Holy Manners and Sacred Etiquette

Holy Manners And Sacred Etiquette “Did you see me? I gave them all money!” “Do you think you’re above other people just because you have those fancy prayers memorized? It would be better if you just acted the way you prayed!” “I am so tired of hearing about you fasting and getting light headed. Why don’t you just tell the church you can’t do it.” We would hope when a person gives money or time it is solely for the purpose of aiding an individual. We would pray that when we see others pray it would be genuinely for strength, healing and reconciliation of their soul or of another rather than to gain attention. We would want to believe that when we see a person sacrifice for a charitable cause or fast in honor of a holy act of obedience it would be because he believed he should rather than to be noticed. There are instances when the heart desires a helping of appreciation or notice. However, there are occasions when the heart needs to discern over matters that only God should observe. Pray that you learn your true reward is not of attention from people but rather the hidden gift of grace from God. Grace from God may be voiceless in the world and indiscernible in the demanding days of our lives. However, our gifts of grace will be revealed through our private relationship with God. Be assured we will come to know that our heavenly reward is as light as an ocean breeze, as quiet as a desert night, and as loving as a mother kissing her child for the first time. In your private prayer room and holy recess of your soul reflect on the ways that you give alms and pray over the methods of which you offer assistance. Your spirit has imprints of holy manners of humbleness and sacred etiquette of charity written on its heart. It is up to you to learn to read the dialect of The Holy Spirit inside you. A single hardly visible and most gentle nuance of the hand of God in your life is worth more than all the attention you can garner over a lifetime. Matthew 6: 1-6,16-18 ‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 'And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.