Many people ask things from God.  Some are answered and some are not.  One reason why some are not answered is that those who pray do not consider the poor.  It is very important to hear from God.  God has for each of us a particular class of poor he wants us to bless.  By hearing his voice and obeying his word we in turn are blessed.  By discovering the particular poor he wants us to bless, we perform the perfect will of God.   

The perfect law of liberty is the freedom we have to bless the poor.  By being doers of the word and not hearers only God gives us the capacity to bless the poor.  Whether it is an hour a week, giving of your time or giving of your talent by blessing the poor we open ourselves up to be blessed by God.  People who are consumed with self, their interests and their needs only, fall short of the spirit of Christ and the gospel.  The Love chapter (1Cor13) is a perfect explanation of those who seek the blessing of others and overcome self.   It is overcoming pride, jealousy, boasting, arrogance, evil thoughts that we enter into the privilege of doing God’s will.  Charity never fails.  Having the gifts of the Spirit and not having this selfless love is empty.  Having a self glorifying nature, doing things to show how good we are, is also nothing.  But having a nature which hopeth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things, and beareth all things is having the nature of Christ.

Those who bless are blessed.  “Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”  (2Cor9:10)  This blessing is a two fold harvest.  It is both a material blessing and a spiritual blessing.  Bread for your food and multiplying your seed sown are material blessings.  Increasing the fruit of righteousness is a spiritual blessing.  By giving to the poor we can expect to reap a harvest.  God wants us to reap a harvest.  But we reap not by grasping and hoarding but by giving and sharing and the harvest that we reap is a two-fold harvest.  We grow in the mercy and grace of God by being like Christ who gave himself a ransom for all.  We grow in mercy and grace when we consider the poor.

Pray for the heart of God and the heart of God is with the poor.  Amen