Wake Up, America: Why September 20 Is a Date We Cannot Ignore
On December 12, 2023, Prophetess Linda Burkhardt delivered a word many are only now understanding the weight of. In a dream, she saw a large hand open, palm up, an abacus resting beside it, and heard a voice say: wake up, for I have things to say. The Lord spoke of a season of preparation drawing to a close, a purpose being revealed to His Body, the Church. He spoke plainly of violence already unfolding across the world, directed at His people, and warned it would increase and reach even the righteous. But He also called His people to stand strong as one, to know His word and His ways, and not let fear turn their legs to water.
The time of preparation will end on September 20, 2026, with the proclaiming of the 70th year of Jubilee. We must be prepared for what comes next.
Read the full prophetic word below.
Like the prodigal son, America has taken the Father's gifts, freedom, abundance, grace, and wandered into a far country of our own making. We are living in the pigpen we built for ourselves, distant from the God who has never stopped watching the road for our return. The question isn't whether we've drifted. It's whether we're ready to come home.
This year, that question carries unusual weight. As we enter the Third Millennium of Jesus' earthly ministry, 2026 also marks the 70th Year of Jubilee since Israel first entered the Promised Land, an invitation too significant to skim past, and arriving in the very season the prophetic word above pointed toward.
A Season of Return
Before Jesus began His public ministry, He spent forty days being tested in the wilderness, a season many believe fell during the Hebrew observance of Teshuvah, when hearts are searched, humbled, and turned back toward God. According to the Zondervan Study Bible, Jesus began that ministry in the fall of 26 A.D., but preparation came first. This year, Teshuvah runs from August 12 through September 20, and more than 3,000 intercessors are already praying through it together as part of the American Wake Up Call 2026. A Solemn Assembly launching this season was live-streamed to intercessors in Dallas, across America, and overseas, and remains available on YouTube.
That season culminates on September 20, 2026, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the day Scripture designates for proclaiming Jubilee liberty throughout the land (Leviticus 25:10). It isn't a symbolic date chosen for convenience. It's the date liberty itself was meant to be declared.
Four Things Intercessors Are Praying Will Be Returned Home to God
As intercessory teams pray through this Teshuvah season toward September 20, four specific returns are at the center of their prayers.
The return of the land to God. Leviticus 25:23 is direct: "The land is mine." Jubilee was never only about people. It was about property and territory restored to their rightful owner. Intercessors are praying that America itself, its soil, its cities, its institutions, would be surrendered back to the God who holds title to it. Second Chronicles 7:14 promises that when God's people humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from wickedness, He will hear from heaven and heal their land.
The return of God's family to Him as a unified Church. Jubilee was also a family reunion, a year when scattered clans returned to one another (Leviticus 25:10). The Church in America has splintered along denominational, political, generational, and cultural lines. Intercessors are praying for something Jubilee itself pictures: not uniformity, but unity, the family of God coming back together as one body.
Bringing home the prodigals. At the center of it all is the son who left, the individual souls who have wandered from the Father's house and haven't yet turned around. It's one thing to pray for a nation in the abstract. It's another to pray by name for the neighbor, the sibling, the friend still in the pigpen, still unaware that the Father is watching the road for them.
The return of each of us to His holy presence. Beyond the nation, beyond the Church, beyond even the visible prodigal, there is a quieter, more personal invitation: to draw near to God Himself. Teshuvah has always been as much about intimacy as repentance, not just turning from something, but turning toward Someone. Intercessors are praying that every believer, however far or near they feel they've strayed, would step back into the holy presence of God and remain there.
From the Prayer Room to the Streets
None of this is meant to stay inside a sanctuary. Jesus modeled the pattern when He sent seventy-two workers ahead of Him, two by two, into the towns He was about to visit (Luke 10:1–20): first prayer, then care for real needs, then the invitation to hear the Gospel. That order mattered. Care earned the workers the right to be heard, and strongholds broke as a result.
The same pattern is being asked of the Church now. Some will open their homes. Some will go door to door with practical help before mentioning a sermon. Some will simply invite a neighbor to a gathering. Peter's instruction applies to all of us: "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope you have, but do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15).
What to Do Between Now and September 20
A free Prayer Guide is available at AmericanWakeUpCall.net. On August 12, churches and prayer groups held a sacred assembly to begin this season. From August 12 through September 20, believers are praying through Teshuvah, for humility, serving God, and repentance for themselves, their churches, and their nation. On September 20 itself, churches and prayer groups everywhere are invited to gather to celebrate and proclaim the Jubilee together.
Paul wrote, "Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). September 20 is a date on a calendar. But for those who take it seriously, it's also a door. The land can be returned to God. The family of God can come home to unity. The prodigals we've been praying for by name can walk back up the road to find the Father already running to meet them. And each of us can step back into His holy presence and stay there.
Join the intercession. Download the free Prayer Guide, watch the opening Solemn Assembly on YouTube, and be part of proclaiming the Jubilee with Jesus this September 20.
