Pray FirstSample

In Faith

Begin with God. Give Him your first and best. Give sacrificially. And then, expect God to bless the rest of it. He made you. He loves you. You can trust God to see your heart, your good intentions, and your follow-through. Trust Him to bless the rest.

Maybe you’re saying to yourself, “How will this play out? I don’t know. I’m afraid I’m going to have more month than money if I give to God, but I’m going to commit my tithe to God anyway.” Guess what? Expect God to bless the rest. Give Him your first. Give Him your best. Trust Him; He will not let you down. He loves you.

Proverbs says to seek God’s will in all we do. It says God will show us which path to take. So, have an expectation of blessing. Seek Him. He will guide you and illuminate the path that you should take. Seek Him and His will in all that you do. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom; instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. If you do this, you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything that you produce. Then, He will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.

There’s a story about a float in the Tournament of Roses Parade just before World War II. This beautiful float suddenly began to sputter, and it just quit. It stopped dead in its tracks. The reason? It was completely out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas to that float. The amusing thing was that the float was sponsored by the Standard Oil Company. The float that represented the Standard Oil Company, with all of its vast resources, is the one that ran out of gas. You can’t make that up!

We’re like that float. As Christians, we all have access to the omnipotent God. Yet if we don’t avail ourselves of Him, if we don’t depend on Him, we’re going to run out of gas. We need to begin with Him, commit to giving Him our first and best, give from the heart, and rely on Him to bless the rest.

God, help me to have faith. Increase my trust in You.