Stop Praying For Provision
The story of Gideon is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. You can find Gideon’s story in Judges Chapter 6–8.
Gideon came from a family that was considered the weakest in their whole tribe, and Gideon was the least in his entire family! To translate, this dude was a nobody!
God called Gideon to rescue Israel from the Midianites. This was a pretty big task. At that time, the Israelites had been under the Midianites’ control for seven years. Judges 6:6 says “Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites” (NLT).
If you jump ahead to Judges 7:12, the Bible describes the army Gideon had to go up against. The writer of Judges says they were like a “thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore” (NIV). A weak man from a weak family was going up against what the Bible describes as—clearly—a strong nation.
Nothing to fear. In Judges 6:14, the Lord turned to him and said “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (NIV). God Himself called and sent Gideon to free Israel from this oppression.
Once God passed the exam Gideon put on we find Gideon on his way to go fight the Midianites. In the midst of Gideon preparing for war, the Lord approached him and said “You have too many warriors with you” (Judges 7:1-2).
I can only imagine what Gideon might have been thinking. Come again…too many warriors? Did you forget these people are like locusts and their camels are like grains of sand on the seashore? What do you mean too many warriors?
At the time, Gideon had about 32,000 warriors. God took Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300. God sent Gideon with 300 men to fight an army of 135,000 men.
If I was Gideon when I left with the 32,000, I would have been praying — God, please provide more men to help fight. I would have been praying that God would somehow multiply the army I had so I could face the challenge he was sending me into.
God reversed the situation. He didn’t add to Gideon’s army; He subtracted from Gideon’s army.
What happens when your natural provision isn’t lining up with what God has asked you to do?
This challenged me…
What if sometimes we stopped praying for increased provision and started praying for God to increase our faith?
He is the Provider. He is the “I AM” (Exodus 3:14, ESV). He is everything you need! Sometimes God sends you into a situation with not enough to show you that He is enough.
It’s easy to pray for God to provide and wait until He does. Imagine trusting God with what you have and moving regardless.
I feel like I’m traveling down Gideon’s road. I’ve prayed some provisional prayers that haven’t been answered. Matter of fact, things seem to be getting stripped away as time goes on. All the while, God has called me and is sending me to go and conquer.
I have a choice — will I wait until God provides or will I take what He’s stripped me down to and go?