Prayer of the Day

Daily Prayer

October 13th, 2015

The Pharisees loved to think of themselves as ‘clean’, but their stinginess towards God and the poor proved that they were not as clean as they thought. How do we use the resources God has given to us? Are we generous in meeting the needs around us? Our generosity reveals much about the purity of our heart. It is easy to rationalise not helping others because we have already given to the church, but a person who follows Jesus should share with needy neighbours. While giving to the church is important to the life of the church, our compassion must not stop there. The Pharisees focussed on outward appearances, ignoring the inner conditions of their hearts. We do the same when our service comes from a desire to be seen rather than from a pure heart and out of a love for others. People may sometimes be fooled, but God sees what’s in our hearts. We need to bring our inner life under God’s control, and our outer life will naturally reflect Him.