Christian leaders Steve and Esther Uppal have issued what they described as a “sober, urgent call” to Christians and church leaders in the West, warning that they believe a period of major disruption may be approaching.
Speaking in a video published by Revival Times on September 4, the couple said they had sensed throughout 2026 that the Church should prepare spiritually for “great change and challenge”.
Esther Uppal said the sense of urgency had intensified as the year progressed.
“God is speaking, but the question is are we listening? Are we hearing? Are we obeying? Are we aligning our lives with what God is saying?” she said.
She added that since the beginning of the year they had felt strongly that “major disruption” was coming, although they did not claim to know exactly what form it would take.
“As the months of this year have gone by, we have felt a greater intensity and urgency on these things,” she said. “Major disruption coming. Real unrest. Things changing. It not being business as usual.”
Esther spoke about several warning dreams she had experienced in recent months, including images of destructive winds and “huge tsunami waves crashing over people and places”.
She understood these as spiritual images rather than literal forecasts, adding that she had “an overwhelming sense that there is an urgency in the hour that we’re in”.
Steve Uppal said the couple had prayed about what kind of disruption might occur.
“We don’t know whether the disruption is going to be another medical issue, whether it’s going to be civil unrest … it could be something to do with the economy. It could be another nation attacking us,” he said. “We just don’t know what’s going to cause the disruption.”
He said their greater concern was what they perceived as a lack of spiritual alertness in the Church.
“The overwhelming sense when we pray … is we’re hearing the Lord saying the church is mostly asleep,” he said, describing Christians as “sleepwalking, busy with activity, but not paying attention to the times that we’re in”.
The Uppals said their message was intended as a call to preparation rather than fear.
Steve said the seriousness of the moment required an appropriate response.
“I think the days are critical, urgent, and those kind of days require an appropriate response,” he said.
He used the example of a child walking into the path of a lorry, saying that in such a situation a gentle warning would not be enough.
“The danger is so great that a conversation won’t do,” he said.
Steve shared a phrase he said had returned to him in recent weeks: “a wartime mentality is required.”
He described this as “a settled conviction that we are in spiritual conflict”, adding, “This is not a holiday. It is not business as usual. So, priorities are reordered, comforts are held loosely, and every resource is spent on what actually advances the cause.”
Prayer formed a major part of the couple’s appeal, with Esther saying that the urgency of the moment called for more than routine prayer.
“We believe that prayer is an appropriate response,” she said. “Urgent times require a certain type of prayer.”
She drew on the biblical story of Esther, saying she believed it was an “Esther 4:14 time” and an invitation for Christians to recognise the significance of the present moment.
“Who knows that we have been born for such a time as this?” she said. “We were born for this hour. We were born to pray, to press in, to make a difference.”
Steve likewise called for a deeper form of intercession.
“This is a travailing, persistent, birthing,” he said. “It’s giving much time to it.”
He urged Christians to hold everyday distractions more loosely, including “crashing in front of the television” and “scrolling through social media endlessly”.
“The hour requires urgent prayer, travailing prayer, Spirit-led prayer,” he said.
He added that he and Esther had personally increased the amount of time they were giving to prayer, while their church was also moving into a season of prayer and fasting.
Steve urged Christian leaders to be more willing to change direction rather than simply maintain existing church routines.
“Many people are still living either by their routine of what’s required on a Sunday, on a Wednesday, on a Tuesday by their organisation and by problems that arise, and they are not listening to what the Father is saying,” he said. “We lead from listening. We live from listening.”
He said listening to God should lead Christians to greater focus and a willingness to “pivot” where necessary.
Steve revisited five warnings he said he first shared several years ago: confusion, distraction, disorientation, dilution and deterrence.
He described these as spiritual tactics designed to move Christians away from what they believe God has called them to do.
On distraction, he said Christians should be wary of “skirmishes” that consume their attention.
“Remember they are just skirmishes trying to take your attention. Don’t give your attention to them,” he said.
He also warned against softening Christian teaching to make it more acceptable.
“The Lord is saying you do not have the permission to dilute the word of God or the message of God,” he said. “It has to stay strong, pure, true, and cannot be contaminated with compromise because of the fear of man.”
Esther concluded by calling on Christians to be “awake, alert, ready, prepared to tune into the frequency of heaven, to ask the Lord to speak, and to reveal things to us”.
Steve closed by praying that Christians would not dismiss the warning casually.
The message follows a similar warning recently shared by 24-7 Prayer founder Pete Greig, who said he had received the words “prepare for war” while praying with Christian leaders in South Africa earlier this year.
Greig said the impression was not accompanied by a prediction of a particular enemy, conflict or timetable, but was instead a call for Christians to prepare spiritually and practically for potentially difficult times ahead.
He later described the present international climate as one of “perma-crisis”, in which multiple global pressures increasingly overlap, although he cautioned Christians against fearmongering or spreading a sense of doom.
