About the Author
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Bruce Wilkinson, one of the world's best-known Bible
teachers is the author of numerous bestsellers, including the New
York Times #1 bestseller The Prayer of Jabez, The Dream
Giver, and other books. He and his wife, Darlene, live near
Atlanta.
David Kopp has collaborated with Bruce Wilkinson on more than a
dozen bestsellers, including The Prayer of Jabez. He lives in
Colorado.
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
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Chapter 1
A New Way to See the World
You were born to expect a miracle today
What if I told you I’m certain you missed a miracle yesterday?
And not just any miracle but one that Heaven wanted to do through
you to significantly change someone’s life for the better–maybe
your own?
I would understand if you were doubtful.
But right alongside that doubt, most of us can identify a nearly
universal experience. Almost everyone in the world–whatever their
religious belief–can point to an event in their lives that seemed
directly orchestrated by Heaven, that seemed impossible to
explain without using words like “I can’t believe what just
happened! That was a miracle!” We call these experiences divine
coincidences, miracle moments, supernatural provisions.
Whatever we call them, we tend to value such events so highly
that we recount them over and over, often for years. “I’ll never
forget the time…,” we say, or “Sooner or later my daughter is
going to tell you about…”
Why do we remember such events so clearly? I think it’s because
we feel that we have been touched by Heaven. It’s as if God
Himself stepped through the curtain that separates the seen from
the unseen to make something wonderful happen for us, something
only He could do.
But here’s the best part. In the experience we hear a personal
and unforgettable message from God. Something like, I’m here. I
care about you. I can do for you what you cannot do for yourself.
Beginning with this near-universal experience, this book asks a
few simple but intriguing questions:
• Why are these experiences of the miraculous so rare for most
people?
• What if Heaven actually wanted you to experience them on a
regular basis?
• What if ordinary people like you and me are invited to partner
with God to deliver miracles to others?
If these questions put a picture in your mind of people
everywhere walking around expecting to be a part of miracle
moments on a regular basis, you’re not far wrong.
A mysterious encounter
Let me tell you about a mysterious encounter I had in a
restaurant outside Denver with a waiter named Jack. I call it
mysterious because on the surface everything looked so ordinary.
Five friends at a table for six, waiters coming and going,
voices, clatter–just what you’d expect in a busy restaurant. But
by the time dinner was over, we all knew beyond a doubt that we’d
been present for a divine appointment.
It was as if God Himself had walked up and said, “Thank you for
saving Me a place. I’ve been wanting to do something for Jack.”
Here’s what happened.
During the course of the meal, Jack had served us well. But apart
from the usual exchanges about the menu and our orders, we hadn’t
spoken much. Around the table, meanwhile, the conversation
revolved around some of Jesus’more extreme teachings–ones like
“Ask, and you will receive” and “It is more blessed to give than
to receive.” During the conversation I felt unexpectedly nudged
by Heaven to try something I’d never done before. At the same
time I sensed it was meant to involve Jack.
My experiment involved putting three hundred dollars “at risk.”
Now, don’t let the a throw you. The money wasn’t mine, and
believe it or not, the person who was letting me carry it around
was expecting me to give it away. (But more about that in a later
chapter.)
When Jack came by to refill the water glasses, I posed a
question. “Have you ever heard the saying ‘It is more blessed to
give than to receive’?”
“Yes, I have,” he said.
“Do you believe that?”
“Sure, I guess I do,” he said, looking puzzled.
“Good!” I said. “I have an interesting rtunity for you.” I
placed a hundred-dollar bill on the table. “You have an unusual
choice, Jack. You can either receive this hundred dollars as a
gift, not a tip…”
I paused. I definitely had Jack’s attention, and the two couples
with me
didn’t appear to be breathing.
I looked at Jack. “Or you can say no to the money and instead
give each of us a dessert. But this would be you buying the
desserts, not the restaurant. You can’t do both things, and
there’s no right or wrong. So what would you like to do–give or
receive?”
Jack just stood there holding the water pitcher. He asked twice
if I was serious. Then finally he said, “I’ll take the hundred
dollars.”
True to my word, I handed him the bill.
“Thank you!” he said. Then he walked back to the kitchen.
After he left and my friends started breathing again, we all
tried to figure out what had just happened. Was my unusual test
about giving and receiving even fair? What was Jack thinking now?
And what in the world was he saying to the crew in the kitchen?
All the while I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. You see,
earlier I had slipped another two hundred dollars under my plate.
If the waiter had chosen to buy us desserts and not take the
hundred–believing that it is more blessed to give than to
receive–I was going to give him the hidden two hundred dollars. I
had really hoped he would make the self-sacrificial choice
because I’d strongly sensed that God wanted to encourage him with
the larger sum.
The next time he came around, I said, “I’m curious, Jack. Do you
feel like you made the right choice?”
“Absolutely!” he said excitedly. “In fact, it was a miracle. You
see, I’m a single dad.” He pulled out his wallet and proudly
showed us a photo of his three-year-old son. “Isn’t he
something!” he said with a big smile. Then he explained his
reaction. “I have to work three jobs during four days of the week
just so I can take care of my son the other three days when my
ex-wife works. But I’m having a tough time making ends meet. Just
this morning I had to mail my alimony check of a hundred dollars
even though my account was down to zero. Driving to work this
afternoon, I actually prayed, ‘God, please! I need an extra
hundred dollars, and I need it tonight!’ ”
Well, I was speechless, and so were my friends. How could we have
known of our waiter’s crisis or of his prayer for a hundred
dollars?
Then it was my turn to explain. I told him that even if he had
decided to give instead of receive, I’d planned to give him the
hundred dollars. “But now that I know your story, I agree. You
made the right choice.”
Suddenly I knew what needed to happen next. “You have to know
that none of this money was mine,” I told him. “The owner wanted
me to pass it on as a kind of message to the right person. And
I’m sure that person was you.”
I reached under the plate for the other two hundred. “Obviously
God wanted you to have the hundred dollars, and He wants you to
have this too.”
What God thinks is normal
What just happened here? Let’s break it down:
• Jack drove to work that evening to wait tables, but he brought
with him a secret, pressing need.
• I had come to Colorado from Atlanta on business and ended
up having dinner with friends in Jack’s restaurant.
• Unbeknown to Jack or my friends, I was prepared to meet
someone’s financial need with money that wasn’t mine.
• By the end of the evening, God had used one person to deliver
something that met a big need for another person–and in a
way that was clearly miraculous to everyone involved.
You might react differently to what happened around that table.
You might think, for example, Well, I don’t have a hundred-dollar
bill lying around. And if I did, why would I give it to a
stranger? For that matter, how would I figure out whom to give it
to?
We’ll look closely at these reactions and more like them in the
pages ahead. You’ll see, I promise, that God is just as likely to
have plans for five dollars or twenty dollars as He is for a
hundred dollars and that He never asks you or me to serve Him in
a way that doesn’t fit us personally and perfectly.
For now, though, put yourself in the story of our dinner with
Jack. Imagine how you would have felt leaving that table and
knowing you had played an active role in delivering God’s
provision for a young man’s desperate need. Better yet, imagine a
lifestyle of such encounters, where God works through you in
unexplainable ways to do a miracle–and on a regular basis.
This kind of life is not only possible but is what God thinks of
as normal when He thinks of you.
You see, He did not place you on this earth to notice Him at work
only once or twice in your whole life. He did not create you to
consistently miss out on the wonder of His presence and power.
The truth is, you were born to live a supernatural life doing
God’s work by God’s power. You were born to walk out your door
each morning believing that God will use you to deliver a
necessary miracle today.
This book will show you how.
The Everyday Miracle Territory
When it comes to miracles, most people I know see the world as
divided
in two.
On the far left is a region we could call the Land of Signs and
Wonders. In this land amazing miracles seem to happen a lot,
although only for a select few. Mostly this world reveals itself
on television, in a few unusual churches, and in faraway places.
Still, Signs and Wonders is a remarkable place. In this land the
blind regain their and invalids throw away their canes to
run around like school kids.
On the far right is the Land of Good Deeds. Nobody is putting on
a show here. Fortunately, though, the place is full of good
people watching out for each other, doing good works. And
certainly God is pleased with that.
Interestingly, in Good Deeds land a lot of people believe in
miracles and spend time studying them. They just don’t expect to
actually see any miracles, much less be a part of them on a
regular basis. When they praise God for miracles, they’re
grateful for things that occurred long ago. Good Deeds land
doesn’t dazzle like Signs and Wonders, but things are more
manageable there. More predictable.
What’s the one big disadvantage in good Deeds land? God rarely
shows up in a supernatural way. Why would He? No one is expecting
the miraculous, and besides, everything is running just fine. Or
so it seems.
Which land would you say you live in most of the time?
A large majority of people live in the Land of Good Deeds. Even
though some would say they have experienced meaningful personal
miracles in the past–at a point of spiritual awakening or in a
time of crisis–they believe those experiences are rare. More
important, they believe we don’t have a role in whether one
happens again or not, so there’s no point in leaving the house
today on the lookout for one.
What I want you to realize is that if you live in either land
I’ve described, you’ve overlooked the most promising region of
all. You see, between the dazzle of Signs and Wonders and the
duty of Good Deeds lies a broad and promising middle ground.
In this book we call this in-between land the Everyday Miracle
Territory. Here people believe that God wants to intervene–and
does–in supernatural ways in human affairs on a regular basis.
Here unmet needs are seen by ordinary people as golden
rtunities for God to show up, and to do so through them, at
almost any moment. They’re not waiting for special powers for
themselves or for God to part the skies on their behalf. They
have experienced miracles and know beyond doubt that miracles are
for them and others like them, right here and right now.
Those who live in the Everyday Miracle Territory have already
made two
startling observations.
One is full of hope. Everywhere they look, in every situation,
they see potential for an unforgettable “God-incidence”–not a
coincidence but a moment when God steps in to meet a real need
through them in a way that only He can. Some days it actually
feels as though God has a pile of miracles ready to be delivered!
Their other observation is full of dismay.
They are nearly alone.
Would you agree that few people today are living in Everyday
Miracle Territory? I wrote this book to help you see that the
land of personal, everyday miracles is your rightful home turf.
Instead of focusing on the nature defying acts that God is able
to do, this book invites you to encounter the miracles that God
does do on a regular basis–and to embrace your exciting part in
partnering with Him to make them happen.
You’ll discover that what God chooses to depend on for these
divine encounters is simply a willing servant. No previous
experience required. No record of perfection. No special
religious gift or qualification. In this book we call these
refreshingly ordinary folks “delivery agents” for God. They are
men and women who say to Him, “Please send me to do Your work by
Your power today!”
That’s exactly what Jimmy said.
Jimmy the “delivery guy”
Jimmy is one of the most down-to-earth men I’ve ever met. He can
fix anything, find anything, make do with anything. You’re
stranded with a handful of folks on a desert island? You want
Jimmy in the handful. You want to program your iPhone to walk
your dog? Jimmy’s your man. Just don’t ask him to spend time over
tea talking about relationships or contemplating the meaning of
the universe.
The first time Jimmy heard that he could cooperate with God in
supernatural events on a regular basis, he thought, Not likely.
He worked in construction, after all, not ministry. He struggled
to come up with even one time in the past ten years when he could
say with certainty that the supernatural had clearly showed up.
The idea of a lifestyle of miracles felt about as real to Jimmy
as taking a road trip through an asteroid belt.
But over the course of a You Were Born for This conference, Jimmy
realized that he really did want to learn how to partner with
Heaven to do God’s work on earth. Taking a big step into the
unknown, he committed himself to being God’s delivery agent when
and where he was called upon.
The next morning, while Jimmy was dropping off windows at a job
site, he struck up a conversation with a carpenter named Nick.
Nick let it be known that his marriage was on the rocks and that
he didn’t hold out much hope. He just seemed to want to vent.
Normally Jimmy would have expressed sympathy for a man in that
kind of misery, then quickly steered as far away as possible from
such a sensitive topic. This time, though, Jimmy hung in there.
He listened, identified with Nick’s struggle, asked a few
questions. Then, sensing that the man’s heart was open, he asked
a simple but miracle-inviting question he had learned at the
conference: “Nick, I really want to help you. What can I do for
you?”
Without hesitation the carpenter said, “You could tell me what to
do next. I’m tied up in knots, but I really want this marriage to
work.”
Jimmy panicked. Tell another guy how to fix a relationship? Not
likely! But he took a deep breath and then took an outrageous
step of faith. “Why don’t you get something to write with,” he
told the carpenter, “and when you come back, I’ll tell you how to
save your marriage.”
The truth was, Jimmy was stalling. He didn’t have a clue what he
was going to tell Nick. But as he explained to me later, he was
holding on to a couple of things I had said at the conference:
“Relax, the miracle is God’s to do, not yours” and “Give God a
minute.” Something or Someone seemed to be leading the way in
this conversation with Nick, and Jimmy was determined to follow.
When the carpenter returned, Jimmy heard himself saying, “You
need to go home and make your bed.”
Jimmy had no idea where that had come from or what good it was.
“That’s all have to say,” he told Nick apologetically. “I guess
you don’t even need to write it down.”
But the carpenter was staring at Jimmy with his mouth open.
“How did you know?” he ped. “That is a giant source of
conflict for us! I’m the last one up, and I never make the bed.
My wife says it’s a sign of everything that’s wrong with the
marriage. I don’t get it. But you know what? I’m going to drive
back at lunch and make the bed before my wife gets home.”
To me, this story demonstrates God’s willingness to do a personal
miracle if we are willing to deliver one. Nick wasn’t expecting
help from a stranger. And Jimmy didn’t think he had help to give.
What he had, though, was a readiness to pass along what God
prompted him to say.
But the best thing the story shows is God’s heart. He cares about
the personal struggles of a carpenter named Nick–and He wanted
Nick to see that. He cared enough to show Nick a practical step
he could take that might say more to his wife than a love letter
and just might turn things around for the couple.
All He needed was Jimmy, delivery agent.
Doing what God wants done
You might be like Jimmy, completely unprepared and unqualified
but ready to try something different. You may have grown up in
the church and have a long list of religious accomplishments to
point to. You may be like Nick, uncertain that God exists or that
He cares for you. But Heaven works in ways that seem to apply no
matter what our spiritual mind-set happens to be.
Perhaps you’ve heard about my book The Prayer of Jabez. It shows
how a little-known prayer from three thousand years ago can still
result in great blessing and influence for God in our time.
Millions bought the book, prayed the prayer…and were astonished
at what God began to do in their lives. One reason the message of
that book resonated with so many, I believe, is that it made
ministry (which simply means doing what God wants done in the
world) accessible as a way of life.
Jabez lived in ancient Israel. The Bible says that he was “more
honorable than his brothers,” but as far as I can tell, it wasn’t
because of his superior spiritual status. Perhaps he was “more
honorable” because he asked with all his heart for God to do for
him and through him exactly what God already wanted to do.
And the Bible says, “God granted him what he requested.”(1)
Through the prayer of Jabez, millions learned to ask God to
expand their territory of influence for Him and then to put His
hand of power on them. Not surprisingly, as soon as they took
these brave steps, people started seeing miracle rtunities
all over the place. And thousands wrote excitedly to me to report
what was happening.
Here’s what I want you to see: The Prayer of Jabez showed
ordinary people how to ask God to greatly expand their
rtunities to serve Him. You Were Born for This shows ordinary
people how to be intentional about and skilled at inviting the
miraculous into the midst of that larger life.
Think of You Were Born for This as Jabez to the miracle power.
For all the Jimmys and Jabezes in the world, this book reveals in
practical terms how God works supernaturally through His willing
partners to make a difference in people’s lives. It’s the most
rewarding and significant life imaginable!
Wouldn’t you know it, in answer to my own prayers during those
years, God expanded my territory beyond anything I could have
imagined.
He sent our family to Africa.
When good deeds aren’t enough
In 2002 my wife, Darlene, and I experienced a clear call to move
to Africa to tackle some of the most daunting challenges of our
time. “Will you go?” God said to us. “Will you care?”
This was happening during the busiest months of my speaking and
writing about Jabez. Why would God ask us to leave behind an
exploding ministry based on a book He was so clearly blessing? We
didn’t understand it.
You might think that someone who has studied the character of God
in graduate school and dedicated his life to serving Him wouldn’t
be surprised when God radically redirects his life. I will
confess that until then I had enjoyed a lot of clarity about what
God had called me to do. I saw myself as a Bible teacher, leader,
and disciplemaker. My publisher saw me as an author. And that was
that.
But almost overnight we experienced a spiritual awakening to the
needs of a continent. Poverty. Prejudice. Hunger. AIDS. Orphans.
God seemed to be saying to our family, “My heart breaks over
these things. I want your hearts to break over them too.”
Without knowing what it might mean, we said yes. Then, believing
we had been called to a three- to five-year personal mission, we
said good-bye to friends and family and moved to Johannesburg,
South Africa.
What does this have to do with You Were Born for This? From the
start we knew that trying to meet any one of those needs would be
far too big a task for us. God would have to show up in
extraordinary ways or nothing of significance would get done.
And He did. We started not by asking, “What can we do?” but by
asking, “What does God want done?” We set some high-risk goals in
the areas of greatest need. Our ministry plan expected–even
depended on–God to intervene. Finally we set about working with
others, including charitable groups, African organizations,
government agencies, churches, and thousands of First World
volunteers, to meet faith-stretching goals. Of course not
everything we tried succeeded. But we kept asking for miracles
and taking risks of faith, and God did show up, as I’ll share in
the pages ahead.
By the time we returned to the States, our thinking had changed
in two important ways.
First, we’d become convinced that good deeds alone will never be
enough to meet the desperate needs of our time. This is true
whether the needs are personal or global in . We simply need
more of God. We desperately need miracles!
Second, we had learned that it’s often longtime Christians who
resist miracles the most. Many have stopped expecting miracles,
asking for them, or even knowing how to partner with God to
invite them. In other words, they have abandoned the Everyday
Miracle Territory and often measure success by how little they
need God.
As you’d expect, the consequences of limiting what God does on
earth to what we can do for Him are disastrous. Just look around.
The most pressing personal and global needs go unmet while a
generation asks, “Where is God? Doesn’t He care? Does He even
exist?” But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Miracles are for everyone
You Were Born for This is a bold initiative to recl the
miraculous as a normal way of life. Through biblical ins,
true stories, and practical how-tos, I’ll show you what that new
normal could look like for you.
In part 1 you’ll see why everyone you encounter has an unmet need
that God strongly desires to meet, very possibly through you.
You’ll discover that the Everyday Miracle Territory is real–and
you’re standing in the middle of it.
We define a miracle as “an extraordinary event manifesting divine
intervention in human affairs.”2 It’s true that most of us will
never be empowered by God to heal someone or walk on water. The
Bible is clear that not everyone has been gifted to carry out
such miracles. Yet the Bible is also clear that we are all
invited to do God’s work by God’s power. That’s why in this book
we only focus on the personal miracles that are within the reach
of all of us.
I’m audacious enough to call these miracles predictable. By that
I mean that when we do God’s work in God’s way, He reveals
Himself to be a miracle-working God. I mean that miracles will
take place so regularly that their occurrence will seem
predictable to you–not because of how or when they occur but
because they will occur.
In part 2 you’ll be introduced to four keys to a life of
miracles. They will enable you as a delivery agent for God to
• make a very specific, urgent request;
• understand and accept His miracle agenda for you;
• know how to partner with an unseen power;
• take a promising but life-changing risk.
In part 3 you’ll discover practical advice on how to deliver a
miracle to someone in need. First you’ll learn five universally
identifiable signals that will guide you in your partnership with
Heaven. Then you’ll learn five steps for delivering a miracle.
When you learn and apply these truths regularly, you can invite
God to do a miracle through you for anyone at any time.
That’s a startling statement, isn’t it? But as you’ll see, God is
so intent on meeting people’s deepest needs that He is always
looking for volunteers who will become living links between
Heaven and earth.
In part 4 you’ll be introduced to three more keys that unlock
what I call special delivery miracles. These miracles meet needs
that matter to everyone: finances, life dreams, and forgiveness.
Each chapter is based on surprising ins from the Bible and
is illustrated with stories you’ll find both instructive and
highly motivating.
You Were Born For This will change how you see the world and what
you expect God can and will do through you to meet real needs.
You will master a few simple but powerful tools and will come to
say with confidence, “I want to partner with Heaven to deliver a
miracle to someone in need today–and now I know how!”
If that’s what you want, I invite you to turn the page.
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