March 2023 A long time ago, God spoke the following words to a great warrior: “thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed” (Josh. 13:1). I believe the Lord has said almost the same words to me: “You are old and stricken in years, but there remains yet many more souls to be saved.” I WILL BE 88 ON MARCH 15 I still feel that we have many more years yet to go, and I praise the Lord for that. In one sense of the word, I feel like my best days are yet ahead. I say that because of what God has called us to do, and I speak of world evangelism. I believe the greatest moving of the Spirit, as it regards salvation of souls, is just ahead. The other day in prayer, the Lord made fresh to my mind what I refer to as the parable of three loaves. I will paraphrase it in my own words: A man went to a friend at midnight and awakened him. He said, “A friend on his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.” In other words, he was expected to give the man a meal, but there was nothing to give, and it was midnight. The man within told him, “My children are with me in bed, and the doors are locked. Come back tomorrow, and I will give you whatever you need.” But the man said, “I cannot come back tomorrow, I’ve got to have it now.” In this parable, found in Luke 11, Jesus said, “Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.” Christ continues, “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:8-9). In other words, don’t quit asking; don’t quit seeking; don’t quit knocking. Keep believing. The Lord has promised that He would answer. GOD IS A BIG GOD You’ve heard me say this many, many times. My grandmother taught me to pray. She said to me, not one time but a number of times, “Jimmy, God is a big God, so ask big.” I can see the look on her face even now; I can see the anticipation in her eyes. She also told me, “Jimmy, the Lord will take me home, and I won’t see it, but you will see it—the greatest harvest of souls the world has ever known.” This is what I’m asking for; this is my prayer—the greatest harvest of souls that the world has ever known. Some months ago, the Lord gave this parable of the three loaves to me. I’ve lived on it from then until now. My faith is in what He said and what my grandmother said: “Jimmy, God is a big God, so ask big.” Let me ask you a question, are you asking big? Back to the parable. In Luke 11:8, the word importunity means “persistence.” In other words, the man was not to quit asking. He was to continue asking, that is, until the Lord arose and gave him as much as he needed. FOR ME AND FOR YOU I do believe this great word is not only for me, but it’s for you as well: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9) And then the Lord said, “For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” What a promise! I want you to pray for us, that God will give us a harvest of souls, and I want to pray for you, that God will give you the desires of your heart. I don’t know what it is that you want or need, but the Lord knows, and He is able. Somebody said that Abraham quit asking before God quit giving. I’m talking about Abraham asking for Sodom and Gomorrah to be spared. Abraham asked God, “Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?” The Lord answered him and said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes” (Gen. 18:24, 26). Abraham repeated his question to God going all the way down from fifty people to ten. Again, Abraham quit asking before God quit giving, as someone said, and it is a powerful statement. Would God have spared Sodom and Gomorrah had Abraham continued asking? I can’t answer that; I don’t know. But I do know that Jesus gave this parable about asking hundreds of years after Abraham’s petition to the Lord regarding Sodom. I also know that many Christians, if not most, quit asking before God quits giving. Jesus gave us the parable of the three loaves and the experience of Abraham for this very purpose and reason. So don’t quit asking. Keep believing and, to be sure, God is able to do whatever it is that we ask.