The birth of a vision or ministry flows out of an intimate relationship with God. Moses spent a great amount of time with God on Mt. Sinai. Three different times he spent 40 days with God and during this time he was given instructions on the laws the Israelites would need to follow to be his people. Moses was also given the task of building the tabernacle in the wilderness. While he was spending time on Mt. Sinai with God, he was given very detailed instruction on everything that was needed for its construction. Detailed measurements, types of material and how they were to be used were revealed to Moses.
When it came time to build the tabernacle Moses did not need to do too much to receive everything that was needed to build it. The people gave with willing hearts, hearts that were stirred; spirits that were moved to provide all that was needed. Not only did they give of their resources several of the men and women used their talents to make the fabrics needed for the coverings as well as make the objects needed for the tabernacle. Many of the materials were given to them by the Egyptians prior to there departure. They freely gave of their time, talent and treasures to invest in the work of the tabernacle.
Exo 35:21-27 And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the LORD's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the LORD. And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats' hair or tanned rams' skins or goatskins brought them. Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the LORD's contribution. And every one who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats' hair. And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the LORD had commanded by Moses to be done, brought it as a freewill offering to the LORD.
God has a vision and ministry for each one of us. He has a place for each one of us to serve. As we spend time with God he speaks to us about the focus and ministry he has for our lives. God uses many different ways to present an opportunity or need that will stir a desire for ministry. We may see a need or we read about it or we hear a report or perhaps we have a dream or vision from God and something is stirred in our heart to respond. Sometimes everything is laid out pretty clearly for us and other times there is an unveiling as we move forward in faith to do the next thing God shows us to do.
I believe that this is how the work of God’s kingdom should be done. It begins with spending time with God, seeking him in prayer, developing an intimate relationship with him. As we develop our relationship with him, he can entrust ministries to us. He stirs our hearts to respond to a need that must be met or ministry that he wants us to pursue. This is a pattern we see in the lives of many people who God has called into ministry. They are presented with a need, their hearts are stirred by it and they freely give of their time, treasure and talent to meet that need and God raises up others who will share in the vision through their participation. Moses did not have the ability or resources to build the tabernacle by himself; he needed the help of others to make it happen. Moses responded in obedience to what he needed to do and God was faithful to raise up the support he needed to complete the task. It became a community project and all whose hearts were stirred became a part of it.
David had a very intimate relationship with God. He loved the Lord and wanted to build a temple to replace the tabernacle Moses had constructed. His heart was stirred to build a temple even though he knew that God did not need it. Though he was told he would not be the builder of it, God allowed him to make the designs and gather the materials that would be needed as well as the skilled laborers who would do the work from all of the contacts he had developed during his years ruling as King. When Solomon built the temple the people gave freely and generously of the materials that were needed. It too became a community project.
Nehemiah was stirred in his heart to do something about the shame of the people in Jerusalem and the condition of walls of Jerusalem that had been destroyed by the Babylonians. When he heard the report from Hanani he was stirred or moved in his spirit to do something. He sought God in prayer for forgiveness for his people who had rebelled and brought the disaster upon themselves and he prayed for guidance from God as to how he should respond to the need.
Neh 1:1-11 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, "The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire." As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, "O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.' They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." Now I was cupbearer to the king.
All that we do has to be bathed in prayer. It is easy for us to see a need and want to immediately do something without going to the Lord to seek his wisdom on what he wants to do and how he wants us to do it. At times our zeal to do something causes us to act before we ask God for wisdom. We use our limited knowledge and experience to try to carry out the work and we fail. In Nehemiah’s situation he waited and prayed before he presented his need to the King. Seeking God in prayer is not an easy thing for most people. We tend to rely on our own wisdom or the wisdom of someone else instead of seeking God for his way of doing things. We always must remember that we are doing His work and not our work. Hudson Taylor said, “God’s work, done in God’s way will have God’s provision.”
In YWAM’s history, Loren Cunnigham the founder of the organization told of how he totally missed God and spent millions of dollars purchasing a ship that he thought would be a great addition to YWAM only to discover that God was not in the purchase and he was acting presumptuously. He had to humble himself before the Lord and repent of his lack of seeking God. The ship sounded like a great idea but it was not what God wanted for YWAM at that time. We have to be careful to seek the Lord in prayer and be willing to lay down our ideas when we find out that they are not God’s ideas. Loren admitted that he had become prideful and made the decision with wrong motivations.
When it is God’s idea he has birthed in your heart, he will be faithful to direct your steps as you seek him in prayer. Nehemiah sought God and was given the strategy how to rebuild the walls and unify the people. Step by step he carried out God’s plan and even though he encountered opposition along the way, God gave him success.
He needed permission from the King to leave his job to fulfill the desire of his heart. Neh. 2:5
He needed safe passage. Neh. 2:7
He needed building materials. Neh. 2:8
He needed workers who would dedicate themselves to the task. Neh. 2:17, 18
He needed wisdom to know how to handle opposition. Neh. 4:1-5
He needed protection while working. Neh. 4:14-23
Nehemiah built the wall in 52 days. God gave him success.
God is always faithful to do his part; he wants us to be successful in carrying out his work. He guides each of us as we submit ourselves to prayer and to seeking his face.
Each of you if you has or will have a testimony of how God called you, directed you and provided for you if you are willing to seek him in prayer and respond in faith and obedience to what he asks you to do.
John Lake (1870-1935) was a very successful businessman who left his business to pursue full-time ministry. God called him through a vision in 1908 to go to South Africa.
He had no contacts in South Africa and had no money to take his family of seven there. Yet he knew that God had clearly spoken through a vision for him to go and he knew that God would be his provider.
Lake invited a friend and his family to go with him and they had no money either. They prayed about the money and the Lord spoke to Lake’s friend and said they had the money to go. Within a few days they received $2000 in the mail and they had all the money they needed to buy their train and ship fare to get to S. Africa.
On the train ride to get to the port, they met a lady who needed to buy a ticket to get on another train. They took the lady to buy her ticket even though they had no money. While in line a man responding in obedience to the Lord, came up and gave him $10 and this was just what the lady needed to buy her ticket.
While on the boat they had very little money to spend and had only $.25 when they arrived in England. They had to wait a couple of days to transfer to a different boat that would take them to S. Africa and they needed to do their laundry but they did not have enough money to do it. They decided to send their clothing in to be washed and trusted the Lord to provide for the payment. After a couple of days they needed to pick up their laundry but they still had no money to pay for the service. Lake went on a walk and prayed about the need and while walking a man came up to him and gave him enough money to pay for his laundry and have a little extra.
When they got to S. Africa, the immigration office told him he needed $125 to be able to enter the country. Lake got in line to see the immigration officer even though he had no money. A man who was behind him in line asked if he could talk with him in private so they stepped out of line. The man gave him $200 out of obedience to God speaking to him.
Lake still had no contacts once they passed through immigration. They saw a lady from America standing outside of immigration. His friend Tom was in front of him and the lady walked up to him and asked him how many were in his family, he replied 4 and she said you are not the one I am supposed to meet. She proceeded to talk to Dr. Lake and asked the same question. He replied 9 and she said you are the one. God spoke to her the night before that she was to go to immigration where she would meet a missionary family of 9 from America and give them a home to stay in while in S. Africa.
Talk about a faith builder not only for Lake and the other family but also for the people who God strategically put in their pathway who responded in obedience to meet needs that some did not even know existed. They gave willingly and generously to a person they did not even know. John Lake went on to have a tremendous ministry in S. Africa but without the help of the people who gave in obedience to the Lord it may not have happened or may have been delayed.
Loren Cunningham has many testimonies of God’s miraculous provision for the needs of the ministry. One of the most profound was how God responded to a crisis situation at the base in Kona, Hawaii. Loren was not part of the problem but when the debt amounted to several million dollars he was consulted for wisdom to know what should be done. Loren sought the Lord in prayer and while praying felt led of God to call a businessman who had been a great supporter of YWAM. As Loren was walking to the phone to call the man, the phone rang and it was the person Loren was going to call. The man told Loren that the Lord had spoke to him that he needed to call him and find out what he needed. Loren told him of the need for several million dollars to resolve the crisis situation and after a short pause the man said he would send the money.
God never has a financial crisis; he has storehouses at his disposal to meet our needs. Prayer is our first and greatest responsibility to fulfill the vision God has placed in our hearts. Our lives have to be marked by prayer, seeking God in all of our decisions and for all of the needs that are presented as we step out in faith to carry out the vision.
Men and women who have accomplished great things for God have been people of prayer. Andrew Murray in his book on prayer stated “prayerlessness is sin.” All too often we substitute busyness for prayer. We think we can accomplish more by spending less time in prayer. We rise in the morning and get to work often forgetting to spend time in prayer about what we are going to be doing during the day. Jesus set the example of the need for prayer when he rose early to go to a private place to spend time in prayer.
Mark 1:35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
I don’t think this was a one time event for Jesus but it was a regular part of his life. He separated himself from all the distractions and demands of people to be able to spend time with God and find out what God wanted him to do. Ministry is birthed and sustained out of intimacy and prayer.
God delights in spending time with us in prayer. He wants us to seek him, to ask of him, to give him no rest.
Is. 62:6-7 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.
James 4:2,3 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Francis Chan has a great example of a desire that his wife had to be able to give generously to help others.
Luke 11:9-10 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
1Pe 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
When God stirs our hearts to respond to a vision, calling, a need we must always bring this before him in prayer. He wants to guide us and provide for us but he wants us to seek him first in prayer. Prayer has to be the engine that drives the rest of the train. Prayerlessness is powerlessness.
As we commit ourselves to prayer and to seeking God, he will supply the resources that we need to fulfill his vision. He will stir the hearts of people to give and join in the ministry he has given you. He knows exactly what you need and he will be faithful to supply it.
God wants to challenge each of us to enter into a more intimate relationship with him. He is calling us to step up our prayer life, to make it all that it can be. It takes work, dedication, prioritizing your time but the bottom line is that there is more to be gained through prayer than we could ever accomplish without it. God is all about relationship and it is through prayer that our relationship with him is developed. Our level of spirituality can really be measured on the time we spend as well as how we spend time with him in prayer. Our works have to be bathed in prayer in order for it to truly be effective. We are not ministry machines that pump out programs. God is more concerned about our relationship with him than any work we may be doing no matter how important it may seem.
Don’t let the cares of life, the distractions that are always present and the demands of others keep you from developing your relationship with God. He longs for us and desires to entrust us with ministry that can glorify his name. Do whatever you need to do to make time for prayer and intimacy with God each day.
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