First off, I do not believe that a "fleece" is in any way a sin or a way to "tempt" or "test" God! It does however depend on your heart! If the motive is to "get" God to do what we want Him to do then we are setting ourselves up for a lot of problems! If, however, the motive is to truly hear from God on a particular subject and we want His response to be very clear to us, a fleece is actually a good thing as our heart is truly seeking to know and do the right thing! Also, I believe that fleeces get less and less active in our Christian life as we continue to grow and develop our listening ear towards the Lord. As a new believe in Christ, I actually think fleeces are a very good idea as long as we keep our hearts pure before the Lord, without our own agenda and we are willing to heed the answer we get from the Lord. Here's an example of a fleece in my own life:
When my husband and I met, he was 36 years old and he wanted and was ready for a wife and a family. He noticed me and was immediately drawn to me however there were a lot of things that the Lord was doing in him at the time and he truly wanted to do the right thing instead of being led his emotions. So, on a Sunday before church when he was jogging in the park and was completely alone he prayed this particular prayer: "Lord, I like this girl. I want to get married and have a family but I do not want to be another divorce statistic and I want the person you have for me not someone I think is right! So, if this is the girl for me, please have someone introduce her to me
today and I will invite her to lunch and we'll go from there." That day someone introduced us before the service started. I will not give you all the details because it would way to long, but suffices to say he did take me to lunch and exactly 7 weeks from that gate we were married (met on Oct.13th were married on Dec. 7th same year!). We've been married 12 years.
And here's another fleece for you! My husband is not an emotional man, and he truly wanted to do God's will so 2 weeks before our wedding date he again prayed a very specific prayer. He was alone in his office and prayed this: "Lord, I believe it is your will for me to marry Laura, however, I want to make absolutely sure. So, show me something in your word to confirm this is the right decision". He opened the bible and his eyes fell on Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New Living Translation)
9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
He took the 3rd person to be Jesus Himself, which I also believe it is what the bible is saying! He told me when we had been married about 2 months about this prayer and the answer. I was very happy and proud of him for doing it!
My point is, fleeces are right and helpful, as long as our hearts are pure before the Lord and we're not seeking our own agendas. There were many people who scoffed at our story as well as made comments about how it will never last! I guess they were wrong
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Laura