Have you ever thought about how the condition of your heart could be connected to how generous you are and what you are generous with?

A couple of weeks ago, I started to notice a few things about myself: I was getting angry a lot easier than I usually do. I was feeling irritated or even sad for no reason. Instead of “light-hearted” I was feeling “heavy-hearted”. I was impatient. I was dwelling on things that made me upset.

I started noticing these things about myself because I had just finished reading a journal entry I wrote a long time ago. It was about how I was grateful and blessed that it was not hard for me to be joyful and happy, even in very difficult circumstances. I even wrote that I was so optimistic about things, sometimes to the point that it would drive some people crazy! But, I truly felt that there was always something good to find in the things that were not so good. After I read that, I asked myself “Why don’t I feel that way anymore?” I couldn’t figure it out. I asked God about it, but I didn’t get an answer right away.

That weekend at church our pastor preached about generosity. He said that the way we are generous determines the condition of our heart. And he wasn’t talking about just being generous with money or resources. In fact, he didn’t talk about money at all. He talked about things like our time, our words and our prayer.

Prayer is the one that stood out to me the most. I thought about the things I pray for and noticed two things: I don’t pray as much as I thought I did during the day, and when I do pray it’s usually for myself. I began to feel that I wasn’t praying for others enough on a regular basis. Prayer is kind of like having a conversation with God, and the more we pray, the more we keep God involved throughout our daily lives, relationships, decisions, and the list goes on. Since I have been intentionally praying for others more lately, I can definitely say that my heart feels lighter and my negative emotions have been triggered less frequently. I’m positive it’s because I’m spending more time talking to God and thinking about the ways He might be using me to do good things. But, I know that God does still want me to pray for myself and ask Him to be continually transforming me so I can be more and more like Jesus. So, I’m praying that God will also show me where else in my life I can be generous because I want Him to use me any way He can to bring others closer to him (even strangers that I meet!).

Are you being generous with your prayer? Maybe there are other ways you can be more generous in your life. It could be through the type of words you chose to use or the way you spend your time. Think about it and ask God to show you how He wants you to be generous so that your heart can be more like His.