What follows is a prime example of how God answers prayers in unexpected ways!
We'd prayed many times, asking the Lord to bless and supply the needs of the food bank, those who came to the food bank for help, and those who gave to the food bank - we also asked Him to reveal Himself to all of us, volunteers, donors and clients, so that we would know that He was the one who was supplying, and that we were all willing vessels in His hand!
We'd had a very busy day at the food bank, and we had totally run out of bags for the people to take their groceries home in.
We'd prayed many times, asking the Lord to bless and supply the needs of the food bank, those who came to the food bank for help, and those who gave to the food bank - we also asked Him to reveal Himself to all of us, volunteers, donors and clients, so that we would know that He was the one who was supplying, and that we were all willing vessels in His hand!
I had brought a bag of bags with me from home, and i knew that they were in the back of my pickup truck, which was parked outside, so i said to one of my helpers, "i'll be right back, i have to run outside and get some more bags!"
They didn't know that i had some bags in the back of the truck, so were kind of wondering why i was going to the parking lot to get more bags.
When i went outside, and was reaching over the side of the back of my truck, i happened to look down the street, and i saw the most welcome sight at that moment - there was one of the girls who would occasionally help us pack groceries, walking towards me, with both of her arms full.
I said to her, "Those wouldn't happen to be bags would they?!"
To which she replied, "How did you know?!"
i quickly explained our running out of bags dilemma, and how i'd come outside, right at that moment to get the bags that i had in the back of the truck, and here she was, with more bags than we would need to get us through the day!
To this day, my mind is stretched as i ponder how God had already nudged her, before we had used all of our supply of bags, to start gathering up the bags she had been setting aside, walk down to the food bank, and meet me at the exact moment that i went outside to get more bags!
So the two of us walked back into the food bank, arms full of bags, much to the surprise and delight of the worried volunteers!
It was just another example of how God is always right on time!
He's never too soon, but He causes the answers to our prayers to show up right when we need them as we continually seek His face!
He's never too soon, but He causes the answers to our prayers to show up right when we need them as we continually seek His face!
It's a small example, but for all of those things to fall into place all at the same time - when we align ourselves with God, He begins to actually align circumstances to meet our needs. He bends and stretches things, shifts and moves people, just to help us!
When the Apostle Paul, in Philippians 4:19 shares this blessing - "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" - he is speaking a blessing over them, and thanking the Philippians for blessing him in the midst of his imprisonment.
I've always loved the passage in 2 Corinthians 9, where the apostle Paul is preparing the Corinthians to be ready to give a gift that that they had promised to the poor:
Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready;
lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting.
Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
As it is written: "He has dispersed abroad; He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever."
Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,
while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,
while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men,
and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.
The grace of God, as we begin to pray that a need be fulfilled
and the love of God, as He begins to prepare people in a distant place, to give a gift, and how God ties the two together at just the right moments. I'm always filled with awe and amazement.
The more thankful we are as we pray for our needs to be fulfilled, the more opportunity it creates for God to begin to prepare the hearts of those who are going to give, and then the more we thank God for the blessings received, and remember His goodness to us, the more the people who give are blessed for their obedience, and the more they are blessed, the more they can give!
It's a wonderful circle, in which God receives Glory, so He is happy, so He pours out blessings, and so we're happy, and we give Him more glory, etc....it's just a win-win situation all the way around!
I remember having a vision once, as a preacher was preaching on the above verse:
So many times, we've been praying in our need, but forgetting to ask the Lord to prepare all the circumstances, so that the timings are right, so that all circumstances can coincide at the right moment.
It's like baking a cake - all the ingredients have to be in the bowl, it has to be mixed properly, the oven has to be at the right temperature, we have to have the right sized pan, etc. If any of the important ingredients are missing, the cake will not turn out properly. If we pull the cake out of the oven too soon, it will be raw on the inside. If we even open the door too soon to check on the cake, it will fall, and be heavy. Everything has to be done just right in order for that cake to turn out.
God is the master baker, adding into His cake all the right ingredients, the right temperature, the right time, etc., so that our prayers can be answered - and we call it a coincidence!
If only we could see all the battling with the devil's forces, all the work that the angels had to do in the background in order to bring all the specific circumstances into alignment at the right time to produce the God-ordained circumstances! We'd be way more thankful i'm sure. The battling in the Spirit-realm to see God's purposes birthed on this earth - wow. How many of us have missed out on God's best because we didn't press in to see the fullness of what He had for us come to pass?
We often forget all the details that need to come together perfectly, and we'll quit praying before we receive the fullness of what God wanted to give, and we turn around and walk away, forgetting we had a cake in the oven, and it gets burned and ruined.
If we're impatient, and we can't wait for the cake to bake, and we're satisfied with a half-baked cake, we'll pull the cake out of the oven too soon - impatience has caused the downfall of many believers, as they run ahead of God, and pull from the future those things that were supposed to be for the future, instead of waiting for God's perfect timings, or we'll mix in with situations which God would not have wanted us to get mixed into.
The Lord even used a baking analogy, when he chastised the children of Ephraim, as He called them "half-baked loaves of bread", or "griddle-cakes not turned! To anyone who's ever baked a cake or thrown some pancakes on the griddle, these analogies are very meaningful!
If it's a job we want, we need to remember to ask the Lord to prepare our place of employment, to open the desk where He has called us to work, to create the job if need be, that is perfectly suited to all of the gifts and talents that He has planted in us, where we will be most fruitful for the Kingdom.
Lord, prepare the hearts of those we are going to work with, to receive us - may they recognize us as the person that they have been asking You to send to fill that need that they have been asking You to fill. Lord, we ask You to prepare the perfect fit.
Just as You can find us just the right pair of shoes when we need them, Lord, we're asking to to meet all our needs, to prepare for us the perfect job, and to prepare us for that perfect job, so that we will be ready for each other. And help us to see Your presence in all the steps along the way, Lord, so that we can give You the glory You deserve, as You lead us and guide us daily!
All things work together for good, for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes. Let's stop, and start to watch even the negative things in our lives, begin to work out for our good, to His glory!
The more thankful we are as we pray for our needs to be fulfilled, the more opportunity it creates for God to begin to prepare the hearts of those who are going to give, and then the more we thank God for the blessings received, and remember His goodness to us, the more the people who give are blessed for their obedience, and the more they are blessed, the more they can give!
It's a wonderful circle, in which God receives Glory, so He is happy, so He pours out blessings, and so we're happy, and we give Him more glory, etc....it's just a win-win situation all the way around!
I remember having a vision once, as a preacher was preaching on the above verse:
i clearly saw the Lord, looking down from heaven, as we in Winnipeg were praying up to Him, asking God to meet the needs of some people across the world in Nepal.
At that same time, God was looking down upon the people in Nepal, and listening to their cries for help as they prayed.
i saw His arms reaching around them, and around us, and in the Spirit, we were together in Him, and our unity in agreement was stirring His heart, and i just knew that God was creating an atmosphere of love, for each other, and for Him, that He would use to birth generosity.
As His generosity was being birthed in us, an openness and receptivity was being created in them, in their need, to be able to receive with thanksgiving the people who would brings the gifts they needed.
In our looking to Him in these things, He was like a dad, embracing His children, even though we were across the world from one another, we were together in Him!
It was a most amazing vision, and it helped me to understand how our prayers create an atmosphere in which God can move.As we pray for our needs to be met, in whatever area we need, whether it's a house or a car or food, or a job, we need to remember to pray that the people who are supposed to give will have their hearts prepared by the Lord to give.
So many times, we've been praying in our need, but forgetting to ask the Lord to prepare all the circumstances, so that the timings are right, so that all circumstances can coincide at the right moment.
It's like baking a cake - all the ingredients have to be in the bowl, it has to be mixed properly, the oven has to be at the right temperature, we have to have the right sized pan, etc. If any of the important ingredients are missing, the cake will not turn out properly. If we pull the cake out of the oven too soon, it will be raw on the inside. If we even open the door too soon to check on the cake, it will fall, and be heavy. Everything has to be done just right in order for that cake to turn out.
If only we could see all the battling with the devil's forces, all the work that the angels had to do in the background in order to bring all the specific circumstances into alignment at the right time to produce the God-ordained circumstances! We'd be way more thankful i'm sure. The battling in the Spirit-realm to see God's purposes birthed on this earth - wow. How many of us have missed out on God's best because we didn't press in to see the fullness of what He had for us come to pass?
We often forget all the details that need to come together perfectly, and we'll quit praying before we receive the fullness of what God wanted to give, and we turn around and walk away, forgetting we had a cake in the oven, and it gets burned and ruined.
If we're impatient, and we can't wait for the cake to bake, and we're satisfied with a half-baked cake, we'll pull the cake out of the oven too soon - impatience has caused the downfall of many believers, as they run ahead of God, and pull from the future those things that were supposed to be for the future, instead of waiting for God's perfect timings, or we'll mix in with situations which God would not have wanted us to get mixed into.
If it's a job we want, we need to remember to ask the Lord to prepare our place of employment, to open the desk where He has called us to work, to create the job if need be, that is perfectly suited to all of the gifts and talents that He has planted in us, where we will be most fruitful for the Kingdom.
Lord, prepare the hearts of those we are going to work with, to receive us - may they recognize us as the person that they have been asking You to send to fill that need that they have been asking You to fill. Lord, we ask You to prepare the perfect fit.
Just as You can find us just the right pair of shoes when we need them, Lord, we're asking to to meet all our needs, to prepare for us the perfect job, and to prepare us for that perfect job, so that we will be ready for each other. And help us to see Your presence in all the steps along the way, Lord, so that we can give You the glory You deserve, as You lead us and guide us daily!
All things work together for good, for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes. Let's stop, and start to watch even the negative things in our lives, begin to work out for our good, to His glory!
