A Thousand Times More
May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!
- Deuteronomy 1:11
This coming year—2019—is going to be powerful. It’s going to be the year of a thousand times more.
Wouldn’t you like to have a thousand times more of God’s presence in your life and in the lives of your children and grandchildren? How about a thousand times more of God’s favor in your church, your business, and your home?
That’s what I’m believing for. And I’m believing it for your life. A thousand times more sounds pretty big, but our God is a big God.
You may know that we start each new year out with a 21-day fast. We do a “Daniel Fast,” eating no meat, bread, or sugar for 21 days. During this year’s fast, we’re going to be praying and seeking God’s face for a thousand times more of Him than we’ve ever had in our lives.
Let me share a story with you. I was recently in Israel and while I was there, I was blessed to see Mount Gilboa. It reminded me of a man in the Bible who started out humble but ended up prideful.
That man was Saul, who became the first king of Israel. He was actually born on Mount Mizpah. In Hebrew, Mizpah means, “to be bent low.” Sault started out low. He started out humble, knowing that without God he could do nothing. He felt unworthy to be king and recognized his own insufficiency. Saul knew he needed God’s help.
That’s the kind of person God can use.
God raised Saul up. God favored Saul, anointed him as king, and gave him great success.
Sadly, the more God prospered Saul, the more Saul’s pride grew. God said that when Saul was small in his own eyes, he became the head of the tribes of Israel (see 1 Samuel 15:17). But when he became filled with pride, God could no longer use him.
Saul died on Mount Gilboa. Amazingly, Gilboa is Hebrew for, “to be exalted.”
Saul started on Mount Mizpah, being bent low, humble, and totally dependent on God. He died on Mount Gilboa, the mountain of pride. They hung him and his sons on that mountain. He was born on the mountain of humility, but he died on the mountain of pride.
Saul’s pride cost him everything.
If we aren’t careful, pride can cause us to pay a high price as well.
That’s why fasting is so important.
When we fast, we humble ourselves before God. We are saying, “God, I need you right now just as much as I ever did. You’ve given me so much, but I know it’s all through Your power and not my own.”
We must never get to the place where we feel we can do it on our own. We must never feel our gifting, our talent, our education is enough. God uses us when we recognize our dependency on Him. When we become arrogant and prideful, we’re setting ourselves up for a fall.
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23:12).
One of the greatest results of fasting is that we humble ourselves so God can exalt us.
When we ask for a thousand times more in 2019, we ask it humbly. We ask it in the brokenness and humility of a fast. We ask it while recognizing that everything we are, everything we have, and everything we will ever accomplish is a gift from the hand of God.
Will you join us in a 21-day fast this new year? Will you agree with us in humility and faith that 2019 will be the year of a thousand times more?
Lord Jesus, we say yes. We agree. You are calling thousands of people to join together and start 2019 with a fast. We agree together for a thousand times more souls to be saved and lives to be changed. As we humble ourselves, we pray that when it is the right season You will raise us up. You will exalt us and use us for Your glory.
In Jesus name, let it be so.
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