One of my all time favorie movies is Facing the Giants. My favorite scene from that movie is the one in which we see an older gentleman walking the halls of the school, praying for each student as he passes their locker.
He stops to talk with Coach Taylor. Coach Taylor shares with the man that he has been praying, but feels like God isn't hearing him, or isn't answering him. The gentleman shares with the Coach this story:
Once there were two farmers, both battling their way through a drought. Both farmers prayed for rain. However, only one farmer went out and tilled his field so that it would be ready to RECEIVE the rain. Which farmer had the greater faith?
I've asked the Lord for a lot of things lately. Last night, the Lord brought this story to my remembrance, and I began to wonder if I had prepared my fields to receive the rain that I've been praying for.
I've asked for healing for a family member with some medical issues. But do I worry, and doubt that the healing will come?
I've asked for financial relief~but do I follow God's plan for handling our finances?
I've asked for greater self discipline in certain areas of my life~but do I strengthen the mite of self discipline that I have by actually USING it?
A side note here~I cannot say that I have NO self discipline whatsoever. No christian can honestly claim that. If you are saved, you have the Holy Spirit. If you have the Holy Spirit, then you DO have the fruit of the Spirit within you. Part of that fruit is self control, or temperance, as it's called in the King James. It is THERE. God's Word says so. But it's up to each of us to take the self control He has given us and strengthen it by exercising it.
So, what do my fields look like?
Well, in the area of the health of my loved one, I simply pray for healing, telling my Heavenly Father, "Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief". I believe very strongly in praying Scripture back to the Lord.
Last night, I felt tremendous peace about my loved one's health. This morning, satan has tried to creep in again with doubts and fear. Praying and quoting this verse back to the Lord is restoring that peace.
To prepare our field to receive the Lord's financial blessings, we are tithing, and daily seeking God's direction in the use of our money. We are seeing wonderful blessings in this area. Yes, we still have some needs, but God has shown Himself faithful, and will continue to do so. For instance, we recently paid off our van~we are praising God for this more than you know~but we still have a need there, as the van needs about $2000 worth of work done on it! So, it looks like we will have more opportunities to prepare our field and wait for rain in this area.
In the area of self control~what I'm looking for here are the establishment of better habits for the health of myself and my family. We need healthier eating habits, certainly, and we need to be more physically active. Those areas are part of what I'm praying about. But, I"m also praying about establishing habits of spending time with God FIRST each morning, and teaching each of my children to spend time alone with God in addition to our family Bible reading and memorization. I need to teach my children to prioritize their work and other activities so that the most important things get done first. I believe it's best to teach by example whenever possible, so I am asking the Lord to help ME establish the habits that I need to have in place, and then to pass them on to my children.
For me, preparing my feild in this area means opening my Bible each morning BEFORE I read any emails. It means reaching for a bottle of water FIRST, and then maybe a can of Diet Coke later. :) It means eating ONLY out of physical hunger, and asking the Lord to show me when I'm eating for any other reason~boredom, sadness, or just plain old indulgence.
HE WILL send the rain. It's time for me to prepare my fields to receive it.
In His Love,
Vicki
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