The worst year

We spent almost 16 years in Guatemala as missionaries. There were good and hard times. But it´s easy to remember the hardest year. It was the year I scrimped on prayer. No coincidence at all: I prayed less, and God moved less.

Somehow, I decided that I would help the kids with their homework during morning prayer. Bad decision.

What was once an hour of prayer because a few minutes. I thought I was doing a good thing helping my wife help the kids with their homework. But my priorities were wrong. I should have found ANOTHER time to help my kids without cutting down on prayer.

At the year´s end, things looked bleak. In hindsight, I scanned the shambles and assessed the problem: prayerlessness.

In later years, I wound up adding to my prayer times. Those were bumper crop years.

So are things not going well for you? Maybe you´re overworking —  to little or no avail. Keep in mind that when God works, things work. I know He works all the time, but it sure seems like He works MORE for us when we are praying. You might shoot me down in the realm of theology, but no one can shoot me down in the realm of practice.

Death to discouragement

But David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. — 1 Sam. 30:6b KJV

I keep going back to this scripture. The context: The Amalekites attacked Ziklag when only the wives and children of David and his soldiers were there. The Amalekites took all the money, wives and children. David and his men came back to only smouldering remains. Embittered, David’s men mouthed off about killing him.

The first part of the verse says, “David was greatly distressed.” Despite overwhelmingly stark circumstances, he somehow manages to encourage himself.

A pastor doesn’t die when he’s under a gravestone. He dies when he no longer can believe for good things. Has your ministry stagnated? Are people’s problems always the same? Have finances flatlined? Don’t let your encouragement level nosedive along with the bad news.

Instead of letting discouragement kill us, we must kill discouragement.

Discouragement is a great faith-killer. Once faith is killed, the ministry goes on auto-pilot and languishes inexorably. It loses its vibrancy. There’s no chance for growth.

What brings success to ministry? The ability to stay encouraged. What helps a minister to persevere? The ability to stay encouraged. What moves God’s hand in prayer? The ability to stay encouraged. What is key to faith in prayer? The ability to say encouraged.

Maybe your discouragement is understandable. But it’s unacceptable. You’ll have to figure out what David did “to encourage himself in the Lord.”

Too much?

Image via Wikipedia

And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. — 2 Sam. 12:8 NIV

Honestly, I would NOT have expected God to say this. The Lord is enumerating the many blessings He gave to King David, including many wives. Why, He says through the prophet Nathan, did David take another man’s wife? David got Bathsheba pregnant and then arranged for the death of Bathsheba’s husband so that he could keep her.

Honestly, I would have expected God to be severe. But God is not overly severe with David. He makes room for grace. And what He says to David means blessings for you and me. I WOULD HAVE GIVEN YOU MORE.

If only you would ask. If only you would go through legitimate channels. If only you would believe. God does not reproach us for requesting more. He doesn’t scold us to be grateful for what we have already. He freely offers MORE, if only we would ask in prayer.

The devil aims to discourage you. Mr. Red Suit bombards you with a continual rant of “stop asking for more.”

But God says, Ask for more. Ask and keep asking. When do we have too much? Apparently, it didn’t occur to God to declare that David had too much.

When do we have too much? When everyone on Planet Earth is saved. In the meantime, ask for more without fear that He will deny your request.

Battle of Leyte

When the small task force in charge of protecting Gen. MacArthur‘s rearguard found itself surprised by the Japanese Center Force in Leyte Gulf on Oct. 23, 1944, they didn’t expect to win. Twenty-seven Japanese warships — including the largest battleship ever made, the fearsome Yamato — bore down on Taffy 3 U.S. Task Force to blast landed U.S. troop like sitting ducks.

The U.S., who didn’t expect the enemy to appear on the horizon, left land forces protected only by planes with depth charges and destroyers so light they were called “tin cans.”

Gen. MacArthur upon landing in Leyte

First they set up smoke screens to mask the retreat of U.S. aircraft carriers. While these light destroyers were doing this, Capt. Evans of the U.S.S. Johnston, without orders, broke ranks and charged the approaching ships on a torpedo run. Other ships watched incredulous what would surely be a suicide mission.

But the Johnston miraculously wasn’t hit as 27 Japanese ships trained their guns on it. It sailed to within five miles, fired its torpedoes, and scored a hit on enemy forces. Seeing this, other U.S. destroyers became brave to enter the fray. When the battle was over, the vastly superior

A forgotten hero, Capt. Evans

Japanese fleet retreated, American troops were safe, and history was written. The “greatest mismatch of naval history” was won by the underdogs.

Does this describe your church? You’re attacking futilely an enemy so large and fierce. You feel outgunned, outmanned, and outsmarted. You’re out-financed. You have practically no finances. Well, certainly not enough finances. But you have one potent weapon: daring.

You dare to continue serving the Lord. Finances are down to a trickle. Make a prayer run to torpedo the enemy and save the day!

Rubble rousers

Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace! — Neh. 2:17 New Living Translation

Maybe you can relate to Nehemiah. He had the insurmountable challenge of rebuilding Jerusalem´s wall — with no money.

No cranes. No engineers. No bulldozers. No blueprints. No workers. NO RESOURCES.

All he had was a bunch of rocks, stones strewn everywhere, the tragic remains of Nebachadnezzar´s siege nearly 100 years earlier.The graceful wall of defense, once a wonder of ancient architecture, lay broken, a demolition job that embarrassed Jerusalemites.  Not only did it remind them of past failures, it was present day eyesore and heartsore for the once proud inhabitants. Thieves and enemies could penetrate and wreak havoc in the city at will.

All Nehemiah had was will power.

So he prayed. And God did the impossible in response. Jerusalems´s men let their hearts be stirred and their hands set to action. They erected the wall in record time and restored dignity to the city.

The project before you is impossibly big. You yearn to extend the kingdom of God, but “financial realiteis” tell you to scale back your dreams. Instead, ramp up those dreams in prayer. If Nehemiah´s task was daunting, his testimony should encourage you. Let God do the same in your life that He did in Nehemiah´s. Be a rubble raiser!

The grateful dead

This is my family.

And so a whole nation came from this one man who was AS GOOD AS DEAD —a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them. — Heb. 11:12 Living Version.

Hey, I figure that if God can prosper a dead man, He can prosper you.

Maybe your ministry doesn’t have much to offer in the way of variety. But it probably is not as bad as Abraham’s. Think about it — the guy was WAY PAST the age of hope. His wife had already passed child-bearing years. Just as barren as a desert. Then, whamo! God does the miracle, and a nation results.

When you pray for finances for your ministry, pray for something big. Don’t settle for anything smaller than a nation. And whatever you do, don’t get dragged down by current circumstances. Your situation may seem “dead,” but God has a history of using the “dead.”