is God rewarding you for your good deeds and prayers?

Is God rewarding you for your good deeds and prayers?

This word is an extension of what I wrote in my previous preaching ‘What do you do for our God to bless you?’ . I wanted to look at some typical human behaviours that God do not approve. You will be asking yourself, I do always good, I help the poor, I help in Church but God is not doing anything for me. Have you thought about how you do those charitable deeds? Are those good deeds for the Glory of God or for the world to see? Are your prayers being heard?

Matthew 6:1-7 says:

6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.² “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that you’re giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Some of us Christian nowadays love to show off; they want others to see them doing whatever they are doing in church or for the church. This is a typical human behaviour. Human beings love to increase their own self-esteem. They have to be seen for others to approve their deeds and be recognise by the crowd. When you achieved those things, what have you really gained from it? 10 minutes of euphoria? What’s next? The approval we need to seek at any cost is the approval of God and not of men.

Galatians 1:10 says:

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

If you want God to reward you and you are still trying to get the approval of men, you will not be rewarded as you should be. We should not be like the individuals living on this earth, we need to be different. Do good because this is what children of God should do as we are Jesus Christ followers for our own salvation and to live a life full of surprises coming from our Father in the Heaven.

When you are doing good deeds just to please people around you for you to feel good about yourself, it is the same as sowing the wind (refer to previous teaching ‘What do you do for God to bless you?’) You will not produce anything and God cannot give you harvest.

Hosea 8:7 says:

7“They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud;
It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, Aliens would swallow it up.

You may have noticed some Christians at church being so loud while praying to God for everyone to see and hear their great prayers (I am not saying that this is the case for everyone) When you hear those prayers. You might say oh this sister or brother is good at praying. Your sister or brother is unfortunately sowing the wind.  You do not have to show how you pray, are you praying for God to hear and approve your prayers or for men to approve your prayers and almost ‘worship’ you for it? Praying out loud at church will not get God’s approval, only your heart will.

Matthew 6:5-7 says:

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

It is important for us, children of God to know the importance of praying when you are not at only at church. Pray at home in secret where nobody will see you to have a personal connection with God. Do not pretend when you pray, you will reap the whirlwind. God knows everything.

Another problem with us Christians, we keep on praying for everything anyhow. Be logical while praying. God already knows what you need. Be concise ’7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.’

If you need a house or a car and you do not have a job, how will you get the car? We know that there is no limit to God but let us be logical in real life. Yes by faith, you will receive your blessing; But God will give you everything step by step in order. You want a new car, a new house. Ask God for a permanent job and God will open more doors for you.  If you are sick, you might ask healing first for you to be able to work. You don’t have to keep repeating yourself; you do not have to do 2 hours of repetitions. Your heart is the most important thing to God. God will give you everything step by step. You will not give your 1 month old child a beefsteak before he or she can get the milk. Start with milk first and watch yourself growing. This is the same as us children of God. God will not reward you. He only knows what to give you first.

I listened to some testimonies, one on particular amazed me, when a lady only asked God to deliver her from drugs with few words, and received her deliverance on the spot then after she found a job and now living a peaceful life. Why? It is because the heart was willing and connected to God, fully genuine.

Be logical and use strategy for your prayers. God will answer what is making sense to him.

To summarise, be genuine, humble, pray in secret behind close doors and be relevant for God to reward you. Shh…that’s a secret…

GOD BLESS

Claire B. Donzet

What do you do For God to bless you?

What do you do for God to bless you? Claire B. Donzet

What do you do For God to bless you?

Most of us Christians, seek God for one purpose only: blessings. But what have you done for God to remember you? Or bless you? Is God rewarding you for something you did for his Kingdom? Let’s look at the matter in more depth.

John 4:34-37

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! ³⁶ And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’

We are often seeking for blessings first when we come to Church; we are looking for a miracle which is not a bad thing. As children of God, we must be blessed. But have you wondered why there is something you need in your life that is not coming through? The response is because we often do not give ourselves to God and do his work with joy in our heart. God’s blessings are not the lottery. God knows why he’s giving you those blessings.

Nowadays, we are in a ‘reaping’ age, Children of God only pray for miracles but not about their souls. Christians do not want to suffer to get the reward. Some Christians prefer to follow a man to hear what he has to say to them rather than our God.

I have another question. How do you have the harvest? You have harvest because you did sow your seed on the ground and you watered it to make it grow. You see the labourer in the field when he sow his corn seeds or wheat seed or anything. He knows that in that particular season, he will reap, but in between, he will take care of his seeds, he will water it so it won’t go dry; make sure his plant is protected against insects that might devour it.

³⁶ And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

This is how it should be in our lives. We must give ourselves to God and his service, grow our faith, and nurture our Spirit with the world of God. There is no big or small work to the eyes of God, we are all part of the body of Christ and complete each other. You might not be a preacher or a worship leader but you might help the church to stay clean or bring just flowers to decorate your Church, intercede for others and not only for you. You must rejoice when you sow because you will rejoice even more when you will reap your blessings.

Between the time you sow your seed and reaping for harvest, the devil will also come to break down your venture. Be strong in that moment, the devil knows that if you succeed in your plan, you will go to another level spiritually and even in your life.

1Peter 5:8

 ⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because^[c] your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

The devil knows that he cannot leave you be in peace for better things are coming for you as you trust and serve the Lord our God. As mentioned earlier, the labourer makes sure his plants will grow for him to reap and eat. Take care of your souls, water it, and make it grow, be strong for you to resist the devil and for you to not be carried away and finally miss out on your blessings. God watches all of us, he is wondering, why should I give you what you need when you do not have faith in me or trust me fully with your heart and soul? When I will give you those things, will you carry on worshipping me? will you carry on doing what you were doing for me? We cannot play with God; He knows the one with a true heart and those who are pretending. When you are pretending, nothing will happen, it’s empty.

Hosea 8:7

7“They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud;
It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, Aliens would swallow it up.

Do not sow the wind, my brethren, you will not reap, you will bring dryness in your spirit and also in your life. The devil loves dry land to do his work. If you are filled with God spirit, he will fight you but he will never win. If you sow the wind, the devil will come to dry you up even more. Be vigilant.

Pray and ask God what he wants you to do for him so he can bless you, even more, do not be dry, nurture your spirit with the world of God and work in his field for ‘…Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!’ 

Blessings are already there for us! Work, work, work and keep reaping!

Claire B. Donzet

http://www.iamclairebdonzet.com

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