Prayer leader sees hope for America, calls for another 40 Days of Prayer

An 84-year-old North County man says he sees hope for turning a morally corrupt, godless America back to a God-fearing nation.

“Wickedness is strong in our country, but I see some positive signs,” Ray Bringham said in a recent interview. “There’s going to be a revival again in America and it’s going to start with our young people in our colleges. There’s a movement in some of them now, clusters of young college people who are seriously praying with unity.”

“Some of the colleges are just in the first states of revival and others are in revival,” he said, citing most of the activity in Ivy League colleges and schools in the South.

All the revivals of the past century have been ignited by young people, said the founder and director of Prayer Summit, based in San Marcos.

“Every move of God begins with prayer and that’s what these young people are doing,” he said. “Prayer alone cannot bring spiritual awakening. It must be accompanied by repentance.”

That’s a message Bringham has been preaching since he helped start the National Prayer Summit in June 1982. Since then he has also been one of the organizers of a national 40 Days of Prayer.

“Prayer and repentance are the only solution for our country’s moral condition,” he said. “I want to see 10 million soul winners in America, and with people praying it can happen.”

Bringham announced the dates for the 40 Days of Prayer this year to coincide with the national election. It will begin on Sept. 24 and conclude on Nov. 2, with the focus being for a moral and spiritual awakening in America.

“America is at the crossroads of a clashing of the cultures,” he said. “The 40 Days of Prayer is going to be a grassroots effort, but I encourage cities to have all-night prayer meetings. All great revivals are born after midnight.”

“We’re going to have three days of prayer at Boston University in July before the Democratic Convention and again in August before the Republican Convention in New York. We’ll probably use David Wilkerson’s church in New York.”

Many denominations are coming aboard, he said, though the planning is still in the early stages. He said American Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutheran and Methodist churches have all said they would be promoting the 40 Days of Prayer in one way or another.

Known as an “Apostle of Repentance,” Bringham travels extensively to areas where he can help fan revival. For more information , Bringham can be contacted by phone at (760) REVIVAL.