God’s
provision |
God cares for us
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The Scripture teaches
that our God cares for all those who fear Him and He meets their needs. |
Jesus Christ, the Son
of God who in the fulness of the time came into the world, explained in
various ways that God cares for us His children. Here is what he said: “No
man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot
serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your
life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the
body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do
they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are
ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one
cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And
yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to
day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe
you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we
eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need
of all these things. But seek ye first the |
The care of God for
us, however, is not restricted to food and clothes, for it includes every
material need, for Peter and Paul, who were apostles of Jesus Christ, exhort
us to trust God to provide for all of our needs. Here are their words. Peter
says: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may
exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you”
(1 Peter 5:6-7) and Paul says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests
to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard
your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 – NIV). |
Will God really meet
our needs? Will such a great God grant us our petitions which we ask of Him?
YES, HE WILL. No matter if our needs may seem little or big, God will meet
all of them, for His Word says: “But my God shall supply all your need
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians |
We must neither worry nor
despair when we are in need of something, rather we must pray with faith and
sincerity, and He certainly will answer us. For Jesus said: “Ask, and it
shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you,
whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew
7:7-11), and also: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,
believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew |
Finally, know this,
that sometimes God meets our needs even before we call unto Him or while we
are still praying to Him, as it is written: “And it shall come to pass, that
before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will
hear” (Isaiah 65:24). |
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Biblical examples of how God met some people’s needs
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God provided flesh,
bread and water for the people of |
God provided food, for
a certain period of time, for the prophet Elijah through the ravens, as it is
written: “And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and
turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith,
that is before |
In the time of the
prophet Elisha, God wrought a miracle on behalf of a widow, whose two sons
were going to be taken into slavery by her late husband’s creditor. Here is
the biblical account of this miracle: “Now there cried a certain woman of the
wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband
is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the
creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said
unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what
hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid
hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow
thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a
few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon
thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside
that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon
her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to
pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a
vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay
thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest” (2 Kings 4:1-7). |
God gave a child to
Hannah who was barren, in answer to her prayer, as it is written: “Now there
was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah,
the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an
Ephrathite: And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the
name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no
children. And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to
sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in |
God sent rain upon the
land of Israel, after three years and six months, in answer to Elijah’s
prayer, as it is written: “And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and
the earth brought forth her fruit” (James 5:18). |
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A warning
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Sometimes God can work
in a supernatural way in order to meet our material needs. For He can multiply
our money, bread, water, oil, etc.; He can even for a time prevent our
clothes and shoes from wearing out; He can send us some food through the
ravens or some other animals, or through His angels, etc. However, in most
cases, God will supply our needs through believing people (and sometimes even
through unbelievers). Here are some Bible passages which confirm this. |
God supplied the needs of the apostle Paul through the believers, for
Paul wrote to the saints of |
Therefore, if we see a
brother or a sister who needs food, clothes or something else, and we have
the things he or she needs, we must not say to our brother or sister: ‘Go
your way, ask God for what you need and He will give it to you!’ because the
Scripture commands us to open our hand in order to supply his or her needs
and to serve him or her. The Scripture says: “Share with God’s people who are
in need” (Romans |
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About prayer
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As I said before, according to the Scripture we must pray to God when
we are in need of something and God will certainly answer our prayer.
However, this important thing must be said: our prayer, in order to be
answered by God, must be made with faith, with a pure heart, and according to
the will of God. |
Let us see what it means to pray in faith. The apostle Matthew wrote
this story: “Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing
thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no
fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered
away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said
unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall
not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto
this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be
done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
receive” (Matthew |
Let us now see what ‘to pray with a pure heart’ means. When we pray we
must have a right heart before God, that is, we must not be double-hearted, or
else God will not answer our prayer. In one of the Psalms it is written: “I
cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I regard
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard
me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath
not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me” (Psalm
66:17-20). Therefore in our heart there must not be any hypocrisy, or hatred,
or falsehood; or else God, who knows our heart, will not answer us. We saw
before how God does not answer the prayer of those who do not have mercy on
the poor. That confirms that God cannot be mocked; He is Holy and Just and
does not tolerate unrighteousness and hypocrisy in our life. Be on guard,
live a holy and right and godly life, otherwise God will not answer your
prayers. Remember what God said to the Jews through the prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his
ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities
have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from
you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your
fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered
perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth
for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and
bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's
web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh
out into a viper. Their webs shall not become garments,
neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works
of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to
evil, and they make hast to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts
of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace
they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them
crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace” (Isaiah 59:1-8). |
Now let us see what ‘to pray to God according to his will’ means. The
apostle John says in his first epistle: “And this is the confidence that we
have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:14-15). It is evident therefore
that if what we ask of God is not according to His will, even though it is lawful
for us to ask that particular thing from God, our request will not be granted.
A biblical example of a prayer which was not answered because it was not
according to God’s will is that of the apostle Paul concerning the angel of
Satan which God had put near him to buffet him. Here is what Paul says to the
saints in |
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A word of encouragement
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Brother in the Lord, do not lose heart when you are in need. The God
who provided food and water for a whole nation for forty years in the wilderness;
the God who provided food for his servant Elijah through the ravens, which
brought him bread and flesh in the morning and in the evening; the God who gave
Hannah a son in answer to her tearful prayer, He will provide for your needs.
However, do not refuse to meet the needs of the saints, for as we saw before,
the Scripture states that if a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he
too will cry out and not be answered. |
The ears of our God are open to the prayer of the righteous and He
cares for you, for Jesus said that our Father knows what we need before we
ask Him (Matthew 6:8). |
Therefore, when you are in need, do not put your trust in man but rather
take refuge in the Lord, pour out your soul before the Lord, talk with Him,
pray to Him in faith and God will meet your needs. Remember that God said: “Offer
unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me
in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Psalm
50:14-15). |
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“The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of
Jacob defend thee; Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out
of Zion; Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. We will
rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our
banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions” |
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(Psalm 20:1-5) |
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Giacinto Butindaro |