NEXT | Week 1 | Pastor Ben Pierce

We began a new season this weekend. The feeling in the room was electric. People shared short, powerful testimonies: delivered from addiction, healed from depression, walking again after a doctor said they never would, babies born healthy, relationships restored. These stories set the tone for the series Next. God’s got something next for you. Over the next 21 days, we are entering a season of prayer and fasting designed to help each of us realign our priorities, prepare for what is to come, and step into what God has planned next.

This is not just another church program. This is an invitation to intentionally reorder your life around what matters most. It is a call to choose first things first. If you are reading this and wondering what “next” looks like for you, stay with me. I will walk you through the teaching from today, provide practical steps you can take, and unpack five clear, biblical principles for discovering the power of prioritization.

Kickoff: Why the Next Season Matters

As we launched this series, we also launched a 21-day season of prayer and fasting. For many, fasting is uncomfortable. Going without food while intentionally fasting is both a physical and spiritual pressure. That pressure is not pointless. It produces clarity and yield. As Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:21, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Making tough choices about where we put time, money, and attention reveals the posture of our hearts.

We also shared practical details for this season. There are 18 prayer directives spread across Monday through Saturday on our social channels to guide your daily focus. We will have two special Wednesday gatherings in November: one focused on “what God has next for us” and a second night set aside to pray for practical needs, including healing, marriage restoration, and family breakthroughs. Those nights will include focused worship and small group prayer. If you have a need, come. God meets people in those moments.

Ebenezer: A Simple Spiritual Tool

One of the tangible ways we asked people to engage is with an Ebenezer card. Ebenezer comes from 1 Samuel 7:12 and literally means “stone of remembrance” or “God has brought me thus far.” On one side of the card, you write “Because of God’s help, I…” and list things God has already done for you. On the other side, you write “Because of God’s help, I will…” and capture the next steps you are asking God to accomplish. These cards are small, but powerful reminders that because God has been faithful in the past, we can trust Him for what comes next.

The Text: Elijah, the Widow, and the Power of Priority

Our key biblical passage is 1 Kings 17:8-16. It is the story of Elijah being sent to Zarephath, where God had already told a widow to feed him. The widow had only a handful of flour and a small amount of oil. She was preparing what she believed would be her last meal for her and her son. Elijah asked her for a cup of water and then asked her to make him a little bread before they ate. She obeyed. God provided, and the flour and oil did not run out until the famine came to an end.

“Then the Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go and live in the village of Zarephath near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.’ So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived… he saw a young widow gathering sticks. He asked her, ‘Will you bring me a little water in a cup?’ … ‘Bring me a bite of bread too.’ But she said, ‘I swear by the Lord your God, I do not have a single piece of bread in the house.’ Elijah said to her, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said, but make me a little cake first.’ And there was food for them many days.” (1 Kings 17:8-16, paraphrased)

It sounds, at first glance, like a preacher asking a woman for her last meal. That is one way to read it and one of the jokes I made from the pulpit. But when you dig deeper, you discover a carefully engineered divine alignment. God had spoken to both the widow and the prophet. He was doing something in the middle of their obedience that would bring provision to the widow, sustain the prophet, and build the kingdom.

Five Practical Principles from the Passage

From Elijah and the widow, I unpacked five principles that will help you exercise the power of correct priorities in your own life. Each one is practical, tested in Scripture, and applicable to the rhythms of our church and home life.

1. Divine Alignment: Align Yourself with People Who Prioritize God

Verse 8 tells us that God instructed Elijah to go to Zarephath and commanded the widow to feed him. That mutual instruction created a divine alignment. God crowds people around other people with the same priorities because it multiplies fruit. If you want your priorities to shift toward God, surround yourself with people who already make God their top priority. Friends, mentors, and a faith community can have a profound impact on you. Show me your three closest friends, and I will show you your future. The same principle applies to spiritual priorities.

There was nothing about the widow from the outside that suggested she would be God’s instrument. She was a poor, obscure widow in a famine. But God chose her because of the posture of her heart. Aligning with God’s people positions you for partnership and breakthrough.

2. Prepare Your Priorities in the Process

The widow was gathering sticks. That detail matters. She was preparing for a meal she believed would be her last. Priorities require preparation. If you value something, you make preparations for it. Preparing priorities involves the slow work of forming rhythms, including time with God, consistent church attendance, family habits that protect relational health, and financial discipline. These things are not accidental. They require planning and resolution.

Over the next 21 days, we ask that you prepare. Fill out your Ebenezer card. Pray with the daily directives. Make space in your calendar for worship gatherings and corporate prayer nights. Use this season to intentionally rearrange your life around what matters most.

3. You Prove Priorities Through Tests

Elijah tested her. He asked for water and then bread. Her obedience was a test. Tests refine faith and show whether we mean what we say. Tests reveal priorities. If we say God is first but live otherwise when pressure comes, our testimony is hollow. If we say family is essential but let work eat family time, the priority is misplaced.

Every test is an opportunity. God’s tests are not arbitrary attacks. They are invitations into a deeper provision and a higher calling. Abraham faced an extreme test. Malachi calls God’s people to test God with tithes, promising that He will open the windows of heaven. When we are tested and choose obedience, provision follows.

4. Make God First in Everything

When Elijah told her to make him some bread first, it was a picture of putting first things first. Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. Kingdom priority is not an abstract spirituality; it is daily ordering. When God is first, family, church, and career fall into their proper places. That ordering creates capacity for everything else.

During the message, I used an object lesson. The oranges represented the big priorities: God, family, church, and career. The little beads represented minor distractions, such as social media, streaming TV, hobbies, and other forms of entertainment. When you throw the beads in first, they fill up all the space. But when you put the oranges in first, the beads fit around them. It is accurate and straightforward. Put the big things first, and everything else will find its place.

5. Prioritize God’s Plan of Provision

Provision in Scripture is broader than money. It includes peace, health, the right timing, relationships, and spiritual breakthroughs. For the widow, the provision was physical sustenance. For you, provision could look like new peace in an anxious season, a healed relationship, or a clear direction for a next career step. When you prioritize God, you position yourself under His plan of provision. He supplies what you need as you obey.

Verse 15 says they ate for many days, and the flour and oil did not run out. God sustained her, the prophet, and the mission. When we prioritize in the correct order, God sustains us, and the mission expands.

Stories of Misplaced Priorities

We laughed together about some modern examples of misplaced priorities. These stories are funny because they are true. They reveal how easily minor, immediate desires can take precedence over what matters.

• Someone was held at gunpoint over a Nokia 3390 phone and stayed attached to the phone even after being shot in the leg long enough to call the police. Priorities.
• Two drivers spent over an hour fighting over a parking space while a different space opened up across the street. Later, they still refused to take it. Priorities.
• A woman demanded a refund over cheese on garlic knots, and friends retaliated by ransacking the pizzeria. Priorities.
• Another woman risked her life to rescue Phillies season tickets from her burning house, only to learn the tickets could have been reprinted online. Priorities.
• Craving Thin Mints at 1:00 a.m. led to physical violence among roommates. Priorities.

These stories are humorous, but they illustrate a serious point. When we misplace priorities, we clog the flow of what God wants to do in our lives. We act in ways that contradict our declared values. The remedy is simple yet challenging: intentionally choose priorities and practice them consistently.

Practical Steps to Reorder Your Life This Season

If you want to experience “next” a deeper spiritual season, a healed relationship, or a new level of impact, here are practical next steps you can take during this 21-day season and beyond.

1. Use your Ebenezer card daily. Write what God has done and what you believe He will do next. Keep it with you and review it in the morning and at night.
2. Commit to the 21-day prayer and fasting plan. Select the fasting style that suits your health and current season of life. Follow the daily prayer directives on social media or the church website. Fasting trains us to depend on God and clarifies our voice.
3. Attend the focus on Wednesday nights. Join the “what God has next” night and the prayer night. Come ready to pray for real needs. Bring friends who need healing, marriage help, or hope.
4. Get baptized if you have not been baptized. Baptism is a public step of alignment and obedience that helps prepare your priorities.
5. Reassess your weekly rhythms. Protect time with God each morning, protect weekly worship, and protect family time. Make minor adjustments to guard these rhythms.
6. Reevaluate how you spend your money. Generosity is a priority test. Tithing, giving to the building campaign, or sacrificial donations are ways of proving that God is first in your finances.
7. Choose a community. Intentionally hang out with people who reflect the priorities you want to have. Let their faith rub off on you.

These steps are not a formula for blessing. They are means of aligning your life with God’s purposes. When God is first and you are responsive, He shows up in ways you cannot manufacture on your own.

What Realignment Looks Like in Hard Moments

Obedience is not always neat and easy. The widow was honest. Even after God spoke, she still expressed fear and a sense of scarcity. She said, “I have only a handful of flour and a little oil.” That is real. Following God does not remove human anxiety or confusion. It does require pushing through that feeling of scarcity with obedience. That is part of the test.

Tests refine faith. They expose what is false in us and create room for what is true. When we choose God first in the small things, we prepare for Him to entrust us with more. When we prioritize Him with our time, money, and relationships, we create channels for His provision to flow through us.

A Final Invitation

At the end of the service, we took a moment to pray together and to ask God to realign our priorities. I invited those who wanted to follow Jesus for the first time or to recommit their lives to raise their hand so we could celebrate and help them take the following steps. If you decided during this season, reach out. Connect with a pastor or leader. Bring your Ebenezer card to someone and let us walk with you.

The Five Key Takeaways:

• Align with people who prioritize God. Community determines trajectory.
• Prepare your priorities. Training, planning, and rhythm are required.
• Prove priorities through tests. Obedience under pressure reveals true priorities.
• Make God first in everything. Put the big things in first, and everything else will fall into place.
• Prioritize God’s plan of provision. Provision comes in many forms and follows obedience.

We are calling our church to a season of courage. Fasting is painful. Generosity is sacrificial. Realignment requires humility. But that place of pressure is also where God refines us, opens doors, and sustains us in ways we did not expect. The widow at Zarephath did not have all the answers. She had a posture. She obeyed when asked to place God first, and God honored that obedience for her and for the mission.

Next Steps for You

If you want to move forward in this season, take one or two tangible next steps right now:

1. Get your Ebenezer card and write two points: one “Because of God’s help, I…” and one “Because of God’s help, I will…”
2. Choose a fast style for the next 21 days and follow the daily prayer directives online.
3. Sign up for baptism if you have not been baptized.
4. Plan to be present on December 14th for Pledge Sunday and come ready to do something significant for the kingdom.

Remember this: God is doing a work in the people of God. As we prioritize Him, He then accomplishes His work in the kingdom. If you stick with this spiritual journey, if you push through the discomfort, and if you choose God first, you will see Him move on your behalf and through your life.

Let us pray, lean in, and expect the next thing God is preparing. The best is yet to come.