Prayer of faith that bought truth to our airwaves
IAN MACKIE
When I founded United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) in the UK in 1986, I knew virtually nothing of the challenges the charity would face as we set out towards our goal of establishing national Christian radio throughout the UK and Ireland. It had never been done before; therefore I was unable to lean on either my own or others' understanding and had to trust totally in God's leading and guiding.
When you don't know what to do and you don't know how to get to your goal, the best and only place to start is in prayer, so every day before we started work we would spend time praying and asking God to open the doors and bring the right people across our path to help us move forward. And come they did; slowly but surely one volunteer after another, who had heard God speak to them about His vision for Christian Radio, arrived on our doorstep almost supernaturally!
When we ran short of funds or needed to take a step of faith as part of our desire to grow, it was only through consistent prayer that God would break through and provide our needs as we learned to hear His voice and trust in His leading and guiding.
Prayer and faith walk hand in hand and are both like muscles in your body; if you do not exercise them you become weak and helpless, but as you embrace both prayer and faith they become a powerful combination for growth. Prayer allows you to spend time in the presence of God learning to know His will, the plans and purposes for His work and iHwhen it is coupled with an active faith, to step out in confidence knowing that God is with you and leading you day by day. Then we encounter the dynamic power of God!
This is the UCB story: prayer and faith combined and exercised over 23 years took us on a journey that resulted in miraculous breakthroughs in legislative freedom that opened the door for us to apply for licences; technology changes that opened the door for us to gain access to the airwaves nationally; great staff who sensed the call of God on their lives and put up their hands to join in this great adventure, and give their all to see the vision fulfilled and finally thousands of supporters, who also prayed for us and contributed financially to this ever-growing work, to cover the costs involved in making national Christian radio a reality.
And all for what? For the reason that from the beginning of time God had a plan for our generation, for the truth of the gospel message of Jesus Christ to be broadcast and for millions of people in the UK to turn to God and put their faith in His son Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour!
God's first promise was national Christian radio - His second promise is revival!
As we continue in prayer and faith - just as we have seen the first promise come to pass - so the second promise will also come to pass - let's not get weary - let's press on, for revival lies before us.
Ian Mackie has been with United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) since the beginning of the 1980's; firstly in New Zealand and later the United Kingdom, after he moved to the UK to found and subsequently build the UK's first Christian Radio station. He has a passion to see people come into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and advises and assists other countries in their quest to establish Christian radio. He is still based at the UCB Broadcast Centre in Stoke-on-Trent, England but continues to travel extensively as the European Regional Director of UCB International.
Source: Prayer for Today
