Philippians 2:4 -”Look not every man on his owns things, but every man also on the things of others.”

Do you like answers to prayer? There’s not a greater feeling than getting on our knees, and asking God for something, and then getting it!  One prayer request that we can make to God that is sure to get answered in a timely manner is when we pray for opportunities to be a blessing.  It seems that whenever I pray this one request, God provides almost immediately – I encourage you to try it.

God is not only in the prayer answering business, but He also especially delights in answering “selfless” prayers.  Each and every day of our lives, we are given opportunities by God to be a blessing to others.  The problem is, we are not recognizing these opportunities because we are not thinking about them, let alone looking for them.

Because of our sinful nature, we are naturally selfish.  We generally only think about areas of need when it involves our needs.  The Bible tells us in Philippians 2:4, “Look not every man on his owns things, but every man also on the things of others.”  When was the last time we took the time to see the needs of others?  There’s nothing that will help strengthen a church more than to have its members purposely decide to be a conduit of blessing.

Just as electricity flows through the wires in a conduit, God’s blessing needs a conduit to flow to people.  We are the conduit God desires to use to bless others.  Undoubtedly, many of us have received blessings beyond what we deserve.  People have given us things, prayed for our needs, and supported us in trials.  

Unfortunately, many of us do not return the favor.  God’s blessings are meant to be rich, bountiful, and sufficient in times of need, but what they’re not meant to be is hoarded.  We are to bless others with the same blessings we receive.  I John 3:17, “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”

We’ve often heard the phrase “reap what you sow.” When considering blessings, another worthy phrase to apply in our lives should be “sow what you reap” or “sow what you want to reap.” God blesses us for many reasons, and for that, we are truly thankful.  However, God has a very specific purpose for His blessings.  He not only wants to encourage us, but He also wants His blessings to continue on to others through us.  This is the essence of being a conduit of blessing: being blessed by God, then deciding to pass that blessing on to others.  

“Pay it forward”

Have you ever heard of the phrase “pay it forward”?  “Pay it forward” is an expression for when the recipient of an act of kindness does something kind for someone else rather than simply accepting or repaying the original good deed.

For example, let’s say we went to a fast-food restaurant’s drive-thru.  When we get to the window to pay for our order, the employee tells us that the car before us already paid for our meal as an act of kindness.  Obviously we are grateful for this, and thrilled, to say the least.  We might even be wishing we had ordered more.  Nonetheless, we are left with a choice.  We are to either take the blessing and take our order, moving on with our day, or we can “pay it forward” by paying for the person behind us.