The Victory Belongs to the Lord

The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But victory belongs to the LORD. Proverbs 21:31

I just finished my one month of praying through the names of people at Northwest Bible church in view of Connect with Future Generations. It has been a great month of extended prayer for you. On Sunday you will be receiving a devotional guide so that all of us can pray daily together this October.

A missionary friend of mine sent Proverbs 21:31 with some comments to me this week. I have adapted some of his comments and added a few of my own. I was encouraged and challenged by this verse as I thought how it applies to Connect with Future Generations. It would be foolish or presumptuous for God's people NOT to prepare for battle! To have an army equipped and trained (prepared) is essential.

The main point of the proverb is the truth that even though the horse is prepared, the victory comes only from God! It reminds me that we’re dead wrong if we think success in Connect with Future Generations or any breakthroughs in our ministry are a result of our own efforts or preparedness. God is the one who works in the heart of man. God must get all credit.

What’s more, we’re dead wrong to think that lack of success in Connect with Future Generations is a result of our own efforts or preparedness. Certainly, we can’t have un-confessed sins and expect God to bless. But the main point is that the church is God’s business from start to finish.

So we communicate, communicate, communicate. Plan, plan, plan. We ask questions. We answer questions. We seek understanding. We challenge and we ask people to give. But all the while we pray and pray, asking God to work in people’s hearts. We pray asking God to provide supernaturally though his people, trusting Him to work in His own way in His own time. When the success (however, we define it, comes) He gets all the glory.

Please join the elders and me in prayer this month. Let's pray first, pray hard, pray together, and pray a lot for Connect with Future Generations.

Neil