Many people make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. I am asking God in this New Year to help me expand. I’m not asking God to expand my pants size, but in my walk with Him, and my influence in the world. Another verse I have been using to pray with recently is Isaiah 54:2-3. “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” While praying through these verses again today, God expanded my understanding of this verse in a huge way. I want to share these things with you and encourage each of you to pray for this as well in 2016.
I asked God to Enlarge the place of my tent. God touched my heart with this meaning that I want Him to deepen my personal time with Him. My “tent” is where I live. I want my time alone with Him in prayer and Bible study to be sweeter and sweeter each day. I asked God to stretch forth the curtains of my personal ministry. The curtain is over top of the tent and is a bit more far reaching than the tent. He touched my heart with this being my local church ministry. I asked Him to help me be more effective teaching the Bible studies that I teach, and in my mentoring ministry there.
I asked God to lengthen my cords. These cords reach beyond both my tent and the curtain to the world beyond. God touched my heart with this meaning my ministry with Silent Word, as a missionary, and in the support that we give to missions. I don’t want my ministry to be simply something that reaches my local church, but I want to see it expand to the uttermost parts of the earth! And lastly, I asked God to strengthen my stakes. I believe the stakes represent the foundational teaching and truths of the Word of God! I asked God to allow His Word to have greater influence in my life. I asked Him to show me deeper truths there than I have ever seen before.
Verse three gives the results of what will happen if the reality of verse two is known. God touched my heart with the thought of no limits. There will be no limits on the right or the left. He will open doors on both sides. In future generations of our children and grandchildren serving God, there will be no limits. Reaching all kinds of people, Jews and Gentiles alike, there will be no limits. Every place on the face of the earth could be fertile ground for the seed of the Word of God; there will be no limits. I do not want to limit my vision of what God could do with me if fully surrendered!