Praying for Wheels

Eleven children? You have eleven children?

If I had a dollar for every time someone responds with shock and awe and a certain amount of you are a crazy person in their facial expression, I would easily be a millionaire.

But, of course that is not a reality, and I am no millionaire. Often this question will follow behind the first, How do you afford your family? The answer I always give is, We don’t, God funds it.

Through the course of our almost 25 years of marriage, my husband and I have seen God provide on countless occasions, in various ways, and with impeccable timing. Each provision has also been accompanied with a greater amount of trust and faith. Those nick of time answers to our prayers allow for our next steps of obedience to become steady and confident. ​

As we pray, God provides. As God provides, we obey. As we obey, we pray for more provision. A complete circle of dependence and trust. For my husband and I, raising eleven children has been our act of surrender that has led to a precious opportunity to see Matthew 6:24-33 in a way that most miss. ​This is not a credit to us, it is all God and His desire to grow us and use us. ​​

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

'Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, 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 of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

​Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

​But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.'" Matthew 6:24-33

​Praying is in the title of this post because it represents the avenue through which we can truly live out a life free from worry of provision. In Matthew 6, Jesus is handing out nuggets of truth to the crowd that was eagerly listening, but not always grasping the Truth He was sharing. Matthew 6:25 starts out with this phrase, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious. The verses to follow are a list of all of the lack of provision moments that come into our daily existence.

In Rossiterville, all the things Jesus mentions in Matthew 6:25-33 run in short supply at times. Food, clothes, and shelter have all at some point been a need we have faced. 

How do I not worry? I seek instead.
We often think of that word seek in a more general sense referring to an attitude or mindset idea. But seek is an action word. To seek in this life is to act in prayer. What am I to seek? Seek God, and His righteousness. That means to pray to God, knowing that He will always remain true and right in accordance to His character. Then, being reminded of that, through the Spirit of His character, I can share my needs.

To help my obedience, I often imagine placing the list of my needs to rest on His desk. This list is like an imaginary requisition form. He has the ability and more than enough supply to fill my need. The next step is to continue obeying until my needs are supplied. God fills the order, the one He already knew about, when He is ready and when it is needful. 

Prayer is my avenue of provision.
​A most recent example of this truth came in the form of our new to us vehicle. Since my husband and I have been married, we have been given 15 different vehicles. Yes, I said 15! We have not had a car payment in twenty years. The story about each would include a back drop of prayer and our latest is no exception. We were in need of a fourth car for our daughter to attend college and work. She and I headed out one afternoon to make a visit to the college. On the way I just whispered my requisition to the Lord. 

The next day I received a call from a dear friend. She teased me by asking if we could afford a dollar to purchase something. It was their minivan that they had been planning on giving us for some time, and now everything was in place to do so. Yes the answer came the next day, but had been in the works for a while. This is just the most recent in a chain of provisions for our family by an ever-faithful God.

What are you, or those you care about, in need of today? Provision is more than just things, it can be strength, grace, or even rest.

1. Fill out your requisition form through prayer.
2. Have the faith to go on obeying.
3. Then watch in awe of how He supplies.

Matthew 6 is just as powerful today as the day Christ spoke the words. His resources have not diminished, nor has His ability to supply weakened.  Seek Him!

Share your provision story in the comments.