Anne-Graham Lotz, the daughter of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, has said that even though President Donald Trump's decision to sign an executive order on "religious liberty" is "wonderful", it won't fix the "spiritual drought" America is currently experiencing.
During a speech delivered at the conclusion of the 2017 National Day of Prayer, Lotz, the founder of AnGeL Ministries and the chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer, told attendees gathered in the Capitol's Statuary Hall that she was in attendance at the White House when the president signed the executive order, which he said will prevent the federal government from "bullying and even punishing Americans for following their religious beliefs."
"Our nation is in trouble and we had some wonderful things [happen] today," she said of the order. "I praise God for the liberty that we have. In fact, I was telling Sammy Rodriguez before this that it's almost mind blowing that America has to have an executive order to guarantee religious liberty in America, which shows how far we have fallen from our foundation of faith in the living God."
However, Lotz warned that if America continues to forsake God, "He will forsake us."
"I believe we are going through a time in our nation that I would describe a spiritual drought," Lotz said. "If this is so and if the problems in our nation are coming because God is missing, then issuing an executive order will not fix that, and politics will not fix that, and immigration reform, and health reform, and some of these other things will not fix that."
"The only thing that will fix that is if God's people, who are called by God's name, will humble themselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways."
The evangelist also provided time for people in the audience to pray and repent for their own personal sins, according to the Christian Post, and led a time of "national repentance."
Included in the observance program was a list of 12 "national sins."
"I thought maybe we would read this together. We will just read it together. I read it and you can read along," she said. "But if you are not sure you want to do that because you are not sure what it is going to say, I understand that. I will just go ahead and read it anyway."
Lotz, followed by the audience, stated:
"We confess our foolishness of denying You as the one true living God, our Creator to whom we are accountable, living as though our lives are a cosmic accident with no eternal significance, purpose or meaning.
We confess we no longer fear You, and thus we have not even the beginning of wisdom with which to handle the vast knowledge we possess.
We confess to believing that the prosperity of our nation is because we are great, while refusing to acknowledge that all blessings come from your hands.
We confess that we depend upon our military might and our weapons systems to defend us from harm and danger while denying, defying and ignoring You.
We confess that we have succumbed to the pressure of pluralism and our desire to be inclusive so that we honor other gods as though You are just one of many.
We confess that we have allowed the material blessings You have given us to deceive us into thinking we don't need You.
We confess that we feel entitled to what someone else has earned instead of taking responsibility for ourselves and our families as we trust in You.
We confess that we live as though material wealth and prosperity will bring happiness.
We confess our greed that has run up trillions of dollars of national debt. We confess our arrogance and pride that has led us to think we are sufficient in ourselves.
We confess national addiction to sex, to money, to pleasure, to entertainment, to pornorgraphy, to technology, to drugs, to alcohol, to food, to television, to popularity, to ourselves.
We confess that we have marginalized truth and mainstreamed lies.
We confess that we have become one nation under many gods divided and polarized, with license to sin and justice that often does not follow the rules of law."
As reported, to kick off the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, Lotz encouraged Christians to pray that God will bring renewal, restoration, and revival to America.
"God uses dramatic world events to get our attention," she wrote. "Jesus said in Matthew 24 in the end of the age there will be 'famines and earthquakes', 'wars and rumors of wars', 'an increase of wickedness'."
The evangelist warned that "signs are all around us", from natural disasters to human trafficking.
"When political solutions repeatedly fail to remedy what must begin with broken hearts and bended knees," she said. "When faced with God's righteous judgment, there is nothing-no politics or president, no government or agreement-nothing will turn our nation around except prayer."
On this National Day of Prayer, "Is it possible that the prayer of one person could bring renewal, restoration, and revival to America?" she asked. "Listen to me! You'll never know until you pray," Lotz said.
