Financial Testimonies III The Open Windows of Heaven

What Are You Expecting?

“And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.”

1 Kings 18:43 (NIV)

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Malachi 3:10-12 (NIV)

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Luke 6:38 (NIV)

“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written:

‘He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.’

Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.”

2 Corinthians 9:6-11 (NKJV)

A friend recently shared with me that he admired my financial testimonies and wanted to have more of his own. I know this friend to be generous, a tither, and a person of faith. I have seen him experience what most would consider to be a great faith victory in the area of healing. When I spoke with him, I shared that just as he dug into the Scriptures on healing and built up his faith for healing, that faith for finances worked the same way. It’s the same faith, same Bible, same wonderful God.

This morning, when I thought about my conversation with my friend, the Holy Spirit prompted me to think about Elijah and his expectations for rain. Elijah was so certain that God would answer his prayer request for rain that he told his servant to keep going back, up to seven times, until he saw evidence of the coming rain. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Elijah was hoping for rain, expecting it as if it were sure to happen.

I expect things to be given to me. As a tither, I expect, I look for blessings to arrive from the windows of Heaven that are open over my life. What is the basis of my hope? I have faith in the person who spoke the words and made the promises.

I told my friend that, like the children of Israel, I often forget what God has done for me. When that happens, I start to get discouraged. I start to lose heart and faint (Luke 18:1, Galatians 6:9). At that point, I have to make myself get back into the Scriptures and encourage or build up my faith in the area of finances again. Faith is a power that fades and must be built up over and over by hearing and hearing the Word of God. Then, you must add actions to your faith. What was Elijah’s action? Going to look. Expectation, in this instance, is a verb. What is the manifestation of your expectation? If you are “believing for” a house, are you out looking at houses? If I am believing to appear on Broadway, am I preparing for/going to auditions?

Set a faith target. Maybe believe God to help you accelerate the payoff of a particular bill or to give you favor in a phone conversation with a creditor when negotiating a lower interest rate. My son told me he used to believe for a specific amount of income each month in his hair salon. That was a faith stretch for me. I am still stretching my faith there to have faith for a certain amount of acting income each month.

As I began to set my faith for a certain dollar amount of monthly entertainment income, I hit it several times. I’m still working on consistency. I recently realized that I had stopped producing audiobooks because I didn’t believe I could find a good narrator at a reasonable price. I felt the Holy Spirit challenge me on that, so my faith action step was to put out an ad for a narrator. The same day, I got a person with an excellent voice at a very reasonable rate.

Start with something small. God gives us the desires of our hearts. I wanted to go and see my granddaughter. I hadn’t seen her since she was born. I allowed myself to imagine how God could make it happen. The Holy Spirit gave me an idea. I call these “go look in the fish’s mouth moments.” (Matthew 17:27 NIV) Proverbs 8:12 says God will give us “knowledge of witty inventions.” The Holy Spirit told me to call the lady in Phoenix whom I used to do concerts for when I lived there. I called her, and she told me she was planning a big event for veterans and would love for me to be there. She flew me out and put me up in a very nice place because I agreed to perform for the event. While I was there, I got to see “the honeybunny,” ak a my granddaughter!

Step out on faith, believing for something small, expecting God to grant it, and then take whatever faith action the Holy Spirit leads you to take. Finally, wait in expectation until you have what you prayed for. Oh, and don’t forget to express gratitude to God when what you prayed for arrives! I can tell you from experience that this keeps the blessings flowing. The more you practice it, the more it works. And if you’re like me and you get rusty, don’t hesitate to go back into the Word of God and dig up the Scriptures in the area of finances to build up your faith!