The buzzer sounded, and I literally jumped three feet off the bleachers onto the gymnasium floor and threw my arms around the girl who had just shot the winning point in the nick of time. We won! I can’t explain how excited I was, not because we won the game but because I had prayed.

I had poured my heart and soul into prayer for this young girl I mentored. I have no words for the time spent crying and pleading with God to heal her heart from the depth of horrific abuse she had suffered. Hours were given in prayer calls and words of encouragement to help her see she was made for more. She was a winner in God’s eyes. I had offered love and support when the going was tough year after year as her broken family struggled financially and spiritually.

But God… He knew. He had heard us, wept with us and provided a way of escape inher life. This moment in time is frozen in my memories because the moment the scoreboard showcased a victory, I knew it was the Lord. He was the real victor. This was a celebration years in the making, and now she was not only a local ball hero, but she had also experienced a game-changer in her life. God was central. He had heard us, and she knew it.

Fast forward, and now she is a thriving young adult with an education, a fantastic job and a love for Jesus. Prayer changes everything. It is real, and it is powerful.

The game is neck and neck, and America is in the fourth quarter of a crucial ball game.It’s critical that God wins on every level, both spiritually and practically. I love this country. God has gifted us with freedom beyond compare. He sent His son and laid down His life so that we might be spared, but on many levels, we shunned His offer.

What do I mean, and how do we remedy this and receive His mercy? Well, our nation has collectively offended God in many ways, and as a group, the “big C” Church must repent. If we turn from our ways and ask God to forgive us on behalf of the entire nation, it will be a game changer and definitely a church changer. He will win even at the last-minute buzzer because Jesus is the victor.

Esther understood standing for a nation. It may have felt lonely at the top, knowing she would face the king alone with her life at risk. All for the sake of God’s glory and all for the sake of her nation. She was a life laid down, a life on the line. She was an orphan willing to suffer again because of her great love for God, family and nation. Have you ever felt that way?

Have you ever felt like you have been through too much, and now God is asking you to be willing to sacrifice even more? Many times, yes, He asks us to put it all on the line again for His name’s sake.

With Mordecai in her corner and many others in Israel willing to fast with Esther, courage bubbled to the surface of her life. Her priorities were in place, but the stakes were high. We, too, feel this pressure. Are we willing to fast and pray before Him? Are we, like Esther, willing to lead and to go boldly before leaders in God’s name for the sake of our nation? What is He asking you to do? What is he asking his bride, the Church, to do?

I love the story of Esther because it illustrates the power of a submitted wife who approaches her husband, the king. She knows her place. In love and mercy, he listens and acts based on her advice and insight. Similarly, this is how we can approach God,our King, through prayer.

Esther 4:14 (NIV) “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

Let's consider another one of God’s faithful women. Hannah also made sacrifices for her nation. Her heart's most significant and all-consuming desire was to be a mother. Maybe you have the same passion for your family. That is a Godly desire. Hannah longed, she hoped, and she prayed for a child. I wonder if, wrapped up in those longings, God was also stirring a deep desire for her nation to flourish. Her first response to God, once she was granted Samuel, was to give him back to God. All of us, including Israel, still benefit from Samuel’s life. She gave to the Lord out of her need and out of the fruit of her prayers and womb. We need an army of Hannahs and Samuels. I wonder if God is calling you to be one?

1 Samuel 1:10-11 (NIV) 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

After an incredible sacrifice, offering her son Samuel to the Lord, Hannah continues to live a lifestyle of prayer.

1 Samuel 2:1-3 (NIV) 2 Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.2 “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.3 “Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him, deeds are weighed.

Hannah was a woman of big-picture, global thinking and prayers. She prayed against wickedness and understood that God was the judge of the earth. We can follow her pattern of sacrifice, closeness to the Lord, and prayer.

1 Samuel 2:8b-10b (NIV)“For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; on them he has set the world.9 He will guard the feet of his faithful servants, but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness. It is not by strength that one prevails;10 those who oppose the Lord will be broken. The Most High will thunder from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.

Reflect now and have tough conversations with God and one another about our collective actions in light of God’s word. His truth is the plumbline. What are some of the obvious ways we have failed to fear the Lord and participated in offending Him? Most definitely through aborting His babies (3,000 daily in the US), changing our sexual orientations (48,000 in 5 year study) and taking hormones to pull us away from His original creative design. Have we sinned in our approach to birth control instead of self-control and sex only within the context of marriage, husbands, and wives? Yes. These actions as a people are stepping outside the boundary lines of biblical life and sexuality.

What about choosing to elevate other priorities over time with God, doubting His complete word as inherent truth, dividing ourselves because of demographics, skincolor or finances, fighting to the point of death (380 in 2024 in Chicago) and partaking in substance abuse (107,500 US overdoes in 2023), to name a few? These ways are grievous to the Lord. He wants you and me to be a people set apart to Himself, pleasing and made holy. God’s bar isn’t too high to get across. The Bible says that he always provides away of escape from temptation. If this touches our hearts, it also touches God’s heart. He will forgive and heal us if we confess our sinful attitudes and actions. The game would be won: a Church Changer and a Nation Changer.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV) No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

He went to the cross and nailed our sins and our shame. So then, what can we do? We can repent. We can seek. We can pray in all earnestness. We can start with us and choose to change. We can win for Him. Repentance is the foundation for a Nation Changer and a Church Changer. You and I could open the hearts of a new generation of believers in our nation. Will you join me in the battle to increase the light?

How do we do that?
1. Intentionally and consistently choosing a time of day to pray
2. We include our families at mealtime or kneel together at bedtime
3. Choose a specific fast with a timeline (media, veg only, skip meals or total fast)
4. Read aloud, memorize and stand on specific scriptures
5. Go to and participate in serving in a Bible-believing church that speaks about current happenings. This must be consistent and prioritized. Remember the sabbath and keep it holy.
6. Join or start a group that prays for the nation
7. Stand up publicly and speak up for God at work and in the community
8. Let me know at Jennifer Jackson.com so we can stay focused and in touch?