Unlocking Wealth from the Courts of Heaven by Robert Henderson

Author:Robert Henderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780768454123
Publisher: Destiny Image, Inc.

CHAPTER 7

LEGALISM OR GRACE

One of the most significant adjustments God made in my life was to move me out of serving Him in legalism and into serving Him in grace. Let me explain it to you the way it happened. As the husband and father in our family, I have always carried a sense of responsibility to see that needs were met and even wants and desires fulfilled. With the size family we had—Mary, me, and six children—this was no small task. Not only did I work diligently and try to plan methodically, I prayed.

When I say I prayed, I mean I prayed hard. I still do. I knew then and do now that there was no way I could in my own strength provide for my family the way I wanted them to be provided for. So in addition to work and giving, I prayed—diligently. As one who was called by God into vocational ministry, I never wanted my children to think they were denied something because their father was a preacher. I detest this. I have watched children of ministers grow to be bitter and angry adults because they did without. Perhaps they didn’t do without what they needed, but definitely what they wanted. I did not want this to be my children’s experience. I wanted my children’s experience to be just the opposite. I wanted them to think they had privileges others didn’t have because of the ministry.

I think we succeeded on some level. Of our six children, five of them work full time in the ministry and are successful at what they do. I tell Mary that in the midst of the hard places we walked, obviously our children came away with a good taste in their mouth about ministry. Ultimately, they are in ministry because of the call of God. However, they didn’t struggle with it because they lived a blessed life growing up in a minister’s home. This experience was because I did what I was called to do but also because I made it my practice to petition the Lord for His blessings and increase into our lives. As I would do this on a daily basis, I would go through the list of things I needed to see provision for. I would ask the Lord for our house to be provided for, cars provided, children’s school tuition, children’s cars (as they got older), and the normal needs/wants of a family. I would religiously go through this routine every day, reminding God of what I needed Him to provide. The amazing thing was God always met everything I petitioned Him for. Exactly what I asked for would be provided and come into our family. One day when I was in prayer and about to go through this routine again, I heard the Lord say to me, “Stop agreeing with Me.” In one sense I was caught off guard. On the other hand, I immediately knew what the Lord was referring to. Matthew 20:1-16 tells the parable of a man hiring laborers for his vineyard.

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