3 Taking the Plunge of Faith

1 Kings 17:
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink."
11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
12 So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.'"
15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah ...
NKJV

This widow decided that she would believe God, who had commanded her to provide for His prophet. When the prophet came along asking for her help, she had to test him with questions to be sure in her own mind that this was the man God had commanded her to feed during the recession.

Having satisfied herself that the Prophet Elijah was indeed the right person, she took the plunge of faith:
she would give him the first small cake that she made and trust God to provide for her needs and those of her son.

In doing this, she was putting into effect the major universal principles of human success in the earth:
   Whoever we worship has authority to bless and bring their level of provision into our life
   Whenever we give as God directs, we put ourselves into God's stream of receiving a multiplication of what we have given
   There is nothing that draws God's attention to a human being like the kind of faith that gives us the courage to act on what we say we believe.

Prayer:
Father, today I ask that You make me so sensitive to Your prompting in my inner person, that I will have the courage to act on what I believe. I refuse the promptings of falsehood and destruction, and I open my life to You today,
in Jesus' name,
Amen.