30 DAYS OF PRAYER | DAY 11 – Praying for Generosity
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
When we think of giving we tend to think in terms of financial contributions. And for many of us, giving financially is an easy escape from the deeper generosity God is calling us to. But we’re only robbing ourselves of the fullness of what God has in store for us.
Giving, especially sacrificially, is a theme throughout Scripture. Our generous God gave man the breath of life (Gen. 2:7), and even though man’s response is rebellion (Col. 1:21, Eph. 2:3, 12), He offers the gift of an abundant (John 10:10) and eternal life through the giving of His Son (Is. 9:6, 1 John 5:11, 12), and Jesus, through the giving of His life (Phil. 2:8, Eph. 5:25). This type of giving is mysterious and deeply profound.
In 2 Cor. 9, Paul sheds some light on how believers are able to model this generosity. “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” Those who have been reconciled to God through Christ have the Creator of the Universe supplying their every need for every circumstance! Notice why, so that we would “abound in every good work.” We have not been given to terminate on ourselves.
Hebrews 13 tells us to “Keep our lives free from the love of money and be content with what we have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” This is telling us we don’t have to cling to or be tight-fisted with our money, possessions, gifts, or relationships because we get God! The person who has God and possessions has no more than the person who has God. This truth sets us free to live life entirely open handed with our money, time, possessions, gifts, and relationships. We have because He gave, and because He is our treasure, we gladly give it all for the sake of His name.
Join me in praying that Redemption Church would “excel in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have, but also excel in the grace of giving” (2 Cor. 8:7). Pray for the faithful giving of tithes and offerings and that God would raise up many who are willing to give by loving and serving at Redemption Church.
This post was written by Brandon Steadman. Brandon is a member of Redemption Church and serves on the Mobile Church team. Brandon is married to Natalie Steadman and they have two children: Maggie and Melanie.
–January 12th is a very big day for Redemption Church! Thank you for praying with us! For more information about the launch of Redemption Church and how you can pray for us, please click here.