“Prayer is the hardest thing. And no one congratulates you for doing it because no one knows you’re doing it, and if things turn out well they likely won’t thank God in any case. But I have a feeling that the hardest thing is what we all better be doing now, and that it’s not only the best answer but the only one.”  – Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal

The alarm clock jolted me out of a peaceful sleep. I struggled up trying to remember why I had set the alarm. As my sleepy brain slowly focused, I recalled signing the prayer chart at church the night before, agreeing to pray every morning for our America. It was a chilly morning, and the bed was warm and cozy. I thought maybe I could stay in bed and pray. I sat up, propped myself with pillows, pulled the warm quilt up to my neck, and began, “Dear God…”

I woke sometime later with a start. This was not working; maybe I should get out of bed and get on my knees. I pulled on my robe, sank to my knees in front of my favorite chair, and began once more, “Dear God…”

I nodded again, and when I woke, I remembered the scene at Gethsemane on the night before Jesus was crucified. He said to His disciples: “Can you not wait with me and pray one hour?” The son of God needed the prayers of His disciples that night, and they were too sleepy to pray.

Just as Jesus needed his disciples to wake up and pray, God needs His people in America to awaken and intercede. John Wesley once said: “God does nothing on earth save in answer to believing prayer.”

The United States of America was born through the efforts of earnest prayer, and prayer has always been the answer for its problems. When a financial panic hit our country in 1857, more than 30,000 men wandered the streets of New York City, jobless, and in despair. Jeremiah Lanphier, a quiet business man, took pity on these men and began praying for them. He sent out 20,000 flyers announcing a noonday prayer meeting. In the beginning, only five men joined him in prayer. But the word spread, and within weeks, great numbers of men responded. Eventually, because of the New York prayer meetings, similar groups sprang up around the nation. It is estimated that one million people across the nation were touched by these prayers.

In 1987 Ronald Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Two years later the Berlin Wall crumbled bringing peace to Germany. This victory began with a prayer meeting. Six people in a prayer group met each Monday night at St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig, Germany. This evolved into thousands of people across East and West Germany praying for peace. People interceded in homes, churches, and walked the streets and prayed. These prayers brought the Berlin Wall down.

In the late seventies, America’s economy was failing, with inflation, unemployment, and long gas lines. American embassies around the world were under attack, and Iranians were shouting, “Death to America!” While Americans were being held hostage in Iran and an attempt to rescue them failed, a prayer meeting was organized, called Washington for Jesus.

In 1980, taking as their theme 2 Chronicles 7:14, people from all over the country met in Washington. They lifted their hands toward the steps of the capitol and prayed that God would bring men and women into the government who would do God’s will; they prayed that the hostages in Iran would be released. In 1981, on Inauguration Day, as Ronald Reagan was sworn in, word came that the American hostages had been released.

Let’s do the hardest thing — Let’s wake up and pray.

Virginia Dawkins is the author of “Stepping Stones: Steps from Shackles to Freedom,” available at Amazon.