You’re reading ACTS: LESSONS IN FAITH, by Eric Elder, featuring thirty inspiring devotionals based on the lives of the very first followers of Christ. Also available in paperback and eBook formats in our bookstore for a donation of any size!

Scripture Reading: Acts 10

What prompts you to give?  When you see a need around you, what is it that causes you to want to reach out and help?  For me, I’ve found that when my faith is strong, my desire to give is strong.  But when my faith is weak, my desire to give is weak.  It seems that the more I’m able to trust God with my life and my resources, the more I’m able to let go of the things that I would otherwise try to hang onto.

Faith gives.  And when God sees our faith and our giving, He loves to bless us back in return.

Take a look at what happened to a man in the Bible named Cornelius when he gave to others in response to his faith.  Cornelius was a commander in the Roman army and even though he wasn’t Jewish, he was a devout and God-fearing man who prayed to God regularly and gave generously to those in need.  Here’s what happened to him as recorded in Acts chapter 10:

“One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, ‘Cornelius!’ 

“Cornelius stared at him in fear. ‘What is it, Lord?’ he asked. 

“The angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea’ ” (Acts 10:3-6). 

Cornelius sent for Peter, who came in response to a vision of his own that God had given him.  Peter shared with Cornelius the good news about Christ.  Cornelius and the large crowd who came to his house to see Peter were baptized with water and the Holy Spirit.

God honored Cornelius’ prayers and gifts.  They had made their way up to God as a memorial offering to Him.  And God poured out his blessing back on Cornelius.

Faith gives and God sees those gifts.  They are a natural response to the faith that God wells up inside of you.  Your giving is a practical way to love God and love others.

I remember telling some friends about all that God had been doing in and through my life one time.  When I finished, one of the people listening to me reached into his pocket and pulled out all the money he had.  He put it in my hand.

I was totally caught off guard.  Why was he giving me money?  I had just been telling them about what God was doing in the world and in my life.  I knew this man didn’t have money to spare.  I tried a few times to put it back into his hands, but he wouldn’t take it.  One of my other friends finally pulled me aside to the kitchen and said to me, “He’s giving that money to God, not to you.  As you’re telling him about the power of God to work in people’s lives, God’s working on his heart and this is the way he wants to respond.  Please don’t try to stop what God is doing in his life by giving the money back.”

This man was growing in his faith as he listened to my stories, and his desire to do something in response swelled up within him.  When God increases our faith, he also increases our desire and willingness to give.

Are there needs around you that God might be prompting you to support with your prayers and gifts?  Is God trying to increase your faith so that when a need arises, you’ll be able to meet it with both your faith and your giving?

God wants you to be devout and God-fearing like Cornelius, praying and giving generously to those who have needs.  When you do, know that God will not overlook your prayers and gifts.  He loves to bless the hearts of those who bless His heart, just like He blessed Cornelius and everyone who came to his house to hear the good news about Christ.

Prayer: Father, increase my faith and increase my willingness to give at the same time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.