MANHATTAN — We have been watching in the news as the antiquated Iranian navy sails towards American waters. The navy commander is saying this is just a training exercise for new sailors. However, their president is saying this action is being taken because the American navy is near Iran’s waters. This is the first time a foreign power has openly threatened the mainland of America since the War of 1812.
Is there a reason foreign powers now dare to do to America that which has not been done since 1812? Is there a reason we have experienced an increasing number of defeats starting with 9/11? I believe there is.  
Psalm 81 says in part :
“I am the LORD your God ... Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
“But my people would not listen to me; ... So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
“If my people would only listen to me,... how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!”
Romans 1:21, 28-32 says: “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened ... just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
I could quote many more verses, but these two make the point. All through God’s word, He promises to provide for and protect a nation that follows after His ways. If a nation leaves His commands behind, God will withdraw His protection.
Compare today with when the Barbary pirates started to attack American shipping, taking its cargo and enslaving its sailors in 1801. Even though America did not even have a formal navy then and had to create the Marines, it still defeated that nation and subdued it in 1805. At the same time, that nation also ceased raiding the shipping of other nations due to America’s actions.
Today, we are running from the threats and implied threats of other nations. Our armed forces are being degraded into immorality before our eyes – the very same thing that happened to Rome’s armies before being soundly and repeatedly defeated. All of the signs say we are headed in the same direction. Because of modern technology systems, it will happen differently, but it will happen just the same.
Is there a solution? Can we get back to where we were? Absolutely! However, it will be a long, hard uphill battle. I have quoted what God says in 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 several times, but when was the last time you prayed and fasted for revival in America? When was the last time a large portion of your church members attended a prayer meeting to intercede for America? There is much we can do with intercessory prayer. Now is the time to start!

Frank F. Clark is the author of the column “Frankly Speaking.” Contact him at ffpsclark@yahoo.com.