September 6, 2022 WHEN PRAYER CAN BE AN EXCUSE
1 John 3:17-18 “But if anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
Isaiah 58:10 “If you pour yourself for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.”
Proverbs 11:24-25 “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whosoever brings blessings will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
Prayer is the most powerful thing we can do; God tells us to pray; prayer changes things. However, prayer can also be empty and without power and it can be vain repetition. Matthew 6:7. Also, our prayers can be hindered for various reasons. James 4:3 gives one reason our prayers are hindered: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” For sure there are many times that all we can do is to pray to God, asking for His mercy and grace and for His intervention. However, prayer can be used as an excuse for not getting involved. I recently heard of a case in which someone told a friend that they needed help moving in to another house and that the move was going to be difficult; the friend replied by saying “I will pray for you.” Do you see something wrong with that picture? God does not expect us to meet every single need we see, but He will put needs before us that we can meet. Somehow, the idea of helping those in need seems burdensome; yet, when we help as God leads-when we do more than pray-we are blessed. In light of the fact that we cannot meet every need, we must be attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit who guides us. As believers, we are to be a people who have a spirit of caring and helping and blessing others; Jesus went about caring and blessing. The reality that can be a stumbling block is that helping someone in need may require our time and perhaps our resources. But, note that Isaiah 58:10 tells us that when we meet needs of others, ‘our light will rise in darkness and our gloom will be as noonday.’ (I infer from that verse that a way to rid ourselves from gloom is to serve and help someone.) From the verse above in Proverbs, we find that when we give of our time and resources, when we go to the aid of others in need, when we give blessings, we will be enriched and we will be watered.
1 Timothy 6:18-19 “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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