More than 100 years have passed since there was a sweeping nationwide spiritual awakening.
“Greg Frizzell, Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO) prayer and spiritual awakening specialist, suggests that if we experienced an awakening of the magnitude of the past, we would see as many as 30 million new believers flood our churches,” said BGCO Executive Director-Treasurer Anthony L. Jordan. “That number seems unimaginable, but with God, all things are possible. Just remember, our God is not reluctant. He longs to send awakening upon a people who are ready to receive.”
To that end, Jordan and BGCO President Nick Garland, pastor of Broken Arrow, First, are calling for a day of prayer and fasting for an awakening in Oklahoma churches, and across the state, and nation.
“From 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Oct. 20, we are asking for pastors and church staff to join us at Moore, First to pray and fast for an awakening,” Jordan said. “Most of all, we are to lift our voices in unison for God to begin revival in our leaders. Our cry will be, ‘Lord, send a revival and let it begin in ME!’
“All of us can dedicate Oct. 20 as a day of prayer and fasting. I ask all Oklahoma Baptists to encourage their pastor and staff to join Nick and me at Moore, First for a unified time of extraordinary prayer and fasting.”
Jordan said he believes the need for revival is past the critical stage in America.
“We are past the need for revival,” he exclaimed. “Spiritual awakening in our churches, state, and nation is greatly needed. We don’t just need revival in a few churches here and there, we need an awakening that shakes our nation.”
Frizzell is convinced the need for prayer is so critical that he encourages every believer to enter 40 days of intense prayer, fasting and repentance before God from Sept. 23-Nov. 4.
“My assignment from the Lord was to write a specific book—Forty Days of Seeking God—Praying for Revival, Elections and Key Leaders—for this particular moment in our national and spiritual history,” he said.
“In Scripture, God’s people are called to discern the spiritual signs of the times and be alert to key periods of significance. One thing is certain—these are not days for ‘business as usual’ in either the Church or the nation. It is absolutely critical that God’s people beseech Heaven for genuine revival and the Lord’s direction in our land. The book, Forty Days of Seeking God, enables believers and churches to fulfill the Lord’s call to stand in the gap on behalf of our churches and nation.”
In June, newly-elected Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd said he has his heart set on seeing Southern Baptists come together in “explicit agreement, visible union and extraordinary prayer” for the next Great Awakening of the United States of America.
The pastor of the multi-campus Cross Church in northwest Arkansas voiced his conviction in a news conference June 10 that the nation is overdue for “a great movement of the Lord.”
“I want to see revival come to the church of Jesus Christ,” he said, “so that America would be awakened with a powerful God consciousness where great numbers come to faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior.”
Floyd said he will speak to Southern Baptists each Monday through a weekly blog and recount his travels on Twitter and Instagram.
“Wherever I go, I want to help tell the story of what God is doing across North America and the world,” Floyd said.
Through a Web-based relationship, he said he will call the entire denomination to pray for spiritual awakening.