JEHOVAH YIREH: THE ONE WHO PROVIDES
And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide (Yahweh Yireh); as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
- (Genesis 22:14)
BEFORE I EVEN PRAYED
My family had recently moved to a new state, and our church had commissioned my dad to start a new branch within the local community. As a pastor of this small church, my dad and my mum had to rely on their day jobs to meet our family’s needs; but with five mouths to feed (my parents and three kids), we could barely make ends meet. We managed to break even sometimes through the pastries and ice cream that my mum made, which my dad hawked on the streets; but on this fateful morning, all that we had was exhausted. We had eaten our last meal and there was no hope for the next meal, and right there we were just like the widow of Zarephath with no visible way out.
One common experience that unites many Christian Nigerian homes is the ‘morning devotion’. It is the time in the early morning when the family wakes up to pray and sing before starting the day. My family was no exception. We often had early morning devotions as a family, where we prayed about whatever problems we were facing at the moment, and with a sanguine/choleric dad, there was bound to be some drama during these times. There were times when my dad shared a naira note to each of us and asked us to pray over it, asking God for an increase. There were other times when we just asked God for our own house or car since we didn’t have a car or house at this time. Ultimately, prayer time was expressive and the number one rule was that you had to speak up or pray aloud because that was the only way that my dad could be sure that you had not dozed back to sleep.
On this miraculous morning, we had begun the morning devotion like every other time and the need we had to address today was food. My dad had brought out all the empty bags of rice and the empty jerry cans of oil and he told us to pray over them and ask God for a refill because otherwise we didn’t have any food and he didn’t even know where we could get anything. It was still dark outside by this time and I remember that this was before 6 am, because I remember that the miracle came knocking by 6 am. As usual, I began my mantra which went along the lines of, “Father Lord, in the name of Jesus…”, then other words along the lines of, “Rice come, oil come…” I remember this mantra because it was the most efficient way that I could pray, to my father’s hearing, without getting in trouble. It performed the double task of making me look like I was praying, while also giving me enough time to think about the words to fit into the moment. Don’t worry though, it wasn’t as rigorous as it sounds and that actually prepared me for many moments later in my life.
THE ANSWER AND THE MIRACLE IN THE ANSWER
Around 6 am during the prayer, someone suddenly knocked on our door and we paused our prayer to see who it was. Someone went to open the door to check – I’ve forgotten who it was- and we realized that the visitor was someone from another branch of my church, whom my parents knew, and they had brought the answer to our prayer. Before I proceed, I just want to state that there were many aspects of this miracle that taught me a lot about God’s personality in such a notable way that it has remained with me even after three decades. The first was God’s perfect timing and perfect planning abilities. The next was his specific-need answering ability. I also learned about his ability to surpass the prayer and the need; but most of all, I learned why he is called Jehovah Jireh (YAHWEH YIREH) and hopefully, you will see it too.
The man and his wife who were standing at the door had a very beautiful story to tell. They said that two weeks ago, the Lord had told them to visit us with some food, but that they had been so busy that they hadn’t been able to do so. On this fateful morning, however, they had felt very strongly that they had to bring this food to us, otherwise they would never get around to doing it. So although it was still very early in the morning and although they lived far away, they had made the journey to come visit. They had brought the rice and the oil that we had prayed for, but in bigger sizes, and they had brought other things that we had not even had a point of contact for, such as chicken, bouillon cubes, yams and so on.
LESSONS LEARNED
This was a very notable miracle for me because the groceries and provisions had arrived, not just on the exact day that we had needed and prayed for food, but also at the right hour as well. But the most amazing fact of all was that God had prepared this miracle two weeks before the need had even arisen. It was a great lesson to me because we had been worried and didn’t know where the help would come from, yet, God had prepared the help from an unexpected source long before the need arose.
Today, therefore, whenever I have a need and I don’t have options or a way out, I remember that moment and remind God of that moment and I trust that God has seen and prepared the way out long before I even became aware of the need.
PRAYER
Dear God, thank you that you are Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides all our needs. Thank you that you have the whole world and all its resources in your hands. Thank you also, that you have made a way for me to boldly come to your throne, to access all the mercy and grace that I need to help me.
Please provide…. (name the need) by your mercy and great power and let your name be glorified. Help me to experience you more every day and help me to be who you have made me to be in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
If you would like to know more about Jesus, here’s what to do:
- Believe in Jesus- his existence and the fact that he is the son of God
- Believe in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ at the Cross- God sent his only begotten son to die for us, to be the sacrifice for sins and to pay the price that we could never pay on our own. His death on the cross became our receipt for salvation fully paid for and the bridge that connects us to God.
- Confess your sins and invite Jesus into your life and ask him to be your Lord and Personal Saviour (that means you surrender to God and commit to living according to God’s word and principles)
- Read your Bible and pray every day
- Find a good church or Christian community to help your spiritual growth