On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress came together in Philadelphia to officially adopt the Declaration of Independence. The idea of declaring independence against the powerful British military probably looked ludicrous, but they did it. In a sense, it was a statement of faith because the possibility of independence was certainly not evident at the time. Our Founding Fathers were speaking something into existence; it was a prophetic statement of faith because the outcome could have easily gone another way. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were all deeply involved. They had to commit their wealth, their honor, and their lives behind this document. The document ended with the statement, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”¹ You have to be involved with liberty or there is always someone ready to take it away from you.

The idea of independence is the birthplace of this nation. I do not believe in violent protests, and we have wonderful examples from people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who successfully went to the streets in a peaceful way with a demand for liberty. Whether we do it by serving in the armed forces, being a part of public life, voting, or by expressing ourselves in a public forum—somehow you must be part of retaining the liberty of this nation. Liberty has to be a majority voice. It has to be something that comes from an expression that loudly and clearly makes its voice known and that is what our Declaration of Independence represents.

When you look around at the current state of this great land, there is much to be concerned about. Many things are eroding the very concepts of freedom and liberty. But God said, “If … My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:13–14).² If we humble our hearts and cry out to God, He will forgive our sins and heal our land. We live in a time when our land needs a great healing. We may not exactly know how to pray for the United States. Its issues are so complicated and what is happening is so intricate, but God knows. And being filled with the Spirit and knowing how to pray in the Holy Spirit, we should feel an ability to pray for this great nation with an intensity, with a fervor, with a faith, and with a determination that the perfect will of God be done and His absolute Lordship be accomplished.

We had better appreciate our liberty because it is dangling over a cliff, and we need to do something about it. Our weapons “are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses” (2 Corinthians 10:4). By faith, the Body of Christ declares liberty and freedom for the Kingdom, not just in America but for every nation on the earth today. Remember, it was a proclamation of faith in the midst of warfare. It was a prophetic proclamation of what they believed had to come about as a result of their actions, and we do the same. These United States will stand in oneness and in liberty as the great country that God called it to be. God bless America. Amen.

¹ “Declaration of Independence (1776),” National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/declaration-of-independence.
² All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).