Asking God for Great Things

It is estimated that the average American gained 3-5 pounds this past week. I won't ask how you did on average, but it does give us pause. Pause to thank God for the abundance He has blessed us with. Pause to wonder if we use our resources well.

One of our greatest resources is our ability to come before God and ask Him to open people's hearts to be receptive to God's call on their lives. These next few weeks, on scores of campuses across this country, students will be turning in their final papers and taking those dreaded finals. They are under tremendous pressure (some of it self-inflicted), and they know when someone sincerely cares. Do we have the resources to help make a difference in other's lives?

Two spiritual disciplines are often mentioned together when we want to focus our attention on God and His resources - fasting and prayer. It might be appropriate for you to skip a meal (or an entire day) to fast and pray for the students and others around us. You could probably afford to skip a meal this week. How about using that as an opportunity to focus on praying for others? God wants to do great things in other's lives as we trust Him. Bill Bright, in his recent book about fasting and prayer, reminds us of the benefits of these spiritual disciplines.

1. Fasting is primarily a means of restoration. It helps us focus our attention on the important details of life.
2. It brings purification of our body, soul and spirit.
3. It increases our spiritual receptivity to God's leading.
4. It brings about yieldedness and brokenness to our lives.
5. It calls for sacrifice and self-denial that refocuses our vision.
6. It produces power in our lives because we learn to submit to His plan, His timing and His purposes.

Please join me this week in fasting and praying for those we see every day. Let's trust God to open some hearts so that they are drawn to Him. Let me suggest you pray through Ephesians 1:15-23 for the Christians you know and Ephesians 2:1-9 for those who don't yet know Christ.

Scripture: Ephesians 1:18, 19 - "That . . . the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe."

Action Point: Pick a meal or a day that you will fast and pray for those around you.

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