A Story About Minimal Mannie

It’s story time! We’re going to talk about Minimal Mannie today. ;)

Back when I did the internship at my church, it was a full-time, unpaid gig which lasted two years. Which meant I was not able to work and would need to raise support. So kinda like a domestic missionary. We joked that we actually had to pay the church to work there. ;)

I remember sitting down and figuring out how much I would need to survive a year. The total came out to be $12,000 per year.

That’s a ridiculous amount of money to raise in a year. And I knew that. I also knew I had enough saved that I didn’t need to raise the entire amount. I could survive off $6,000 per year. So what did I pray for?

God, please let me raise $6,000. I’ll be happy if you can do that for me.

God had called me to do this internship. And when God calls, he provides. So why was I only praying for $6,000? It’s cause they call me Minimal Mannie. My personality only wants/needs the bare essentials.

I’m not a fan of extravagance or excess.

But in this situation, a good personality trait can inadvertently affect how you approach God.

What vision has God given you? What seemingly unattainable thing are you praying for? Are you actually praying and believing in faith that it will come to pass in full and exceeding all expectations?

Or are your prayers just asking for the bare minimum?

I say let’s blow up the prayers. Let’s push the envelope of what we’re comfortable praying for.

A week before the internship started I had only raised a few hundred dollars. But in one fell swoop, one donor committed $6000 over the course of the year. They answered my prayer in a split second.

From there, the flood gates opened and by the end of the year I had raised over $15,000.

You know what God taught me?

Don’t be a Minimal Mannie in my prayers. If you’re going to be bold enough to ask, ask for it in full.

God’s vision or what you’re praying for may seem impossible, but when you ask for it in full, you empower God to answer in full. Otherwise you are keeping some of the burden/responsibility on yourself.

That’s just a bad idea.

Put the ask on God. Empower him.