Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, has said that God allows terrorist attacks and natural disasters as a way of waking people up to their need for Him.

The evangelist and author has often warned about God's coming judgement, and believes that the Rapture – the second coming of Christ – will happen soon.

Speaking on Understanding the Times radio earlier this month, she referred to Romans 1 and Joel 2 and said that God gives us wake up calls in order to allow humanity to do something about it – by repenting and turning back to God. "God does not want to punish a nation for its sin and rebellion against him," she said.

"That is why God sends us wake-up calls," she later added. "That's why he allows the terrorists to strike or a tornado to rip through our city, because for whatever reason, we don't seem to give Him our attention until we are desperate. If we don't give Him our attention, then He is going to allow things to happen to make us more and more desperate until we do cry out."

But she suggested that there could be a "tipping point" at which it was no longer likely that we would turn to him and cry out: "I just don't want to reach the point when it's too late."

Lotz said that although she is watching for the Rapture, she believes we are already living under God's judgement "in the sense that God is backing away from us. And we see evidence of that all around us."

Comparing the contemporary preoccupation with celebrities and entertainment to the biblical "days of Noah", she said: "We have no idea that we're on the edge of the whole world collapsing around us... We're just consumed with superficial things... We're just neglecting God."

Lotz commented that Church decline in America, as reported by Pew Research last month, could be a form of purification of the Church, with those who never had a real faith in God deciding to leave.

"Let them get out so that the people left in the Church are people who really have a relationship with God. It's not a religious institution... so that the world can more clearly see who we are and who Jesus as we represent Him."

She urged Christians to intercede for America, saying: "We can stand in the gap for our nation." Adding that Christians should also repent personally and share the gospel with those around them.

Last month Lotz called Christians to join her in a MAYDAY prayer initiative to encourage Christians to pray and fast for the nine days between the Ascension and Pentecost (May 15 – May 23). The intention was to encourage Christians to pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit in light of the belief that Jesus will return soon.