Rev. Johnson V.
22nd August 2010

Have you seen the motorcade that goes before a VIP’s car? Depending on the seniority of the VIP, there will be atleast a pilot car, an ambulance, police vehicles and a number of other cars. The VIP never travels alone. Similarly, our prayers are never unaccompanied. Effective prayer is borne out of a relationship; a relationship that is dependent on how much our hearts are open to God. We call this ‘giving prayer’.

Giving prayer has nothing to do with money. It is amazing that when we think of ‘giving’, we only think of money. It is much easier to part with money, than it is to part with what God really wants, which is our hearts, minds and basically every part of us. Here are some key concepts of a giving prayer.

• We can give only what we have received, we cannot give what we do not have. Basically everything that we have, the very breath we have, our heart that keeps us alive, our families, our health…everything, is a gift from God. We may earn a salary and purchase things, but the job and the education to get a job, comes to us through the Grace of God. We are incredibly indebted to Him for everything we have – and when we offer our lives back to Him to use for His glory, we honour Him through that act. It is a ‘giving’ act and it will affect our prayer lives. 
• When we give, it must be out of an overflow of love. There is a big difference when we do things out of a sense of duty and when we do things out of love. Love makes even the most difficult thing, easy, or atleast worth the effort. When we love God, giving becomes very easy. What drives you to pray, is it out of a sense of duty? A sense of fear? Or an intense love for your Maker? Mathew 22:37 says that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and with all our mind. There is one thing that we are instructed not to love – we are instructed not to love the world. Read  1 John 2:15. What does that mean? If anything comes in the way of our purity in loving God or our discipline in God, we must not love that. What you don’t consciously give to God, you will unconsciously lose to the world. But are we supposed to hate the world? John 3:16 says ‘For God so loved the world.… ‘, God loves the world by giving Righteousness. We too must learn to love the world, the way our Father did. 
• Criticism comes naturally, we don’t need to practice to be critical. We must practice appreciation. We must learn to give thanks. 
• We must practice abstinence from wrong pleasure. Sin is natural, we must learn to control ourselves. We give back to God our holy lives. 
• God has giving us everything to enjoy. 1 Timothy 6:17. Don’t pray if you trust only in riches. But if you are humble (not high-minded), and if you trust God and can give Him your faith and confidence, then God will answer you. 
• Philippians 2:14 – live without murmuring and disputing. Do everything joyful without murmuring. Give praise not murmurings.

When we give ourselves to God, we invest in God’s kingdom. Giving ourselves to God is an investment for the future, while giving ourselves to the world will result in loss. Our Time, Talents and Treasures must be given to God and our prayer will be backed by a convoy of fresh giving. When God sees that, He will open heavens above us and pour out His miracles on our lives in answer to our prayers. rit.