‘God has heard your prayers and
knows about your gifts to the poor.’ Acts 10:4
Up until this time the gospel
had been preached exclusively to the Jews. But all that was about to change:
‘One afternoon at about three o’clock, Cornelius had a vision. He saw an angel
from God coming to him and calling him by name…“God has heard your prayers and
knows about your gifts to the poor. Now send some men to Joppa for a man named
Simon Peter”’ (vv. 3-5 CEV). As a result of Cornelius’ prayers and generosity,
he became the first Gentile to hear the gospel and be saved. What a payoff! God
hears the kind words you speak to others when they’re hurting. He sees your
sacrificial giving when you can least afford it. By doing what you’re doing,
you’re paving the way for God to help you. He’s storing it all up so that in
your time of need you’ll have a rich account to draw on. A lady was praying
about starting a pet-grooming business but she couldn’t afford to advertise. So
she went to her local animal shelter and volunteered to groom the pets to
increase their chances for adoption. Interestingly, the harder she worked, the
more her own business grew by word of mouth until she ended up with more
clients than she could handle. You say, ‘Does that mean if I don’t help others
God won’t help me?’ Thankfully, no! God’s love is unconditional. But when you
say no to an opportunity to give, you miss out on an opportunity to receive.
The principle of reciprocity is simple: when you’re generous with others, God
promises to be generous with you (see 2 Corinthians 9:6-8). 
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