“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
“Why He should ask us to pray, when He knows what need before we ask Him, may perplex us if we do not realize that our Lord and God does not want to know what we want (for He cannot fail to know it) but wants us rather to exercise our desire through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what He is preparing to give us.
His gift is very great indeed, but our capacity is too small and limited to receive it. That is why we are told: Enlarge your desires, do not bear the yoke with unbelievers. The deeper our faith, the stronger our hope, the greater our our desire, the larger will be our capacity to receive that gift, which is very great indeed.”
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) in Sermon 92 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 662.
Exercise. We must exercise our desire through prayer to grow our capacity to receive. This positions us to grow in generosity. Ponder that. If faith is like a muscle that only grows when we exercise it.
I am getting a workout right now. Perhaps you feel the same way. Waiting on the Lord is stretching!
My current situation as President & CEO of GTP has really got me exercising my desire through prayer. And then as I think about it, I realize that my faith needs to grow to prepare me for the rigorous program work in 2024.
Where are you right now? Are you waiting for a gift but God needs to grow your capacity first?
If so, join me in prayer. It grows us. “The deeper our faith, the stronger our hope, the greater our our desire, the larger will be our capacity to receive that gift, which is very great indeed.”
While my focus has been asking God to supply provision to GTP, I am learning to pray for God to grow my capacity to receive through prayer. The exercise is changing me. I pray it shapes you too.