Luke 12:27-28 “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!" One pastor tells the story of a man in his church who very adamantly believed in living by faith. He believed that, so long as he prayed in Jesus’ name, believing in faith that God would provide his need, he would receive whatever he asked for. One day he stood up in church and declared that from that day forward, he was trusting God to supply all his needs. He quit his job as a high-ranking official in a fairly large company and moved into a dingy little house on the rougher side of town. The first night he prayed very fervently for God to send him some food, because he was beginning to get hungry. The next morning he walked outside, expecting to find food, but nothing was there. Figuring that he didn’t pray fervently enough, he dedicated the whole day to praying for God to provide food for the next day. The next morning came, and still no food. That day he prayed even more fervently for God to provide nourishment, for by now he was growing ravenously hungry. "God, you must provide me with food, or I will die out here," he prayed over and over again. The next morniong he walked outside, and still no food. By this time he was beginning to get angry with God for not providing He promised in His Word. That afternoon and evening he redoubled his efforts, wailing and rocking back and forth and beating his breast as he prayed. "Dear God, I’m going to starve to death unless you feed me. I haven’t eaten or had anything to drink in 4 days!" When he had prayed all he could pray, and was exhausted he fell back on the bed and stared at teh wall. In the silence, he heard a small voice calling out his name. "Bill! Bill!" "I’m here Lord," he cried. "Are you finally answering my prayer?" "I’ve been answering your prayers," the voice replied. "You’ve just been looking in the wrong direction." "What do you mean Lord? I don’t understand," he exclaimed, exhasperated. "Walk outside," said the voice. Bill walked outside, looked all around on the dirty porch, but still found no food. "There’s nothing here, Lord. I don’t see any food." "You’re looking in the wrong direction. Look up." Bill looked up, and there right above his head, pasted onto the building next to him, was a huge billboard with big black prind that said, "DAY LABORERS WANTED! LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED." James 2:17 "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 09:45:37 +0000