Let your money follow your prayers

“You pray better when also writing a cheque.”

A donor told me that. After you give, then you pray for that charity more. Makes sense. Is the reverse also true? Can our prayers direct our giving?

Pandemic lament

If our prayers are “God, please end this pandemic” then perhaps a donation to the Unicef Vaccine fund https://www.unicef.ca/en/what-we-do/donate-to-coronavirus

“Lord, when can I return to my church?” What about a gift to your church or place of worship? Would church leaders benefit from knowing there are funds to upgrade the HVAC and replenish the food bank?

What would happen if our money followed our prayers? When we lament injustice and pain in our broken world, God offers us an opportunity to sow seeds of hope.

Liturgical prayers

I’ve been talking to Anglicans and Lutherans this week. They have a cycle of prayer in common worship where they remember churches and church institutions around the world. The liturgy gives a built-in opportunity to say “when we celebrate the offering, our giving follows our prayers as we contribute to building the body of Christ in our parish, in our diocese and in our world.” The liturgy makes it easy to connect giving and prayer.

Spiritual discipline of giving

Giving is a spiritual discipline like prayer. Believers have opportunity to pray regularly: at scheduled times of the day for some, before meals for others and gathered in worship for many.

Life offers ample opportunity for spontaneous prayer too: Help, Thanks & Wow (book by Anne Lamott) being three examples.

So too for regular and spontaneous giving. I’m a big fan of pre-authorized giving, then we don’t forget to be generous. Life gives us chances for spontaneous generosity: helping, gifts of gratitude and gifts of wonder (baby gifts and bouquets of dandelions for instance!)

I’m grateful for the faithful witness of disciples whose money follows their prayers.