9/11 Day of Prayer and Repentance returning

Scott Greer

WASHINGTON – After the success of this year's 9/11 National Day of Prayer and Repentance, WND CEO Joseph Farah is pledging to continue the work next year.

"By any standard, the National Day of Prayer and Repentance September 11 was an unprecedented success," said Farah, who conceived the idea along with messianic rabbi Jonathan Cahn, the author of the bestselling "The Harbinger."

"In only a few months, with the help of the Holy Spirit, it appears the effort mobilized hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of believers, to pray for the healing of our nation by repenting of their own sins. This has so encouraged me that we will immediately begin work on making the Sept. 11, 2014, bigger and better," Farah said.

More than 1,000 churches and 250,000 individuals participated in the 2013 events and several celebrities, such as Chuck Norris and Charlie Daniels, endorsed the day as a way for America to rejuvenate itself spiritually.

"I am very much with you," Daniels told WND, "and every day is a day of prayer for me. A lot of people pray for America, but to put a focal point on it, to unite people behind it, to let them know they're not by themselves, there are millions of people out there doing the same thing … I'm very much in agreement with it. My hat's off to you for doing that.

"You know, God is in control of [America]," Daniels continued. "If He decides He's going to shut it down, He's going to shut it down. Second Chronicles does say, 'If my people called by my name repent of their wicked ways and pray, I will hear from heaven and heal their land.' That's a promise from the Creator of the universe."

The special day was born in a commentary by Farah, founder of WND, in April. He explained that while millions flocked to churches and houses of prayer after the 2001 terror attacks, ultimately, America did not change its course.

"As Jonathan Cahn pointed out so effectively in ‘The Harbinger’ and ‘The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” he said, “America prayed after Sept. 11, 2001. But America did not repent."

So the focus became clear: prayer accompanied by repentance.

Cahn said many have felt, because of "The Harbinger," and even those who haven’t read it yet, that there’s something about 9/11 that concerns the future of America. Because of that, multitudes across the nation – individuals, pastors, churches, ministries – consecrated it as a day to reach out to God.

Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., hosted a televised special featuring Cahn.

Cahn’s book and a companion movie by WND Films, “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” present evidence of shocking parallels between events in ancient Israel described in chapter 9 of Isaiah and what has happened in America since 9/11.

Cahn believes an ancient judgment that befell Israel is repeating itself in America.

Farah said the model America followed “was the same paradigm followed by ancient Israel as described in Isaiah 9:10 – the pledge to rebuild bigger and better in our own strength without notice to what God was trying to communicate through a limited judgment.”

“As a result, America has seen continued judgment ever since,” he said. “Therefore, repentance is as important as prayer."

In the foothills of Colorado, which were besieged by rainfall of "biblical" proportions on this year's 9/11, according to the National Weather Service, at least one group gathered to hear the message of prayer and repentance.

Other gathering places for prayer and repentance on 9/11 were in churches, homes, parks, and universities – even through a 24-hour telethon by a Chinese prayer group.

"God is calling us all, His beloved children, to pray to and seek Him so that He may heal and restore our land and our nation. 'Return to me and I shall return to you!' Let us call unto God without rest and not let Him rest until His plan for this nation is fulfilled!" said Ying Ying, who helped organize one of the 24-hour prayer sessions, via conference call, in both Chinese and English.

In Murphy, N.C., a 9/11 prayer gathering was held at Konehete Park. The organizers invited "all churches, fellowships and believers in Jesus Christ" to come together for a time of repentance.

Organizers didn’t schedule speakers or music, intending to have nothing to distract from "crying out to God in repentance for individuals, communities, schools and our nation."

Jim George of the New York City suburb of Maplewood, N.J., spread the call to about 50 churches within a five-mile radius in a dozen communities.

In America's Heartland, Bayless Baptist Church in St. Louis open the doors all day for people to come and pray.

In rural, southeastern Kansas, members of Pleasant Hill Community Church in Parsons set aside the day as a day of prayer and fasting.

Out West, Verne O'Brien of Sierra Vista, Ariz., told WND that "the Lord has laid on my heart to meet weekly for one hour in my home with other believers who have the same burden to pray for the nations and, yes, this nation."

"I know that this is the start of something powerful in this area of the U.S.," he wrote.

In St. Petersburg, Fla., Virginia Beale went through the local phone book urging churches to participate.

Meanwhile, Susan Jones of Whitefish, Mont., asked pastors in her area in face-to-face meetings to take part.

Farah explained he called for the day out of a sense of frustration with politics and the decline in morality in the country. He suspects there is a connection between the revealing of national "sins" and the desire by believers to confess their own sins to God in unity with other believers.

"The key to this call is II Chronicles 7:14," he said. "This is the prescription of a Holy God for national healing. He tells believers they are to do four things: humble themselves, pray, seek His face and turn from their wicked ways. In turn, God says He will hear their prayers, forgive their sins and heal their land. Honestly, I believe if believers across America do this, we will see miracles."

Leaders endorse

The 9/11 Day of Prayer and Repentance has been endorsed by leaders such as evangelist Greg Laurie, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., singer Charlie Daniels, historian David Barton, singer Pat Boone, pastor Jack Hayford and Tom Hess of the Jerusalem House of Prayer.

Other endorsers are: