Christians have disparate views regarding prayers for prosperity, but we can all agree that Scripture reveals how God has often undergirded divine movements through transcendent sources of supernaturally inspired funding. In Exodus 12:36 we have the laconic story of God moving the hearts of the Egyptians to lavish valuable gifts upon the Israelites who they had enslaved for hundreds of years. How ironic and appropriate that God would use Egyptian riches to fund Israel’s exodus and wilderness journeys.
Exodus 36 tells the delightful story of a runaway capital campaign and the rare example of a leader telling donors to stop giving! God had so moved the hearts of the people that they gave too much. Many have stated that God must have a sense of humor, and He might have been smiling as he watched the wealth originally donated by the Egyptians being given by the Israelites to fund the construction of the central place of worship.
Then we have the books of Ezra and Nehemiah which tell of the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and temple a few decades after the Babylonian exile. The people were inspired to rise up and build, but the significant funding for these God ordained projects came from a most unlikely source – pagan kings in faraway Persia.
In the New Testament God used celestial navigation to direct the Maji who brought the gifts that likely funded the perilous journeys of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and He used the generosity of a wealthy, land-owning Cypriot to supply the needs of the early church in the Book of Acts.
These are just a few examples of how God has often undergirded divine movements through transcendent sources of supernaturally inspired funding. I am writing today to call on CU’s faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends to implore God to do it again in our day for us. I believe that God will soon bless Carolina University with unprecedented enrollment growth leading to expansive national and international gospel influence. Financial strength is critical for the success of this vision, and I am asking you to join me for Forty Days and Forty Nights of intense, targeted, unrelenting prayer for God to move CU from scarcity to abundance.
For most of her seventy-five years, CU operated with such limited resources that mere survival was often doubtful. We praised the Lord often as He sustained us year after year, but now we are earnestly praying that He will move Carolina University from a place of financial scarcity to one of overflowing abundance. Of course, we must do our part. Not unlike Nehemiah’s shrewd development efforts with King Artaxerxes, we will diligently seek out those who have both the means to give and the heart to help, but ultimately, our help comes from the Lord.
Our goal is to have an uninterrupted prayer chain for Forty Days and Forty Nights from Wednesday, March 18 through Monday, April 27 with multiple people praying at all times. This will not be easy. We are asking each participant to choose one half-hour slot for targeted prayer every day for forty straight days. For example; if you choose the 7:00-7:30 AM slot, that means that you will pray from 7:00-7:30 AM every day for forty days. If you live in a different time zone, are young and energetic, or just want an opportunity to practice your spiritual discipline, please consider filling the nighttime slots first. Make sure that your entry is in Eastern Standard Time. For example, if you are in Zambia and plan to pray at 3:30 PM Central Africa Time, you will choose a 9:30 AM time slot on the CU signup page.
You are also welcome to fast at times and ways that you prefer. Each participant is encouraged to pray about anything they want, but we are asking everyone to spend some of their daily designated time specifically praying that God would move CU from scarcity to abundance.
Unleash Faith,
Charles Petitt
