On Sept. 11, 1940, Winston Churchill gave a broadcast about the “Blitz,” the brutal nightly bombing of London, England.

He said, “These cruel, wanton, indiscriminate bombings of London are, of course, a part of Hitler’s invasion plans. He hopes by killing large numbers of civilians, and women and children, that he will terrorize and cow the people of this mighty imperial city, and make them a burden and anxiety to the Government. Little does he know the spirit of the British nation, or the tough fiber of the Londoners…who have been bred to value freedom above their lives. This wicked man, the repository and embodiment of many forms of soul-destroying hatred, this monstrous product of former wrongs and shame, has now resolved to try to break our famous island race by a process of indiscriminate slaughter and destruction. What he has done is to kindle a fire in British hearts here and all over the world, which will glow long after all traces of the conflagration he has caused in London have been removed.”

Sometime after this speech, an advisor to Churchill organized a call to prayer, asking that people stop whatever they were doing at 8:00 and pray.

As Big Ben rang out for one minute each night, people talked to God. This was known as the Big Ben Silent Minute. These prayers had an amazing effect—the bombing stopped!

Recently, someone posted this story on Facebook, suggesting that Americans who believe in the power of prayer should adopt this habit. We don’t have a Big Ben to ring out a reminder, but since I read the Facebook post, a lady from another state told me that she and her husband set their phone alarms for eight o’clock each night and pray for the The USA.

It seems that in America, with each news bulletin, new bombs are dropped around us each day. We often feel just as helpless as those Londoners who huddled in their homes during Hitler’s reign of slaughter and destruction.

Could it be if we agreed to call out to God in unison, we could be a part of changing the fabric of America for our great-grandchildren? Could our prayers change America’s story?

One of my favorite prayer stories is about two elderly sisters who lived in the Scottish Islands, in 1949. Miss Peggy was 84 years old and blind. Her sister, Christine, was 82 and suffered from severe arthritis.

Although they were unable to attend church, they were grieved about the spiritual condition of their neighborhood; alcoholism and lawlessness were rampant in their village. Homebound, there was only one thing they could do. They would pray for extended periods each night. Their prayers ignited other prayers, and when many people prayed in unity, a revival filled their island.

Writer Derek Prince, said, “America has grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown…We have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own…Have we become too proud to pray to the God who made us?”

There is a promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “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 sin and heal their land.”

Let’s set our alarms and pray at eight!