I am finding more and more that support-raising is more about what God is doing in my soul than it is about money. But that seems to be true of all of life. In other words, the issues of life don’t seem to be the real issues at all. Certainly we have to earn a living, provide for a home and a family, cut the grass, things like that. But those things are not going to last into eternity, and I believe that God is most concerned with things that will last into eternity. Now I’m not trying to set up a sacred/secular dichotomy—spiritual things are important but other things are not. I guess what I am really saying is that everything is spiritual, so everything is important. You see, God has designed physical things to accomplish spiritual things. So for me, support-raising is the tool that God is using to bring about spiritual growth and change in my soul. You see, the money that results from support-raising will not last into eternity, but two things will: the extension of God’s Kingdom (people coming to faith in Christ, cups of cool water given in his name, God’s name lifted up in worship, God’s people gathered and matured into disciples, etc.) that will come from the planting of new churches, and greater faith in my soul that will come by trusting God to meet my needs. So as I ask God to bring in our needed support, I do so not so that I will have the money that I need (a lot of Christians around the globe do not have “the money they need”), but so that Jesus is glorified through the planting of new churches and so that I grow in my trust-relationship with God.

And I think that is true of everything in our lives. Whenever we pray for an improvement in circumstances, we must do so for the sake of our soul and for the glory of Christ. “Father, cause my head-cold to get better if that will bring me closer to you and will bring glory to Christ.” “Father, strengthen my marriage so that I can know your love in a deeper way and so that the beauty of Jesus is seen by others in a clearer way.” “Father, heal my friend of cancer so that I will trust you more deeply and so that Jesus is lifted up.”

I am finding support-raising to be a supremely spiritual effort.