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All I Ever Do In This
Church Is "Pay and Pray"
MP3
How often have you heard this phrase? Members of
God’s very church give it as a tired lament; a frustration or even a
complaint. Do they realize what they are saying? Cannot they see that
uttering such words exposes their lack of immersion into the Word of
God? Think about what is being said for a moment. What is wrong with
paying one's tithes and offerings and praying to the great Creator God?
I am currently putting together a sermon for the upcoming Feast of
Tabernacles that concerns itself with the worship of God. Just how many
ways are there to worship the Great God of this Universe? Make a list.
You might even wish to put them in some sort of order based on urgency
or importance, if this is possible. Besides paying and praying, you
might have on your list Bible study, meditation, Sabbath & Holy Day
attendance, singing hymns & psalms, certain church ceremonies, giving
thanks and acknowledging Jesus as Lord. Now take a look at your list.
Where have you placed prayer and the giving of tithes and offerings? I
would venture to conclude these are at the top or near the top of your
list. Any form of sincere and true worship of God is Holy and sacred.
No endeavor of man could be higher. We should never take something that
is Holy and make it the subject of a lament or complaint.
Paying and Praying are most powerful and each comes with abundant
blessings. Many verses proclaim the blessings from worshipping God.
Notice...
Exodus 23:25-26
And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and
he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away
from the midst of thee. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be
barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear
the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve
the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the
commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this
day for thy good?
Deuteronomy 11:13-15
1
And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my
commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God,
and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
2
That I will give you the rain of your land in
his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest
gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
3
And I will send grass
in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2
1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto
the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments
which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God
will set thee on high above all nations of the
earth:
2
And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee,
if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
Malachi 3:10
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat
in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts,
if I will not open you the windows of heaven,
and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to
receive it.
Notice how the word, "diligently" is used in Deuteronomy. Worshipping
God is a diligent practice. Our being in the Salvation Process requires
diligence continually. The Salvation Process IS worship. To be there
is commitment to God in all aspects of our lives. It means we are fully
immersed in the Word of God. We know and understand the power and
importance of prayer and bringing our tithes into the storehouse of
Almighty God.
But Wait, There Is More!!
When I hear this lament from a church member, I often hear the
additional question as to why God called them in the first place.
"Why did God call me?" "What
does He want me to do?" "How is He
going to use me in the Church of God?" If one is immersed in the
Word of God and has allowed God to write its concepts on his or her
heart, they will know the answers to these questions before ever
asking. God is not going to use a person still wet from the baptismal
pool. He is going to train and mold the person first. This is often a
long process. Take Moses as an extreme example. God prepared him for
eighty years. All during this time, He never told him what his ultimate
mission would be. It was when he was fully trained and prepared that
God let him know. It is the same with us. We are to apply ourselves
diligently to our training program, the Salvation Process. It is only
in and through this process that God can use us. The greater progress
we make there, the sooner He will use us in specific ways.
In the meantime, while you are in training, you thank
God everyday that you are able to pay and to pray and never let it be a
lament.
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