Once when I was teaching a seminar in Haiti, I was talking about three characteristics of a healthy church. As I was speaking, I started to use the illustration of a three-legged stool—common in the US, but Poyis jumped in and suggested I use three stones instead. He told me that every Haitian child, first thing in the morning, goes outside to check if the three stones are up or down. I asked, “What are the stones for?” Poyis replied,

“In a Haitian home, checking the three stones is a daily ritual because it shows something very important. When the mom stands the stones up outside, it means she will put a pot on top, place some sticks underneath, light a fire, and cook food for the day. When the stones are down, there’s no food to cook. In a Christian home though, when the children see the stones down they know that God will give them the faith to live until tomorrow.”

Can you imagine if we lived like that? If the very first thing we looked for every day was God’s provision? Regardless of whether it’s food or something else we’re asking God to provide, what would it look like for us to live every day relying on the Lord? In the Lord’s Prayer, this is exactly the kind of dependence Christ is talking about when he calls us to ask that God “give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). How would that change our lives?

I think that unfortunately, because of our culture’s wealth, we tend not to live by faith. We rely on what we have or our own ability to provide rather than resting in the Lord. It is easy to cry out to God when you see the reality of your own need. It is much harder when you think everything is fine, and you can keep it fine in your own strength.

Scripture gives us a full picture of what it means to live by faith.

• Hebrews 11:1—“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:7—“We walk by faith, not by sight.”
• Galatians 2:20—We say with Paul that “the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
• Ephesians 2:8–9—Faith “is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
• James 1:6—”Without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
• Mark 11:22–24—”And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive if you have faith.”
• Romans 1:17—“The righteous shall live by faith.”

My prayer for all of us, whether we live in developing countries or in the wealthiest zip codes in the world, is that we would live by faith in God, the only true source and provider.

To learn how you can be praying with us for the ministry in Haiti, visit Prayer Requests.