Tens of thousands of Christians from across the nation will gather in Nashville, Tenn., this Saturday—07-07-07. They are not going for a concert or a festival, but to fast and pray for the nation, hoping to ignite a spiritual awakening in the body of Christ. “I believe that in this moment in time, if we respond in repentance, we could release the greatest revival of confession of sin and a cleansing by the blood of Jesus that could draw us back into marital faithfulness with our Bridegroom, God,” said Lou Engle, co-founder of TheCall. “I believe a great spiritual awakening could be at hand which could even affect the elections of 2008.” At a time of rampant “spiritual hedonism” in the American church, TheCall participants are invited to pray for repentance, purity and holiness at the one-day event. For 40 days leading up to TheCall, many fasted from food and media to prepare themselves to pray and to reverse the 40 years of negative spiritual affects that were sparked, Engle said, by the 1967 “Summer of Love” festival, characterized by “free sex” and Eastern mysticism. “God's holy prescription for our diseased state in times of national crisis and moral collapse … is a solemn assembly of untied fasting and prayer,” Engle said. TheCall first took place seven years ago in Washington, D.C.
