“You do not have, because you do not ask God”
Recently I was reflecting on a few conversations I’d had, and I read verse above, which is found in the Bible in James 4:2. It got me thinking - I wonder if sometimes we limit what we ask God for, for a whole bunch of reasons. Do we even remember to ask Him for things we need? Do we ask with boldness? Or do we limit what He can do by not even taking the time to ask in the first place, or by not praying big enough prayers!
Well, we are asking God for some big things at the moment as a church. There is a video I’d love you to take time to watch. You may have already seen it online, or in church over the past couple of Sundays. If you haven’t seen it you can watch it below;
To summarise the content - we are coming to God as a church and asking Him to provide for us in our building project. Our desire is to reach our Phase One target of £950,000 as soon as possible, and we will do that with creative fundraising ideas, grant applications and of course our personal (and often sacrificial) giving.
I want us to begin not in dwelling on what we don’t have - but to express our gratitude to God for what we do have. Currently we have approx £159,000 in the fund, which is a phenomenal amount. Last autumn we collectively gave £127,000 on our first two gift Sundays. THANK YOU to every person who has given to this project so far. Together we have already acheived a great thing!
We have just had the first two gift Sundays of 2025 and we are asking God to provide £91,000 for us this time, to get us over the £250,000 mark. Now I realise - this is a big ask for a congregation of our size! Remember though the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:26 “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
It would be awesome to raise £91,000 this time, and if we do, we will celebrate God’s provision. If we don’t see that amount come in, we will still celebrate His provision as we trust His timing in this.
Some of us will be able to give a large amount, some a little, and some nothing at all. We all get to contribute in praying, in using our time and gifts, as well as our financial giving. Very soon we’ll be sharing with you some creative ways to inspire you with fundraising, as we do this together a church community, and as individuals. But, as we read in James 4:2, we do not have because we do not ask God - and so, we are coming to God boldly, and asking Him to provide for us through the generosity of His people, and through His miraculous provision. So please do join me in praying. Below are some ways to help focus you;
- Please pray for God to bless us all with more than enough financial income, so that nobody in our community is lacking.
- Please pray for what you can give personally to the project, if you are in a position to.
- Please pray for God to grow our faith for His miracles and provision, and to increase our boldness in what we ask Him for!
Thank you for being involved in this journey with us. If you have already given financially, if you’re about to, if you’re praying for us, if you’re giving hours of your time - thank you so much. We are all playing our part in building our House of God and House of the People.
And, if you want to give and you still haven’t got round to it yet - you can do so here.
Thank you again,
Sonia
Farnborough Site Pastor