Give Your Little in Faith

Have you ever had a strong desire to do something for God, but feel like what you are doing is small and insignificant? If that is you, I want to encourage you to offer whatever little you have in faith to God today!

For me, my little is offering prayers in faith. Not because I think prayer isn’t powerful, but rather because of the unconventional way I am led to pray for my church. Each week, before our worship service begins, I pray over every empty chair. This means I do not know who will sit there, what their request may be, or if anyone will be in that chair at all. It also means I rarely know if those prayers have been answered or have had a significant impact. In fact, if I am honest with you, oftentimes it appears my prayers do not make a difference.

So why am I sharing this? Why am I praying at all? And how is this encouraging to someone seeking a kingdom impact when they feel like they have nothing to offer? It’s because I know God, who is faithful, moves in those prayers even if I never see the results.

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:25-27

At the end of the day, God is the one who is leading me to pray. I am just a conduit. This past Sunday, as I was praying up and down each row, I felt the Lord stop me at a particular chair. Stopping at that specific seat stood out to me because usually no one sits there. But I prayed over that seat because of the Spirit’s leading, trusting God had a reason why.

While at the time I prayed, I didn’t know who would be in that chair. But God knew it would be an older woman experiencing deep pain. She lost her son a year ago, and two weeks prior to sitting in that chair she became a widow. And God loved and cared for her so much, He led me, a stranger, to offer prayers of comfort, strength and community to come alongside the person in that chair so that they would not feel alone.

I am constantly amazed every time I witness God do what only He can do. He sees and cares for the one, even if it often goes unnoticed. This is why I pray, even though most days I never know what becomes of those small prayers over the empty seats, because I served a God who “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So what small thing is God's Spirit leading you to do? Pray? Text a friend? Provide a meal? No matter how small it may seem, believe — in faith — that God is up to something.