The Lottery and Exploring Zoweh's Why

Over the past several months, I have had the opportunity to walk with God and a few good friends into the Vision, Mission, and Strategy for Zoweh in the weeks and months ahead. It has been a good and hard exploration but a very very clarifying one. It started with a challenge: What would you do if money were no obstacle? Seldom are any of us allowed to think or ponder.

Placed on our interstate a few miles East and West from our home are a few strategic billboards… NC Lottery billboards. At the center of it is a big number letting everyone know the amount it has risen to and inviting all to play. Often, when I see that number, it frees my heart to think… What would I do?Exploring the list of friends, families, missions, and ministries to give away to is always fun. Working the ledger and calculator in my head, the next several miles are for distribution. Underneath the who or how I would share proceeds is the why. I find that far too often, I don’t get to the why. The answer to the why is where belief, desires, and hope lie... where my deep heart and its longing reside.

Gary Barkalow, author of It’s Your Call, writes…

With God, the issue is always the aspect of His glory which He has given you and where He wants you to offer it; it’s not “job fit”, advancement or benefits. Viktor Frankl quotes Nietzsche as saying, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” We must pursue God on our why and trust Him with the how.

Why does Zoweh exist? Because we were made for more.

What does Zoweh do? We exist to create environments for people to connect with God and with each other.

How does Zoweh do that? Weekend getaways with God, weekly get togethers with others and one on one friendship.

God has entrusted to us a big why… Redemptive Community: Walking with God Together. It always looks easier on paper than in the day-to-day. If you want to take a look at what Redemptive Community looks like, go to http://www.zoweh.org/redemptive-community/

We hope to continue to provide opportunities for hearts to connect with God and each other. One of the large mission objectives we believe God is inviting us to share is the message in the book, The Heart of a Warrior to thousands of men. We believe He has told us, "This is where it starts, the book, this is one of the seeds of the Kingdom… sow." We are excited about the days ahead and invite you to pray with us. We are excited because of the Why God has given and the fruit of God’s blessing… changed lives! Men who are set free lead to changed marriages and changed families we have seen it and are praying for it expansively. Please pray with us and over us as the Kingdom resources are out there, the lottery already won… now it is a matter of trusting and walking with God… the very thing we are entrusted to invite others to do.

Dear God, Holy Trinity, thank you for Life. Thank you for Loving us back to Life. We declare, we need you. We also acknowledge we to often struggle to believe, to trust, to allow you to work in our lives from the default of a small why and an inaccurate picture of who you are in our story.

Father, we entrust all of Zoweh to you, its team, resourcing, initiatives, and why. Thank you for entrusting a mission and vision to Zoweh, now we ask you to provide the how; prayerfully and financially. We declare you are trustworthy and choose to believe by faith you will advance the message. We are so honored and grateful that you invite us to be a part of your story and give us mission, vision, and strategy in order to reveal what it is we long for and what it is we are made for. We also believe you want to be operating at the deepest level of our beings, our hearts, doing a work there only you can accomplish. Thank you for the mission, vision, and strategy you are unveiling through your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for placing within us your Holy Spirit to guide, counsel and teach us the Kingdom ways.

Jesus, we pray against the kingdom of darkness and all it is up to in order to pull us away to fear and doubt. We bring the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, His full work for each of us and this mission, we pray in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, against all foul spirits and all dark forces opposing the funding and the equipping of Zoweh. Come Jesus, fill us again with your Resurrection power and grace. We confess we need you, and we give you total claim to our lives.

Holy Spirit, we entrust our hopes and longings to you. Thank you for entrusting them to us. We pray for a collaboration and unity with you that would see lives changed. Especially change, alter, redeem, and renew the hearts of men. Bring the next great Reformation, Holy Spirit. Come Jesus in power, authority, majesty, and grace. Set captives free, empower your sons and warrior men to fight well this battle being waged in the heavinlies over our alliance, allegiance, and affection of our hearts. Glorious are your ways, Jesus, and we take our wills and ask you to align them with yours. We pray this all in your name and in the power of your reign and rule over all things. Amen and AMEN.