John Avanzini reminds CHC that God is more than able to answer the prayers of His children.
Contributed By Annabelle Low
John Avanzini emphasizes the promises of God to the City Harvest Church congregation. CN PHOTO: Tan Yun You.
Last weekend, on Dec. 10 and 11, American preacher John Avanzini brought a powerful word in season for the congregation of City Harvest Church. “Brother John,” as most people know him, is the most widely published teacher of biblical economics today. He has been ministering in CHC for more than a decade and his teachings have been instrumental in impacting many lives in the area of biblical financial principles.
Avanzini began his message by proclaiming the goodness of God to His people, proclaiming that He is more than able to answer the prayers of His children.
“Did you know that you can ask God for a quick answer?” he posed the idea to the congregation. He explained that many believers spend a long time waiting for God to answer their prayers. Often, this is because the believer has a misconceived notion that the gravity of their problems are larger than who God is. When believers learn to look away from their problems and look to God, He begins to move, because “nothing is too difficult for God,” Avanzini affirmed.
So the focus should not be on one’s problems or needs, but on God alone. Once a Christian has an accurate perception of God as the Lord Almighty, that He is willing to bless His children, faith will arise in the believer. Then God will be swift to act on their behalf because God moves when He sees faith operating in His people. Avanzini cited examples of people in the Bible who acted on their faith and received their miracle, almost instantaneously. “Life’s too short to be spent waiting for a miracle,” he added.
BELIEVING IN HIS PROMISES
Avanzini also talked about how God worked in his life. He encouraged the people to hold fast to 2 Chronicles 20:20, which says that one way God’s people can prosper is by believing in the word of the prophet. Avanzini shared that God has no issue with believers owning good or luxurious things in life, quoting from Psalm 35:27 that God takes pleasure in the prosperity of His people. He added that Christians are not called to be in lack, but to be blessed so that others can marvel at the reality of God in the believer’s life.
Avanzini also emphasized on the principle of the tithe and how it is “the key to an open heaven over the believer’s life.” He expounded that it is the tithe that brings blessings on God’s people; to not tithe would “block” the blessings from flowing. At the end of the service, Avanzini exhorted the congregation to give a memorial offering to the Lord and to write their prayer requests to God on their offering envelope. He prayed a blessing over the offerings.
Avanzini’s messages were a timely reminder of God’s goodness to the congregation in the midst of CHC’s Arise and Build campaign. Li Shu Xian, 28, an estate sales personnel, recalled the early days of the church when Avanzini preached at Hollywood Theatre. “In the past we received his teachings as theory, but as we began to exercise our faith on God’s promises, we witnessed the blessings of God in our life. For me, just after this weekend, miracles have already begun to happen in my life,” she shared.
