Ask for Help, Glorify God

Show Notes

Studies show that Christians are generous people, willing to help when we see a need. But do we hide our needs from others when we could use a hand? We’ll talk about that on this Faith and Finance. 

• Many churches have benevolence funds to help people (primarily members) get through a financial rough patch. 
• But many folks who readily support their church having a benevolence fund would find it difficult to ask for help from it. Why is that?
• WHY IS IT SO HARD TO ASK FOR HELP?
• One reason is that we see asking for help as being a burden on others. We would gladly go without some necessity rather than burden someone else. And yet Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
• So you see that God never intended for us to be rugged individualists. He meant for us to live in a Christian community, centered around the local church and extending outward. God wants us to share each other's burdens, but that’s not possible if we don’t make ours known.
• Maybe we don’t want to appear vulnerable or weak, so we keep our needs secret, telling no one that we need help. Or we might tell ourselves that others can’t help us, or don’t want to.
• Here we must be careful because some of these reasons could be rooted in sin — the sin of pride. Proverbs 11:2 tells us, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.”
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• Well, no doubt, asking someone for help is a humbling experience. 
• GROWING IN CHRIST
• We don’t like to ask for help. But God can use the experience to shape your character more like Christ; to help you let go of pride and surrender yourself more fully to the Lord.
• So if you need short-term financial help, ask for it. If you need financial advice, ask for it. 
• God has no doubt put people in your life who can help. James 1:5 teaches, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
• Start with your church and let your needs be known. If no one in your church can help, the odds are decent that someone knows somebody outside the church who may want to help. The Body of Christ is a vast network of people and resources.
• GLORIFY THE LORD
• Okay, we’ve gone over several reasons why you may not want to ask for help, but here’s the main reason why you SHOULD do it: It glorifies God! 
• How, you might ask?
• First, because in our weakness His strength is revealed. In 2 Corinthians 12:20, Paul writes, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
• When we are weak and admit it, we give others the opportunity to help. Conversely, if you keep quiet about your need, you deny others the chance to help. Ultimately, you deny God the opportunity to provide for you through others.
• When you find yourself in a difficult situation, you’re more likely to go to God in prayer, asking Him for help. The Bible encourages this. 1 John 5:14 teaches, “ … if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us.
• When you pray for God’s help according to His will, He will help. Not with bags of money falling from heaven, but through other people and circumstances. Maybe He provides a new opportunity for you to earn more.
• The point is, to get help you have to ask for it, and that includes and begins with asking the Lord. It’s good to do because it not only glorifies the Father, it allows others to be generous, as they are called to do.

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