in patriotic demonstrations. They have started in quiet, small gatherings where people began to pray. And they began to pray that God would make a difference in their country. The four great spiritual awakenings that have been historically chronicled in this country were fueled by a seeking after God on the part of a few people. And it began to grow until it exploded into a revival that no one could understand if they didn't know God.

If we stand up and we don't kneel down, we have ignored the greatest resource God has given us to win the battle that is before us. A Christian stands the tallest when he is on his knees. We have forgotten that humility is the cause of change in the culture. Some evangelical leaders call us to political mobilization and strategic marketing, but God wants us to begin in the church first of all in mourning for what's happening in our culture.

We shake our heads at the demise of prayer in schools, and then we don't pray ourselves when we have the freedom and the right to do it. We champion the cause against taking the lives of children, and then statistics say we abandon our children at the same rate as non–Christians. So the problem is obviously not entirely "out there." It's in our hearts. And the rebuilding begins with the humbling of ourselves before God.