As with each Decision America Tour prayer rally, Franklin Graham took the opportunity Tuesday in Arkansas to address one important area of prayer: generational confession. The purpose is for each person confessing the sins of his or her ancestors to speak and live truth in their current context.
“Nehemiah confessed the sins of his fathers,” Franklin Graham said. “I look back at my family, and my father and grandfather—they were good men.
“But I look back in our family history. I see things that were not good—slave owners, alcoholics. For many of you, maybe with your grandfathers or your own fathers—there were issues.”
Jim Langone has a similar heart for his home state. He wants to see its younger residents live with hope—a hope that transcends the moral decay of past generations.
Several months ago—as the Decision America field representative for Arkansas—Lagrone and city captain Larry Clements started contacting younger families and Christian schools about attending Tuesday’s rally at the State Capitol in Little Rock.
And it worked.
An estimated 5,100 Arkansans—of widely varied ages—gathered to cry out to God on behalf of their beloved nation and to look to the future.
Coach Wade Menzies chaperoned Southwest Christian Academy middle school students on a field trip to the State Capitol.
“I wanted them to be in an environment where people are praying for their country,” explained Menzies. “It’s important for them to be here because they are our next generation, and so they can leave here and go encourage their parents to vote correctly.”
Kaylee Glenn, an eighth-grader in his group, had never experienced anything like the rally: “This is pretty exciting for me. I’ve never been to a place where everyone gets together just to pray.”
Cassady Fisher, Kaylee’s classmate, chimed in: “It’s great to come together as one. And it’s pretty special to me knowing I have the freedom to come here. We’re all here to praise God.”
For Brittney Yates, another eighth-grader at Southwest Christian, Tuesday’s Decision America rally was about hope.
“Because of what our world has come to, it helps our generation become more built up and it strengthens us,” she said.
Fellow student Brooklyn Burks added, “It’s just nice to be gathered around here with a lot of people and pray with them.”
And now, people like Lagrone who have lived in this area for several decades hope that Christians from the emerging generation—like the eighth-graders at Southwest Christian Academy—will be the voice for truth in the culture.
“I’m praying that God will inspire Christian men and women to be involved. And who knows who’s standing out here? Arkansas has produced a president, why not another one? Some young person could be standing out here today, inspired by the message to be involved and touch America in a different way,” said Langrone.
And he says it’s up to his generation to show up to pray—like thousands have in Little Rock—and lead the way.
“As we pray, some fifth-grader is going to join hands with a grandmother or a grandfather. The older person is worried about the country in a different way than the fifth-grader. Looking at the past—what was. And they are worried about the future. They’ve seen with their own eyes the decline of morality and the choices we have made as Americans over the decades,” he explained.
“Kids just want a chance, the opportunity to live the ‘American Dream.’ It is widely believed that this generation will be the first to actually be worse off than their parents. They are hearing all that news, but events like this bring them hope—and just maybe, it will give them a new direction.”
