Yesterday Today Tomorrow

Inseong J Kim: Hello, this is Inseong Kim from Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. We have a special guest today. Dr. Douglas Small, the founder of Prayer at the Heart, is with us. Thank you so much for being with us.

Douglas Small: Well, it's an honor to be with you. Thank you for having me.

Inseong J Kim: Thank you so much. What an important mission that we have, that prayer is the answer for our time. Please share with us a little bit about you and this organization, Prayer at the Heart.

Douglas Small: Five years ago, I often say, I backed into the prayer movement. I think God began to show me that this is really the missing link in the church. It's the missing link in a lot of pastors' lives. Only when we pray, and pray in a right way, are we going to see the kind of spiritual awakening we need in the nation.

We're not going to drive it through preaching or through the things that we've been trying. It's only going to be in desperate, humble, heartfelt crying out to God that we get the national change. That's really what gave birth to the nation. It was a great awakening that gave this nation birth, and now we need one to save it.

Inseong J Kim: Yes. Talk about George Whitefield preaching in 1770 and this connection to your prayer movement.

Douglas Small: Jonathan Edwards began to preach fervently in the early 1730s. That was after New England experienced a rare earthquake, and people thought it might be a foreboding sign of the wrath of God because there was a spiritual malaise in the church.

There was this thing called the Halfway Covenant where people didn't qualify for communion, but they let them be members of the church anyway because they wanted to keep their kids in church. There was always the hope of the next generation. We think when we look back at our founding that everybody was pilgrim-type and Puritan-type people, but that generation had gone.

What you had now were people who were coming over from Europe who were wanting to get rich quick and go back to Europe. So, the church was in desperate trouble. Some say that half of all girls of marriageable age were already pregnant. Whitefield began to come in 1739 and made seven trips. From Boston to Savannah, he preached. Eighty percent of the colonists heard him, and some say 20% made a recommitment to Christ.

In those days, the colonies were separated by faith. There were Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Quakers, or whatever, and they often were very hostile to one another. But Whitefield would stand in front of the crowds and say, "Father Abraham, do you have any Congregationalists in heaven?" "No." "Any Presbyterians?" "No." "Any Anglicans?" "No." "Who do you have there?" "Christians."

Whitefield would say to the crowd, "Then let us be Christians." He espoused a Christianity that transcended denominational barriers. Out of that came this extraordinary movement called the Black Robe Regiment and the American Revolution, and we won our independence.

Inseong J Kim: He preached 18,000 times and had 10 million listeners in person. What a revival they experienced at the time.

Douglas Small: They say that you could see a dust cloud and know it was Whitefield because people were leaving their plows in the fields and racing to hear him in person. Nobody really knew who Franklin was—well, they knew Franklin by the newspapers—but they didn't know who Washington and Adams and Jefferson were. But they knew who Whitefield was.

He was the galvanizing personality that drew the nation together, and he set pulpits aflow. He lived until 1770 or so, right on the edge of the Declaration of Independence. We need another Whitefield.

Inseong J Kim: Yes. God ordains the leader, and God has to bring leaders to lead this movement of prayer. We are at a very critical time, right?

Douglas Small: I think that we're at a time where if we don't see a spiritual awakening... Washington can't save us. You may applaud what Trump is doing and the executive orders and all those kinds of things, but those orders will be dead the day he leaves office. It will be like Josiah's reforms—gone when he's dead. What followed Josiah was not pretty.

We have to have a grassroots revival. We've got to have something that happens at the heart level. It's amazing. You think about Billy Graham and so many others—Bill Bright and so many other giants, even Reinhard Bonnke and Luis Palau. The stage is clear. We don't have any giants in America now.

I think in some way it's good because I think it's saying to all of us, God's looking for little people. He's looking for ordinary people to break their silence and share their faith. Only 2% to 8% of Christians are sharing their faith, and yet right now, 80% of young Millennials and Gen Z are open to conversations about faith from someone that they deem to be authentic and genuine in their faith.

Inseong J Kim: People are hungry. Yes, go ahead.

Douglas Small: We've probably never had a greater moment of openness and a greater moment of silence together in our nation's history.

Inseong J Kim: Wow. That's a powerful statement.

Douglas Small: If you look at Psalm 39, there's an interesting thing there. David was silent before his enemies. He was intimidated by them, just as we're intimidated by all the talk about evolution and all the scientific proofs and the belligerence of the culture around us that tells us you can't pray here or you can't say that name. We're intimidated. David said, "I kept silent. I didn't even say good things."

Then he had a wake-up moment and he said to himself, "Why am I being so quiet here?" This is where Shakespeare gets his line, "Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts his hour on the stage and is heard of no more." It is right here from this Psalm. David said, "My life is so short. Why am I intimidated?" And he breaks his silence. But at the end of Psalm 39, you see something else. You see the silence of God.

We wonder why has God grown silent? It may be because we, in the face of a culture that we're afraid of, have grown silent. We shouldn't be belligerent. We shouldn't be mean-spirited. We shouldn't be in-your-face. We have to lead with love. In fact, the greatest ploy in evangelism is to look back and see God's first word to humanity and Christ's last word, and those were words of blessing.

We are the people of God who get to speak the blessing of God over the lives of others, wake up God-consciousness in them, and draw them into the Kingdom of God. God said to Aaron, "You speak the words and I'll do the blessing." I think God wants us to change the language of evangelism. Not so much confrontational evangelism, but love-based evangelism, inviting people to know the love of God.

I know in the hearts of these young Gen Zs, 43% of them, their fathers were already gone when they were born. They never knew a father. They never knew a stable home. They've been shuttled back and forth between two or three homes. They've got a God-sized vacuum in their hearts. They're hungry for a father. So, one of the things we're saying is to try church again. Come back home to a home you've never been to, to a father you've never known, to a father that loves you. Talk to Him. Try God.

Inseong J Kim: Definitely, there is one side of a stronghold breaking the families apart and also breaking the souls of the people. Like you said, there's a silence. I believe that God is waiting for this time, and He will pour out His Spirit on us when we're ready to receive it. I think it's coming.

Whenever there is a great event, right before the great event, God pours out the Spirit on us. Something will happen. It's from God, giving us a last chance of grace. We're living in an extreme grace time. Thank you so much for what you do and responding to the God's calling.

Douglas Small: Amen. I think you're absolutely right. There's a key phrase you used, that God may be waiting on us. There's a moment in 1 Timothy chapter two where Paul says pray for kings and those in authority. Then he says we've got to ourself live acceptable lives. Then he says that God is watching us.

He's not watching us to be mean to us. He's not watching us to see if we step over some line and he's got a big human swatter in heaven. But he's watching to see, exactly as you suggest, if there is an alignment. When that alignment is there, this is when Paul says he's wanting to see all men saved, to see men saved everywhere. I do think that God is waiting on us to cry out to Him for us to reach a place of holy desperation and for us to reach a place of unity and humility.

He does want to send a revival to America because if a revival came here, every nation is here. Every language is spoken here. Fifty million legal immigrants live here. Twenty-one million who fit the profile of unreached people groups live here. Two million who fit the profile of unengaged unreached people groups live here. So, if a gully washer kind of revival came, it would back up into every nation, every tongue, and every tribe on the face of the earth. It would end up being a global revival.

I think that's why we have an enemy. I think that's why he's pumping anesthesia into our churches and standing on our air hose because he knows the explosive power of a genuine spiritual awakening in America in this hour.

Inseong J Kim: Absolutely, those critical times are coming. But when the bowl is upside down, you cannot pour anything on that bowl. It has to be a right heart to receive His blessing, and I think that's what God is waiting for us. We have so many programs—I'm not opposing programs, medicine, or counseling—but when people come before the Lord and start kneeling, that's when the revival comes.

Douglas Small: Nothing can take the place. Every part of our life is connected to prayer. We're saved by prayer, consecrated by prayer, filled with the Spirit by prayer, healed by prayer, our needs are met by prayer, and we get guidance by prayer. Everything rises out of prayer.

You can't substitute. You can't satisfy your personal relationship with God in a group at church. You need private closet time with Him. I don't know if you know this or not, but you might be interested to know that in the intervening time between when we started Prayer at the Heart in Kansas with 3,000 people under a tent in a six-hour prayer meeting, repenting for the nation, and today, when we're doing this million soul campaign, we've hosted 85 intercessory teams from South Korea.

They've been here in this nation from San Diego to Maine, from Miami to Seattle. In fact, we had one in Phoenix at Dream City Church. Here's why they came. They called me and came to my office in Charlotte and said, "We're concerned about America. Because if America falls—and we don't think it could, but they think it could—if America falls, nobody stops North Korea. Nobody stops China, and nobody stops Russia. You stand between peace and world order. You can't fall. You don't see how close you are to folding spiritually and in every way." So, they started sending these prayer teams over. It's just been my privilege to host 85 of those teams all over the U.S.

Inseong J Kim: I grew up in those times after the Korean War. There was absolutely amazing revival happening in South Korea. They were desperate, and they were seeking God. As we can see, America is drifting. Also, Korea was drifting culturally because of the wealth and the blessing that God has given to them. Usually, the prosperity...

Douglas Small: Well, here's another interesting part of that. The first teams came, and when they came, I called Dr. Tom Phillips, who was the crusade director for Billy Graham's ministries for many, many years. He is now retired. I called him and said, "Tom, I need help." He said, "What do you need?" I told him, "Well, these Korean teams are coming." He said, "Well, when are they coming?" I told him they're coming on these dates. He said, "Do you know the significance of those dates?" I said, "No, sir, I don't."

He said, "Those are the dates that Billy Graham went to Korea for his largest-ever crusade, and 100,000 people came to Christ during those three or four days of that crusade." So, 49 years, seven Sabbaths after an American evangelist went to Korea—Bill Bright went the year before and the year after—you get bread on the water coming back from that mighty revival in Korea.

The sons and daughters and grandchildren of the people saved in that revival are coming back here. It was as if God were saying, "What I did in Korea, I can do here. I want to do here." It's just given me great hope that God wants to do something bigger and grander than we've ever imagined.

Inseong J Kim: I remember that time. I was there. Everybody took a little pillow that they can sit on. We were sitting on the asphalt and gathered together and listened to his preaching and praying, and God was pouring out His Spirit. I vividly remember I was there at the time.

Douglas Small: That was a great time in Korea. Now, of course, Franklin has gone back, and Will has gone back once a year for the next 10 years to see if they can't see a spiritual revival. Franklin Graham has become the primary endorser of this million soul campaign, and Tom Phillips has become the senior advisor to us.

We're just blessed to be able to say to the nation, the only way that we can see a great awakening is it has to be measured in souls. A million people coming to Christ by the end of this year would be twice as many as we saw saved last year in all denominations. That would be like a big domino falling. Of course, what we're hoping is that we don't just have a million saved. We're hoping we have a tithe of the nation. We hope we have 35 million come to Christ.

Inseong J Kim: That great revival is the answer for our problems. We can talk about it, we can debate it, we can do everything we can do to fix the problem, but we need the power of God. He has to move individuals' lives and change lives.

That's why this prayer movement is very critical. It's like a little torch that you just share, like candlelight, one person at a time to the next person, to reach the million or two million. There are so many people who need grace and love at this time, and I think God has His timing.

Douglas Small: So here's what we're saying to everybody listening. Make a list. Put it on your sun visor, put it on your computer screen, put it on your app or phone, somewhere where you see it every day, every morning. Pray for 10 people. Ten people that you love, 10 people that you care about, neighbors, friends, family members. Have coffee with five, share Christ with three, and win one. Do this with two other Christians, because if you do it with two other Christians, they'll encourage you and hold you accountable.

When you share Christ, don't go right after the Four Spiritual Laws or some other thing. Build a relationship of love and say to that person, "You've never told me your God story." They may say to you, "Well, I don't have a God story. You know I don't believe in God." That's exactly the story I want to hear. You ask them to tell the story of why they're turned off or why they're hurt.

Then you say to them, "Can I tell you my God story? You may not know that I wasn't always a Christian. Here's how I became one." Then third, "Can I tell you His story? Can I tell you how much He loves you?" You invite them into His story, into something bigger than the life they're living now. It's a different kind of evangelism.

You can go to prayerattheheart.org and check the resources tab. There's all kinds of private videos that you can watch, and there are videos for pastors on how they can do this in their church. There's also Evangelism as Blessing, a one-evening training that anybody can do themselves. It's absolutely free. You can figure out this is how I begin to bless other people and invite them to know the blessing of God in their life.

Inseong J Kim: Please tell us about your website again, so people can connect and engage in the prayer movement.

Douglas Small: Thank you so much. If you go to prayerattheheart.org and click on the site, you'll immediately see an endorsement by Franklin Graham. You'll see a video by Ronnie Floyd, who was Southern Baptist president for many years. We've got all kinds of people involved in this. We've got Pentecostals, Southern Baptists, Global Methodists, and Presbyterians. Everybody has a place at this table to win other people to Christ.

If you go to the resources tab, you can get all kinds of resources. You can get an Operation Andrew guide to pray for your neighbors. You can connect with the bless-every-home.com site and actually see your neighborhood and adopt neighbors for prayer. You can go through what we call the Ambassador Training to learn how you can do grace-based visits to see your mayor and the school board and the state representative and the state senator and others.

Go to them not with a petition, but go to them saying, "We're told in scripture to pray for kings and those in authority. We've not been doing this. How can we best pray for you? We want to bless our city." There's a Salty Guide. You can find two or three other people at work and just begin to pray that God would show up and manifest Himself at your workplace.

You can also get your certificate to be a lay chaplain at work and be Christ right in your workplace to other people whose lives might need somebody to just pray with them and talk to them about the Lord. All kinds of resources here at prayerattheheart.org.

Inseong J Kim: Thank you so much for responding to God's calling. Thank you so much for being with us today.

Thank you for listening to Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. This little torch we have, we just pass on to the next person. We'll see what God does, and we will see a great revival coming back to this America. We'll be back next week. Thank you.