Favor -- A Gift from God

Is it by some magic that Mike Nowell has become so successful? Running multiple businesses from his new offices in Jackson, Mississippi, Mike will tell you two things have marked his highly successful operations -- favor from God, and a lesson his grandmother taught him as a boy.

"She talked about giving so often," Mike says of his grandmother. "She would say, 'Mike if you make $10, $1 goes to the church. If you make $5, .50 cents goes to the church.'"

And so, even as a boy, Mike took that advice to heart. "I think I started tithing when I was going around knocking on doors and cutting lawns, maybe at 9 or 10 years old. Tithing has always been something that has been a part of my life. It wasn't until 1980 that I began to learn to give."

Tithing? Giving? You mean there's a difference? As Mike began watching a favorite television program, he discovered there really was a difference!

"About 1980 I started learning that giving was beyond and above tithing. I started listening to Pat discuss giving and how giving could actually affect your life and your financial situation."

But as important as that teaching on giving, Mike remembers something else that Pat taught him -- something that he has practiced throughout his adult life.

"Pat was teaching about praying for the favor of God. Praying for God to anoint you with His favor. And that's what I began praying for."

But what exactly is 'favor from God?'

"I'm not sure how to tell you exactly how God blesses you with favor," explains Mike, "but He sort of puts you in the right place at the right time. He makes the order and the timing of your life just right. Every morning before I go to work, I get on my knees and I ask for God's favor and protection. And it has revolutionized my life."

And Mike's wife, Cynthia, couldn't agree more -- God's favor is resting on their lives. "I get emotional when I hear him speak about his love for God," says Cynthia. "I've witnessed it. I've seen him every morning on his knees, praying and trusting God. And I consider myself blessed to have met a man like this."

Today Mike owns multiple businesses, including an apartment complex, an insurance company and a real-estate company with offices in 4 different cities! To what does he attribute his success? To the favor of God -- and giving.

"To live with a man who believes in going so above and beyond tithing -- not to get something back -- but to have God's mercy and favor, I mean how much can you give for that," says Cynthia. Adds Mike, "The very thing that motivates me to continue working as hard as I do and to continue growing is the lives that can be changed, the very effect that our giving can have for the Lord."

And that is why Mike and Cynthia have chosen CBN as a place to invest-- because they are seeing lives changed!

"I think it's the greatest opportunity to support CBN," says Mike. "They are reaching millions of people with the Gospel and they're helping so many millions of people at one time."

And Mike would be the first to encourage others to learn to 'give'. "I think God is looking for people He can trust. And I think He wants to use His people, His children as a conduit." Cynthia agrees, "I believe that people just need to trust Him and try Him because you can never out give God. And CBN is a wonderful place to give."

Like Mike and Cynthia, you can be a part of a ministry that is making a difference in people's lives everyday. For as little as 65 cents a day, you will help broadcast a message of hope and truth around the world, will help provide food and clothing to children in need, and will provide medical care to those who are in desperate need. Please join today!