21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - Day 19
WHEN YOU GIVE
Matthew 6:2-4 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Before Jesus taught on prayer or fasting, He taught on giving to the needy. Jesus insists that God, your Father, is as involved in you meeting the needs of people as He is in prayer. This may require a full stop for a moment. If you are prone to primarily viewing your relationship with God as only personal, then this is deeply challenging. There is something comforting and peaceful about sitting with our heavenly Father or around the table with Jesus in fellowship or being guided by the Holy Spirit. We need this while also being reminded of what Paul the apostle said in 2 Corinthians 1: “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” All that we receive is to be given.
We find God at work and moving in our lives in solitude in prayer, and in our interactions with others, especially those who are in need. Seeking first God’s kingdom is not in isolation or obsolete to the reality of our relationships with others. There is something powerfully communal about it. We need one another. We need to be encouraged and give encouragement. We need to be helped and to help. We need to be taught and to teach. We need to be prayed for and to pray for. We need to be picked up and to pick up. So, let us not merely receive, but let us also give. Let us find ourselves amongst those who are in need. It is likely that we will find God at work there as we give.
REFLECTION
Take a moment to pause and reflect on all that you receive from God.
How might God work in you and through you to meet the needs of others?