MORNING MANNA 6-24-21
BEING THE ANSWER TO PRAYER
“If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?”- James 2:15-16
However, as we pray we should do so with a willingness to obey. Before we can expect God to do what we can’t we need to be willing to do what we can. It would be foolish for a farmer to pray for a good harvest if he isn’t willing to plow the soil and plant the seed. Even so, we have no right to believe God will answer our prayer if we refuse to do what we could and should. We should act as well as ask.
Not only is this true concerning us personally, it is true in regards to our relationship with others. Our text addresses this very subject. As we pray for others it should be with a willingness to answer our prayers by helping them. That means that we should allow God to use us as the means of meeting other people’s needs. After all, that’s what we would want them to do for us.
The problem is that we pray for God to help our neighbors in need , but we offer no help. We pray for those who are hungry, but give no bread. We pray for the lonely folks in the nursing home, but never visit them. We pray God will comfort the afflicted, but offer no aid. We pray for God to save the lost, but never witness to them.
And James makes it clear that a religion such as that is worthless. True saving faith will be accompanied by works. If our faith was as it should be we would weep with those who weep, and give to those who have nothing to give in return. Looking at difficult situations some say, “Well all we can do is hope and pray”, but they are wrong. We can hope, pray, and work. We can be the means of a miracle to someone by being the answer to our own prayer.- HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
