In light of the many prayer requests and needs of individuals, family, congregation, presbytery, denomination, civil authority, community, missionaries, friends, coworkers, etc., how am I to choose with my time and focus to address these adequately?

—Steve Thompson (Oak Harbor, Wash.)

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This question weighs on many people. We are limited in what we can give. But the world, it seems, is unlimited in what it needs. How do we make sure that our support of others is both diverse (helping many) and meaningful (really helping)? To maintain balance, we must shift our focus from what is needed to what we can give. If we evaluate our care based on what is asked of us, we will be tempted to either overextend ourselves trying to help everyone or hide our resources as we are overwhelmed by the torrent of requests. Instead, let’s evaluate what we are giving, whether time or money, based on what we have available, who has a claim on us, and where we want our hearts to go.

Solomon urges us to take seriously and quickly a neighbor’s request for assistance when we have the power to help. He writes: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,’ when you have it with you” (Prov. 3:27–28, NKJV). To help others we need a powerful hand. Financially, this means getting out of debt and into a budget ourselves. Careful planning and diligent under-consumption generate funds for others. Physically, this means sleeping, eating well, and being able to ignore the incessant cell phone. Self-control creates personal availability. In prayer, this means maintaining curated lists of praises and petitions and following guides like the Psalms or the Lord’s Prayer. In the RPCNA, we promise to give to the Lord’s work as He shall prosper. We do not give beyond what He has provided, but we do work hard to maximize the share of His provision that we can give away. Sacrifices create surpluses; self-denial gets us ready to pray, give, or go.

In addition, notice that Solomon writes in Proverbs 3 about a neighbor, one to whom good is due. Helping others begins at home with the covenant commitments we have already made. We support our local congregation (Mal. 3:10) and care for our families (1 Tim. 5:8). We have promises to parents, children, spouses, and fellow church members that are to come first, partly because of proximity, but mostly because those pledges were already made. This means that the budget, the calendar, and the prayer list need to be populated with our covenant commitments first. We do not cut short our tithes or deprive our family to generate resources for others (Mark 7:11–13), but we meet the needs of those who depend upon us and rightly expect help from us.

Last, when we have done as we ought to generate a surplus of time and money so that we can give ourselves or our riches to others—and when we have faithfully met the needs of those who have a covenant claim upon us—then we can freely consider giving the leftovers to needs that are farther away. Sometimes those leftovers are meager and sometimes they are abundant.

Deciding among our numerous requests feels a bit subjective. But here are three biblical principles to consider applying to your budget, calendar, and prayer list: give fearlessly, give faithfully, and give affectionately. God dares us to give without fear (Mal. 3:10–12). We cannot outgive God. Solomon counsels us to share our resources widely (Eccl. 11:1–2). Jesus warns us that where our wealth goes, so our hearts go (Matt. 6:21). Our affections follow our giving. Take up your leftovers, fearlessly and faithfully scattering them among those requests that you love or long to love.

In all this, remember our privileges as children of God. Gratefully remember the abundant resources God entrusted to us and the high honor we have in sharing those riches with others. In this way, we recall that praying and caring for others is a sacred duty in which we share in God’s work in the world. We also diminish the mistaken assumption that we are essential to God’s work. Cultivate the humble sense that God does not need us and the exhilarating realization that He delights to use us anyway. Like so many efforts in life, we must not attempt to make all these changes all at once. Start with one or two. When the change seems established, make another adjustment. Go slow; God is not in a hurry.

James Faris and Noah Bailey | column editors

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Have a question on your heart that you’d like to see answered here? Send it to info@rpwitness.org