Sunday, March 20, 2016

Pray Before Giving

May I suggest that anyone in another country who continues to argue and beg after being told plainly that we cannot give to their cause, is being rude and disrespectful.

Manipulation to extract funds from us is not a Christian tactic. Christians don't have "tactics", we have honesty and straight talk.

Begging is not Biblical. If we need something we are to pray to God, asking Him, telling no one else and accepting His answer, which will be either "yes", "no" or "wait."

When someone tells me their need, then I will choose to respond or not, if they beg, that is childish, disrespectful and most of all, lacking faith that God can do it without us.

It is Christ Who leads me to give to the things He chooses for me. If I respond to begging merely to get someone off my back or out of guilt then I am not hearing God, I am responding in the flesh.

When God tells me to be a part of a ministry through the use of our money then He will clearly show me and I will have been seeking Him about where to give, before He even presents it to me.

God places it in our hearts to give, giving all by itself is not necessarily good, if it is done without the direction of Christ in us.

There are many good things to give to, but we have no idea God's purposes in withholding to a particular organization, perhaps he wants them to stop begging and start praying, then we come along, give in to human manipulation and remove their important lesson by succuming to human pressure.

Let's seek God for where our money goes, let's get a back bone and be willing to say "God never told me to give to that."