Freeda Bowers: Lord, Something's Got to Give!

Lord, Something’s Got to Give!
Foreword by Pat Robertson

By Freeda Bowers

"Prayer is not a substitute for work, thinking, watching, suffering, or giving; Prayer is a support for all other efforts." -- GEORGE BUTTRICK

By 1984 my husband, Claud, and I had already been in full-time ministry for over six years. God had called us to build a Christian television station in Central Florida, and our ministry was quickly growing. I have always enjoyed accounting and was the head bookkeeper for our ministry. Claud is the visionary and our chief executive officer. God has given us many natural giftings and talents, and together we make a great team to do the work that He has called us to do.

In 1984 the ministry had not yet acquired a computer, so I spent countless hours entering the debits, credits and balances into the journals by hand. This was sometimes a tedious and overwhelming task for me. I had become so consumed in the busyness of doing the natural work that I had failed to let God into the process and I was on overload.

It was Labor Day weekend that year, and I had taken my ledgers home so that I could work on them in the evenings in order to best utilize my time to catch up on the financial records. I had also hoped to spend some quality time with my family, which was why I put aside a good bit of the work until late Monday night.

I was feverishly trying to finish everything before retiring to bed. I knew that in a few short hours I would need to go to my designated prayer time at the television station. Every week our faithful prayer partners, Intercessors for Central Florida, would come to the television station and individually pray for fifty-five minutes for the needs of our viewers and partners, and to seek God's guidance for another week of ministry. I was a member of the prayer team, and my assigned prayer time was Tuesdays at 8:00 A.M. Those times of prayer were such precious and awesome divine appointments with the Lord that I always made it a priority to be faithful to my scheduled time.

It was already past midnight when I began a desperately serious conversation with the Lord. All through my life I've had some of the deepest talks with the Lord either very late at night or very early in the morning. These are the times during my day when all the external distractions are silenced, and God has my full and undivided attention.

As I contemplated setting the alarm to get up for prayer in a few short hours, I felt that I couldn't pull myself together and go on any longer. I had already spent countless hours on my ledgers and the work was still undone. At that time I was carrying much of the accounting responsibilities of several different departments in the ministry, and the realization of my circumstances began to drown me. A riptide of discouragement pulled me down and washed over me like a tidal wave.

I loved God and wanted to serve Him with my whole heart, but it seemed impossible for me to continue I felt so overwhelmed with all of my responsibilities, both with my family and at the ministry, and I was both physically and emotionally exhausted. I genuinely felt that there was no way I could pray for the ministry or for all the prayer needs that had been called in, especially when I had so many needs and such a heavy workload myself.

With my unfinished ledgers lying before me, I began to argue with the Lord. Have you ever done that? You are intending to pray, but the conversation with the Lord quickly turns from praise to petition and from adoration to argument. In all of my many hours of Bible study, I have never found argument to be an acceptable form of prayer mentioned in God's Word. Nonetheless, arguing was precisely what I was doing. God, in His grace and patience, listened to me in spite of my agitation, physical exhaustion and restless spirit.

In my mind, I cried out to God, " I can't go back to prayer in the morning; I have too much to do and no way to do it all." Then sweetly in my spirit I heard the Lord say, "Prayer is More Important."

"But," I snapped back quickly, still arguing with the Lord, "not everyone can do the books. Others can pray, but I need to work on the finances. No one else can do my job."

The Lord refused to debate with me. He simply whispered once again, "Prayer is More Important." Honestly, I wasn't thrilled with what I was hearing Him say. In the midst of me telling the Lord how much I had to do, He asked me for more than I thought I could possibly give.

I 1acked the energy to pray at all, but God was asking me to pray more. I had a multitude of needs, but He asked me to pray for the needs of others. I argued with Him that I needed less to do, but God was persuading me that what I needed was to spend more time with Him.

Then something supernatural happened. I genuinely heard, not just the words the Lord was speaking, but I heard His heart. Jesus was wooing me. He was personally inviting me to come and meet with Him. I had a sweet inner witness that it was his priority for me to go to my time of intercessory prayer and that something special awaited me there. All of the disagreement left me, and I committed to go to the prayer room at my regularly scheduled time in the morning.

Before I finally drifted off to sleep, it was settled in my spirit that nothing I could do for the ministry was more important than prayer. Obediently, I set my alarm and went to sleep, gently hearing the Lord say once again, "Prayer is More Important."

The next morning, right on schedule I went to prayer. With a stack of prayer requests in my hand, I entered our prayer room, which was softly lit, painted a soft blue and had plush carpet on which we often knelt to pray before the altar. I was physically there but it was purely in obedience because there was very little faith in me for anything. As I walked in the door, I had already lost sight of the sweetness of the night before and I once again felt the despair of my workload overtake me. I can still vividly remember taking those prayer requests and throwing them and watching as they scattered across that ten-foot altar like cards wildly flung from a deck. I kicked off my shoes, looking at all of the needs represented on that altar, and in utter desperation I said, "Lord, something’s got to give!" Immediately God spoke to my spirit and said, "Give Me 40 Days!"

"40 Days!?" I thought. "Lord, the needs I have You can answer in a week..." and before I had even completed that phrase, I changed it and said, "No, You can meet all of them in a day." Then I nearly chuckled and said, "Lord, You can meet all of my needs right now. You're God!" The Lord quickly said back to me, "Yes, Freeda, but I have to work through mankind." Again I heard Him say, "Give Me 40 Days."

Those words gripped my spirit and I began thinking, "This must be the Word of God." I knew from my past experiences as a Sunday school teacher that when the Lord speaks to you, His written Word always supports His revealed or proceeding, Word. Of course that doesn't happen when Satan speaks. I knew in my heart and by God's Word, that "40 Days" is a Biblical number, and I sensed that God was giving me something very precious and special.

In looking to the Word of God, we see that the number 40 is mentioned over 120 times. Some of those refer to:

• Noah, with his family and all the animals, as it rained for 40 Days (GENESIS 7)
• Moses on Mt. Sinai receiving the Law for 40 Days (EXODUS 24)
• The spies of Israel spying out the Promised Land for 40 Days (NUMBERS 13)
• God strengthening Elijah for 40 Days from one meal (1 KINGS 19)
• Jonah preaching repentance to Nineveh for 40 Days (JONAH 3)
• Jesus being tempted by Satan during 40 Days in the wilderness (MATTHEW 4)
• Jesus being seen by His disciples for 40 Days between His resurrection and ascension (ACTS 1)

In the coming pages I will share with you how God captured my attention and motivated me to give Him 40 Days. I dedicated myself to listening to Him instead of constantly talking at Him. I learned that prayer is a conversation, not a monologue.

God began to show me that "40" is a Scriptural number with profound meaning and I had no doubts concerning this revelation. I was suddenly overcome with a divine energy that literally surged through my body, and I was filled with great faith. I had no idea what to expect in the next 40 Days but I knew that it would be something awesome.

God empowered me to gather up those scattered prayer requests and I began to intercede for each and every need. I was more than capable in God; I felt extremely strong and had renewed strength. My faith was sky-high, and I was filled with hope to go on.

As I remember that pivotal moment several years ago, I can see myself bending in submission to pick up each of those prayer requests. I had such I tremendous faith in my heart. I was convinced that this invitation from God was more than simply words in my spirit. It was then that Paul's words became a reality to me: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (PHILIPPIANS 4:19).

I was filled with confidence that God would meet every special need I had at that time. Even greater than that, I had discerned one of God's ways.

My responsibility that day was not to pray for myself, but to intercede for others. Although I had several pressing needs, the needs on those prayer requests became my focus, and the hour just flew by as I submitted myself to that faith-filled time of prayer.

When I walked out of that prayer room, I remember thinking "I’m the same on the outside as when I walked in, but there is something very different inside my spirit." There was lightness within me. I was beginning to experience Jesus’ promise: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I’m meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (MATTHEW 11:28-30)

I felt new freedom and faith surge up from deep within me. I knew that God was going to bless me and come through for me because I was confident that He would help me with my every need. I had done what He had asked me do. I had taken the time that I felt I didn't have, and had drawn on strength I knew wasn't in me in order to pray for others instead of praying for myself and my needs.

A critical key during your 40 Days will be praying for others. As you pray for others, God will meet your needs.

"And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before" (JOB 42:10).

"Pray one for another, that ye may be healed" (JAMES 5:16).

During your 40 Days with God, you can pray for your own needs, but it is vital that you do not neglect to pray for the needs of others. In so doing, you will discover that as you intercede and stand in the place of another, God will pour out His blessings upon you. Petition and intercession are more important than anything you can naturally set your hands to. Don't stop working, but make prayer a priority. God has so wonderfully taught me to arrange my day around my prayer time, and not to arrange my prayer time around my personal agenda.

Prayer was More Important than my bookkeeping or balancing the budget. Even though at that time there was no one besides me to work on the general ledger, the Lord wanted me to focus on Him, not focus on serving Him. Jesus desired my trust more than my trying and my abiding more than my accounting. I made a decision to give God 40 Days and to take my focus away from all my service and tasks.

In bookkeeping by hand, one can spend several hours just locating a single mathematical error. Often when trying to balance the books during those 40 Days, I would think, "Lord, I just can't do this anymore." Whenever that thought would permeate my mind, the memory of hearing God's instruction in that prayer room would sweep over me again. And once more, there would be a surge of supernatural hope and strength to continue on in Almighty God, to keep focused on Him and to give Him 40 Days.

At that time in my life, I probably had five or six specific needs that were creating great stress and pressure for me. Not one of those needs was super spiritual, such as praying for the salvation of someone's soul. Each need was practical and general but very important in my life. Yet during those 40 Days, instead of going to God with those needs, He led me to pray for the needs of others.

Halfway into that first 40 Days with God, I sat down and shared with my husband, Claud, what God had told me in the prayer room that day. The Lord's invitation was so very precious to me; this was a covenant time between God and me. I had delayed even telling my husband about my experience so that I could hold the treasure of the 40 Days close to my heart. Each one of those 40 Days was a sweet gift from the Lord to me.

Throughout that entire time, God continually confirmed His assurance that He would meet my needs. He took care of those needs without my cries and petitions. I continued to fulfill all of my natural responsibilities and in obedience I stayed focused on Him in faith for the entire 40 Days.

At the time of my first 40 Days with God, I was already committed to Him. I was a woman of prayer and was very active in my church. But I was stretched and squeezed, and what came out of me was...

• Frustration
• Anger
• Stress
• Guilt
• Feeling overwhelmed

Although I couldn't see it, I was just where God wanted me that day. When I cried out to Him, "Lord, something's got to give," I was in a perfect position to hear everything He wanted to say to me because He had my complete and undivided attention.

I learned more about faith and obedience in those 40 Days than ever before in my Christian walk. Whenever I would think about praying for myself, God would turn my heart toward the needs of others. As I prayed for those needs, God met mine.

At the end of those 40 Days my life was changed, not by what I did but by what God did in me. Actually, I still found myself with much undone at the end of each day. I still haven't figured out how to pack twenty-eight hours worth of "stuff" into a twenty-four-hour day. But God filled every day with patience, assurance and peace. He made my load seem lighter, refreshed my spirit and expanded my faith. Isn't that what you want as well?

This book has been written to help you establish your own 40 Days with God. I believe if you will give God this Biblical time period, He can meet your needs, whether they seem insignificant or if they are so overwhelming that you are nearly crushed beneath their weight. He will also build your faith in the process as you deepen your relationship with Him.

We always have God's full attention. One of the greatest problems we encounter in prayer is that God seldom has our full attention. It is my hope that as you read this book, you will discover how to dedicate 40 minutes a day for 40 consecutive days to fixing your focus on God. He is a jealous God and He greatly desires your devoted and undivided attention. This was the desire that was imparted to me that morning after Labor Day in 1984.

God asked me for 40 Days. I thought that would be impossible. I was so far behind in my work. I didn't have time to complete my ledgers much less give God 40 Days! Have you ever been so far behind in your work that you felt you would never catch up? That's exactly how I felt about our financial books in the television ministry. But every time I would get discouraged I would be gently reminded that the Lord had said, "Give Me 40 Days."

As my 40 Days went into the second week of October, I sat back, looked at my work and realized that everything was finished! My quarterly reports were up to date and I found myself with time to spare. The 40 Days had passed so quickly and I was amazed at the way God had sustained me.

As time progressed I realized that I had renewed physical strength. As I look back and can now reflect on that time with more spiritual maturity I realize that my mindset had helped me make it through that 40 Days. I had a mindset of faith!

Give Me 40 Days! Be careful to realize that your 40 Days journey will not only be about you; it will be about your relationship with God. As you dedicate yourself to the needs of others, you will realize how much God delights in meeting your needs.

God's instruction in the prayer room that day hit me hard, and it has totally changed my relationship with Him. Today in addition to being my Lord, He is the dearest and most highly prized treasure in my life. He is my best friend.

I invite you to join me on a spiritual journey for the next 40 Days. If you decide to dedicate yourself to this journey, I know that you will discover God in a fresh and new way.

Look at your own life and answer these questions:

• Are you feeling like you can't go on the way things are?
• Do you lack the desire to pray?
• Are the little needs in life beginning to overwhelm you and stress you out?
• Do you find yourself crying out, "Lord, something's got to give"?
• Do you long for a personal encounter with God?

If you could answer yes to any of these questions, you are not alone. I have had the opportunity to teach the "40 Days" message in many American cities as well as in South America, Ukraine and Russia. Wherever I go, I bring the requests of the people back to the station so that our local Intercessors for Central Florida and I can pray over those needs for 40 Days. When ministering in non-English speaking nations, I have the people’s prayer requests translated into English. I have always been amazed to find that whether those requests came from Florida or Ukraine, from South Carolina or South America, the needs of the people are often the same.

I have great news for you; the same God who faithfully met my needs during my first 40 Days and continually meets them to this day, can meet yours, too. Consider committing these next 40 Days to set your focus on your primary, ultimate and most important need, which is meeting with God. Look past your own needs while praying for others, and you will not be denied an incredible journey with your Lord.

Take a moment right now and listen to God as He says to your spirit, "Prayer is More Important. Give Me 40 Days."

Did you hear Him?

Click Here To: [Order Online] [Return to Home Page]