Lou Engle: Calling Youth to Pray for America
The Call was a movement from 2000 to the beginning of 2004 with several major events to get young people to intecede. Prayer leader Lou Engle says The Call is now over and the next step is The Cause. The Cause is a "prayer initiative to urgently mobilize nationwide prayer and fasting for America. The Call offices have been officially closed since January 2004; however, the need to fast and pray for America is greater than ever. In the four short years since The Call D.C., America has endured the horrors of 9/11 and fought two wars that continue to claim lives.
Where The Call was more vertical with fasting and prayer, The Cause is more geared to activism and mobilization - voting and prayer. The call to pray is as it is stated in 1 Timothy 2, the church needs to pray for those in key positions of authority. The Cause looks at real justice issues, such as homosexual marriage in specific ways, to win the battle in the heavenlies first and then see the fruits with godly changes in the judicial and political elections.
Lou believes the whole nation is being held accountable for how it is being run. The nation and the church are buckling under an escalating spiritual and moral crisis, punctuated by events such as the removal of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama courthouse, the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal,s and the ordination of a practicing homosexual as an Episcopal bishop. Recently, Massachusetts became the first state in our nation's 200-year history to recognize homosexual marriage, in bold defiance of the law of God.
The next president will almost certainly have the opportunity to appoint at least one new Supreme Court justice during his term in office, a choice that will potentially impact the court for decades. Thirty-four U.S. Senate seats and all 435 U.S. House seats are up for re-election this fall, and in light of what is at stake, it is crucial that the church gather for extended prayer and fasting. Our nation is in desperate need of historic revival leading to righteous reformation!
The Cause is summoning thousands of youth to come to Colorado Springs for 50 days of 24/7 worship and prayer from July 10 to August 28, 2004. It will be intense and held in a campground setting, with each person expected to intercede eight hours a day or night. People will be given a rice and beans diet, with many on extended fasts. It will be a cry out to God for the following issues:
- For righteous senators and congressmen, and a godly president to be elected
- For a shift in the courts of this land, back to the biblical foundations our laws are based on and for the reversal of Roe vs. Wade
- For a revival that leads to reformation in America
- For a sweeping outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the gay and lesbian communities, for a great harvest with true repentance, and for the church to receive these new believers with love
- For a great youth revival on college campuses and the birth of another Student Volunteer Missions Movement
There is also an urgent calling for 24-hour fasting and prayer vigils on September 11, around the country, in all 50 states. This is a grass roots event, mobilized by local churches at state capitols and city halls.
WARNING RULERS OF THE EARTH
Lou was preaching at an African-American church in San Francisco on February 1, 2004. A tall man and his entourage entered the room and sat in the front row. Lou didn't know who this man was. After Lou finished preaching, the pastor of the church introduced the man as the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome. The pastor asked Lou to pray publically for the mayor. Lou prayed, "God, I thank you that all earthly government is derived from Your heavenly government. Therefore, let this man know that he will be held accountable for everything he does in this city under the government of God. In Jesus' name. Amen." Three weeks later, Gavin Newsome opened the floodgates by allowing same-sex marriage licenses to be issued in San Francisco.
Lou felt that this was more than coincidence. God impressed upon Lou that He had sent him to warn the mayor about the judgement of those in authority who hold God's laws in contempt. ( says, "Therefore, you kings, be wise, be warned you rulers [judges] of the earth.")
One of Lou's convictions with The Cause is "God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. He stands alone, above all governments of men, unmoved by the raging sea of history. He judges nations and He does not ask kings and presidents for their opinion. Instead, He holds them accountable to carry out His unchanging law, lest they come under His wrath, as Psalm 2 reminds us."
