Ask God, He is the Provider

I was part of a program for supporters of a Christian University. Preceding my presentation was a progress report from a member of the administrative staff. He told of standing in a pouring-down rain to watch new gutters carry overflowing water to the ground rather than its previous pattern causing all sorts of trouble to the interior of one dormitory. One lady who had been a donor smiled at me over her shoulder and said briskly, “That’s what money can do.”

There are certain wonderful things money can do. However, I know of no more discomfiting phrase for ministry workers than “Fund-raising.” My own Company faces down-sizing of dreams and opportunities because of insufficient funding. I have to turn down eager and well qualified applicants for positions desperately needing personnel because we don’t have the money and yet I, like many others, find the matter of fund-raising painfully difficult. It is not just that we hesitate to abuse social relationships, although that is certainly relevant, it is that we find it difficult to admit need, to admit that we cannot pay for our own gutters. Maybe that is why Jesus spent so much time encouraging us to pray. Maybe today we need to face God in the openness of our need. Maybe we don’t have new gutters because we’ve not asked for them. Have you asked God today to meet your needs? He's waiting to hear from you and from me. Matthew 21:22 says, "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."