I know God can...

...the question is "Will He?"

Can you hear the drum roll in the background? We can. We are sitting on the edge of our seat, and can't wait to see what God will do next! Most of you are quite aware that God brings what you need when you need it, usually not before you need it (much to my Type A planner personality chagrin). So, we pray for what we need, cross our fingers that God will also think it's a "need," then hold our breath while we wait for "God's perfect time" a.k.a. "the last minute" to arrive. Show of hands now...do you find yourself doing this prayer dance, too? Mmm Hmm.

Well, God's been teaching me a little about prayer these days, and since it's our blog, I'm going to share it with you. :)

In John 16:24, Jesus told his disciples that "Until now, you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." Matthew 7:7 tells us to "ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open to you".

So..that's it? Just ask, in Jesus' name, and you will receive it? Wahoo! Well, not quite. There are some constraints. John 15:7 says, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you." 1 John 5:14-15 says, "...if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us". 1 John 3:21-22 says, "...if our hearts do not condem us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him."

Summary: To get our prayers answered we must stay connected to Jesus (through prayer and worship), keep His words (the Bible) in our heart and mind, ask according to His will (that's the tricky one for me), have a repentant heart for the sin we commit, obey His commands, and do what pleases him.

Oh, is that all you ask? Nope. There's more. There is a big road block to answered prayer as well. James 4:3 says "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." Slam! Been there, done that.

You know what, though? It's really not that hard. You know Jesus. He's not so much about the do's and don'ts as he is about the condition of the heart. How do we obey his commands and do what pleases him? Simple really -- Love God. Love others. What if we slip? (We all must deal with the occasional slip of loving those in the car in front of us or -- get-off-my-bumper! -- too close in back.) Catch it. Acknowledge it. Give it to God and repent. That means be truly sorry, ask for forgiveness, and do everything you can to not let it happen again. How do we know what his will is? Read the Bible and you'll see that it's written everywhere in it. His will is for us to Love God and Love others. His will is for us to draw together as a body of believers and not divide over petty squabbles. His will is for us to acknowledge He is God and we are not.

So, why are we so sure that God will answer our prayer that we get to the field by August?
1. God called us to Kenya -- very directly and very distinctly. It is His will.
2. We are going because we love Him and would do anything for Him because He has done so much for us. Love God.
3. He has given us a deep love for the Kenyan people and a great desire to see them grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord. Love others.
4. We have obeyed his commands as He's lead us down this path, acknowledged our failures and are constantly asking for His forgiveness and strength to avoid those pitfalls again. Obey his commands.
5. We are moving to a third-world country. Not really high on the "worldly pleasures" scale.

I think there's one more. God wants everyone to know that He is dependable and capable. That He hears and responds. And, God wants people to know that it's HIM and not coincidence, fate, "karma" or whatever.

It was God, through a prompting of HIS faithful servants -- people who don't even know us very well -- who brought in $30,000 to fund our ministry. In one day our ministry fund went from .03% to 97% full. (Did you hear the cymbal crash?) It will be God who gets us to Kenya in August!

(If there's anything that will hold us back, it's my inability to organize!)

Believe!