July 29 - 1 John 5:14-17. Ask according to his will

After several decades of teaching and leadership in theological institutions across Africa, the time came when we heard the Lord calling us to devote our time to training the next generation of lecturers. We put together a proposal and approached various organisations without success. We got to the point where our contract was about to end, and we had no direction. We were only asking for a small amount of funding, but it seemed that no one shared the vision. Desperate, we cried out to the Lord to make his will clear to us. Previously, we had only sought the absolute minimum, but our desperation made us bold. We multiplied the amount we needed tenfold and laid it out before the Lord in tears, asking for him to provide if it was his will for us to do this work. The next day, we sent the re-worked proposal to two organisations, packed our bags, and went on a retreat while we waited for an answer. When we checked our inbox six days later, we had received positive responses from both organisations, one of which had received a donation specified for lecturer training of the exact amount we had asked for. With the doors wide open, we were able to walk forward into the Lord’s will for the next stage of our lives.