Shane Idleman

If you avoid emotional worship, extended prayer, times at the altar, and fasting for spiritual renewal, then you are not running on all eight spiritual cylinders. All these things are marks of Christians throughout the ages.

According to the Scriptures, there are five spiritual principles that often spark a spiritual awakening and keep it going. Prayer and fasting ignite the fire, but the following scriptural truths fan the flames:

Do we really believe that all the evil in this world will simply reverse itself? No, it's only going to get worse unless God's people pull down heaven. It's time to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. We must cry out, "Oh God, would you rip heaven open and come down?" We must wait on God and seek Him like never before because He "acts for the one who waits for Him" (Isaiah 64:4).

The silence of post-pandemic pastors has cost our nation far more than we may ever realize.

Is it possible to not endorse or agree with Bethel church but still listen to their worship in a corporate setting? I'm not endorsing and promoting Bethel. I have concerns too. I understand that playing a church's music (in a sense) is viewed as promoting them. I get that, but there is a huge difference between direct promotion and indirect promotion because we have to legally acknowledge the source of the songs for licensing reasons.

Don't let feelings of unworthiness keep you from surrendering and submitting your life to Jesus. Paraphrasing C.H. Spurgeon, "When Satan tells me I am unworthy, I remind Him that I've always been unworthy, and yet, God still loves me."

If we are to expect God to heal the crippled church and our dying nation, we must pray like Isaiah, "Oh God, rend the heavens and come down" (Isaiah 64:1). And like the woman in the parable of the unjust judge, we must keep asking (Luke 18:1–8). Prayer must be brought back into our churches, real prayer that searches the soul and penetrates the heart.

A "prophet," as mentioned in the Bible, can be anyone in a position of spiritual authority or claiming to be. They are not to be elevated or idolized. We follow Christ, not men. False teachers aren't ostentatiously dressed in red, armed with a pitchfork. They often provide layers of truth mixed with error, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

The term "Achilles' heel" refers to an area of weakness and vulnerability. The American church today has an Achilles' heel—a lack of prayer and powerful preaching. Pastors, it's time to stop tiptoeing through the tulips of political correctness and repair the Achilles' heel of cowardliness.

America crossed a dangerous line years ago. Instead of repenting and turning back to God, we have walked further into the deep waters of ungodliness. The decadence and brutality in our streets are unparalleled in our history. Despair and depression reign in our land. But—believe it or not—I am hopeful.