Prayer alone is not enough (Part III)
Verse of the day: Acts 10: 2 "a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always"
In the second part, we finished by saying that prayer allows us to reap what we sow. The principle we read in 2 Corinthians 9: 6 was clear: "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully". The seed is the needed salt for food (prayer) to be good but as we progress in the teaching we discover other kinds of salt.
The verse of the day talks about a man described as a devout and God-fearing man. He is Cornelius, an officer (centurion), which as described in the verse of the day continuously prayed to God, he and his entire household. In addition to continual prayer (food), he was very generous (salt).
After a period of seed and prayers, God decided to send his angel, and this is what he said: "Your prayers and alms have ascended before God, and he remembered it" (Acts 10: 4)
I hope you have noticed that the angel did not speak only of his prayers but he said: Your prayers and alms (giving)”.
When we pray regularly, our prayers ascend before God and sometimes He does not respond immediately in a visible way (physically) but one must keep in mind that every time we humble ourselves before Him in prayer, our spirt is in connection with the Spirit of God and something must necessarily occur in the spiritual world even though we often do not see it right away. The prayers of the saints are considered as a sacrifice to God as an incense or perfume (Revelation 5: 8) but these are the alms and charity that make it pleasant fragrance to God. Many congregations teach Christians to be "very spiritual" by requiring an external sanctification which apparently often pleases those who look at them but they do not teach the principles of deliverance both spiritual and material.
Your generosity will make your prayers powerful and many doors will be opened.
In the fourth part we will talk about submission as "salt"
Chris Ndikumana
