From the archives of Oral Roberts
Years ago, I was preaching in a church where my message was, “Give God Your Best, Then Ask Him for His Best.” At the end of the sermon, I felt led to do two things: First, I asked everyone to give God their biggest seed―not because God needed it, but because they had needs of their own. The people formed a line on each side of the church and came down front to give. As they came, I watched them. They looked very serious, but the moment they put in their biggest bill, their countenances changed to joy.
Second, I asked them to think of someone they disliked, and I asked them to pray for that person. As we prayed, I saw a man who was visibly moved, a woman bent over in tears, a teenager dead serious. They were experiencing something very real. When the service ended, it felt like a breath of fresh air was flowing into the building.
A few weeks later I saw the pastor. He said, “Dr. Roberts, God used your message to open our eyes. There have been a lot of hard feelings in our church among some of the people. Now that’s disappearing. Also, you didn’t know it, but we were planning to build a new church. When we gave our biggest seed that day, it opened all of us up, and money is coming in to build. The spiritual tone of the church is the highest it’s ever been.”
Jesus said in Luke 6:27–28 NIV, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” The pastor’s testimony confirmed my own personal experience that when we pray for our enemies and give God our best and ask Him for His best, we can experience miracle living.
