Predictions or Prayer for 2018?

Every year there are scientists, business moguls, psychics, soothsayers, fortune-tellers and even some preachers who attempt to foretell what we can expect in the coming year. And, in that regard, 2018 is no exception.

Some leading scientists, for example, are saying that in 2018 they will begin testing reverse aging techniques on humans after having success with mice. Others contend that within the next year aquaculture will provide the majority of the world’s seafood. It is also predicted that the James Webb Space Telescope will be launched into orbit to discover liquid water on other planets.

Business tycoons say that in the future businesses like Amazon and Alibaba won’t replace shopping malls, but will merge with them creating “smart stores” that will have supercomputers that know everything about their customers and sales representatives better trained and educated than those found in today’s retail environments. The future technology will make shopping at physical stores feel as seamless as shopping online.

Psychic medium Kelle Sutliff predicts that a major news outlet will be hit with a huge defamation lawsuit that will almost ruin its network and this suit will shape up all news media. Sutliff also predicts that President Trump’s tweets will calm down and he will continually be investigated until year 3 when his detractors give up trying to incriminate him, because of their failed attempts in the past. She also declares that more cover-ups will be found on the Clintons in 2018.

In sports, Darron J. Phillips of the New York Daily News has stated that “Oklahoma will defeat Georgia in the semi-final round of the NCAA Football National Championship game and that they will also beat Alabama in the final game.”  And, Baker Mayfield will “plant the OU flag in the middle of the new Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.” As a big fan of Alabama, I will have to say I disagree on his prediction. Roll Tide!

Phillips further predicts the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl, Duke will win the NCAA Basketball Final Four Championship and the New York Yankees will win the World Series.

Jamie Greenbean, pastor of a Baptist Church in Central Texas, makes predictions every year and has announced his belief that two or three mega-churches will close their doors in 2018, beginning the coming wave of emphasis upon small, neighborhood, community churches.

I have no particular insight or overwhelming inclination toward prophesying what may happen in 2018. And I need no other reason than the one given in (Deuteronomy 18:20-22) where it is decreed that if a prophet fails in his prophecy, he must be put to death. (Seriously, it really says that!) I have a funny feeling, if that was enforced, there might be a few less “prophetic predictions.” But, that’s only a prediction (smiles).

Recently, I have been asked about the most important thing I am praying for in 2018. If you would like to know, here it is; that God’s people will feel the burden for our critical need to unite in prayer for America and our churches. 

Church leaders from across the United States tell us that many church members have become lukewarm and are not that concerned about our predicament now. Studies reveal that the majority of church members are attending Bible study opportunities and worship services less frequently. Evangelism has been put on the back burner. Membership in most mainline denominations is terribly hemorrhaging at an alarming degree. The standards for church membership have been lowered to make church more seeker-friendly. Compromise has replaced commitment in many cases. The church is seriously losing its influence in the community. Media talk show hosts constantly crack jokes about the lack of difference in the lifestyle of Christians versus non-Christians today, even to the point of embarrassment. America desperately needs now a historic spiritual awakening and our churches need a God-sent renewal, an outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit.

Predictions are a calculated risk at best; but prayers link you with an omnipotent God with whom nothing is impossible. In studying great moves of God and spiritual awakenings in history, I can attest that the power behind them all rested with God’s people crying out to Him in prayer, “If My people who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:17).

Will you join the hundreds of thousands of concerned believers, like me, who are standing together, uniting our prayers for a spiritual awakening of epic proportions for America? God has clearly promised that IF we will meet His demands, then He WILL HEAL our land. It’s that simple. This promise from the Old Testament is just as relevant today as it was back then. God has not changed. Jesus Christ “is the same yesterday, today and forever.” It’s going to take us getting on our knees in humility and interceding for this land. A simple, “Thank You Lord for this food we ask You to bless” is not going to cut it.  God wants to know how serious we are about seeing Him move in our generation. I think it’s time to show Him we mean business, Amen? 

That is why you and I must “have a burden” (or deep concern) for God to move in order for us to pray. If you don’t have that, I ask you to ask God to help you have that concern because whenever God’s people urgently, desperately need God to act—you don’t have to beg them to pray. Think about the times in your life you cried out to God (impending death of a loved one, a child, a friend in trouble, financial need, etc). God is seeking His people to have the same deep concern for this country as we do our own crisis that we face.

I am confident you and I do share this same concern over what is happening right in front of our eyes. We don’t have to “take this lying down” as they say, nor will we either. It’s time, now in 2018, for God’s people to rise up and do battle with the spiritual enemies of our land that are relentlessly attacking our government, our churches, our schools, our families and our hopes for the future. We do this spiritual battle on our knees my friends (Ephesians 6).

Habakkuk, the Old Testament prophet of Judah, was in a similar situation. Judah had drifted away from the holy God of their fathers. He realized the people, in their affluence, pride, sin and self-interest, had turned away from God. He sensed God was ready to discipline His people, but rather than ask for escape from correction, Habakkuk accepted God’s will that Judah needed to learn a lesson about respecting God, as they once did. Yet, through it all, he pleaded for God to help their nation as He did in the past.

“I have heard all about you, LORD. I am filled with awe by Your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as You did in years gone by. And in Your anger, remember Your mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2).

May I challenge you to ask God to discern the areas of spiritual need He desires you to be open to change in your own life, first? If our prayers are to be the most effective and powerful, we must first be willing to change what needs to be changed in our lives. Our Heavenly Father deeply loves us and is grieved when we gloss over our own sins thinking everyone else needs God more than we do. The Psalmist David knew this fact first hand when he wrote;

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of Everlasting Life” (Psalm 139:23-24).

For 2018: Predictions or Prayer—-I choose prayer and I sincerely hope you will too!