This past weekend I went to a fall retreat for Chi Alpha, which is the campus ministry I help out with here in Fort Wayne. This retreat consisted of roughly 600 college students from Indiana area colleges. Before the retreat started I asked to Lord to provide good opportunities to pour into students over that weekend. And God answered in awesome ways! I had three different young adults that I was able to have deep conversations with and pour into from lessons God has taught me (one of which lasted three hours); and God gave me shorter words for another student and two leaders at different points during the weekend as well.
The word of God says in James 4 that “You do not have because you do not ask God”. I have gone into this yearly fall retreat multiple times without really asking anything of the Lord and not thinking a whole lot of what I was hoping to receive from the Lord. I am glad that I ask before the retreat it made it so much more special.
Many of us, I feel, hesitate to ask God for things because we don’t want to be greedy or selfish; or worse yet, we are afraid that I requests are a bother to God and that He doesn’t really want to give me much of anything. Maybe we don’t verbalize it like that but I encourage you to ask yourself, if you have trouble asking God for good things that you genuinely desire, why.
Recently God has been giving me a word for a number of people about Christmas time. I want you to think of someone that you would love to get a gift for this Christmas. Got it? Okay, now imagine that you go to that person and ask what they would like and there response is simply I don’t need anything this Christmas please don’t trouble yourself about me. And you can see on there face that they don’t even think themselves worth of the gift. Wouldn’t that break your heart?
Friends, don’t you realize that we have done that to God! He is brimming over with excitement about the good gifts He want to give you as His child but when we come together with the Lord we are afraid to risk getting our hopes up for even the smallest of those gifts, let alone even dreaming of ever asking for the bigger ones.
I have found in my life that disappointment has hurt so much I inadvertently had started to live my life in a manner that I could avoid risking disappointment as much as possible. Which, by the way, is a trap of the devil. I am learning to be more honest with the Lord and choose to trust Him to protect my heart instead of me.
One practical application of this for me is that I am asking the Lord, you all are my witnesses, for $2815 before training camp which is October 16th. I was given an extension on the deadline that I mention in an earlier post but I want to surpass that because I am praying that I can raise my total of $19,300 (plus another $1000 or so for my gear) by my launch date of January 3rd.
Thank you so much for being a part of my journey!
*I encourage you to ask God for the good things you are hoping for and learn with me to worship the Lord by letting Him be a good, gift giving father to us.
*Pray that I have courage in fundraising and in asking the Lord for the things that I am afraid to hope for!
God bless and I pray that he gives you the grace to live these things out well!
