“We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there’s nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.

Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don’t want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of ‘good time’ is seldom in sync with ours.”

~ Oswald Chambers

Yesterday, a complete stranger who had been receiving our newsletter wrote us an encouraging note and promised to pray everyday this month for our financial support goals to be met. At church yesterday, we talked to many others who committed to pray for our finances as well. Those messages in themselves were inspiring to us. But God quickly reminded us that prayer is not simply idle talk.

Today, I received a message that a single supporter has pledged 20% of our remaining financial needs. I was shocked, even stunned. But then I remembered the promises of those who said they would lift our needs in prayer and that shock was replaced by gratefulness and joy about how the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord. The Bible speaks countless times about God’s “steadfast love and faithfulness”, yet when you experience it, you understand why. The Word simply points to the truth, that God is steadfast in His love and faithfulness to us.

I don’t want people to read this and come away with the idea that if we pray for stuff, God automatically gives it to us. There is certainly no Biblical basis for that assumption. Right now, we simply acknowledge that our financial situation is in God’s capable hands. We believe he wants us to go to Japan, and if he wants something, we believe he has no difficulty in making it happen. Our prayers are us saying, “We can do nothing more, but you, O God, can do everything.”

At every opportunity since we committed to going to Japan, God has provided beyond every expectation we had. We’re not there yet, but we are so thankful at how God gives us encouragement at each step in the process. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf; they are certainly being heard.