Last fall, one PH church decided to do something about the recession. Abundant Life Famiy Center (Enid, OK) opened a food bank to help feed people in the community.

"With the economy situation, Pastor David Robinson felt this was an area God was directing us to follow," said Brenda Robinson. "It took a few months to get it up and going, but praise God we are being effective in our community!"

The church has partnered with Horn of Plenty in order to reach even more people in the area. Despite setbacks - the food bank director suffered a stroke in February - the church continues to feed the hungry on a regular basis.

In the book Developing a Giving Church, Dr. Stan Toler shares his "pocket principles - a series of insights he feels a church should consider as it constructs its stewardship plan. Here is an excerpt from the book, reprinted with the author's permission, and additional commentary by Presiding Bishop Ronald Carpenter.

1. Money in one pocket usually will not go for projects of another pocket. The emotional or spiritual commitment of members usually does not transfer from one project to another.
   
2. Finances that are not given to the local church will usually go to an interdenominational or humanitarian agency. Postponing a fund raising campaign usually means the church is losing money it could otherwise use.
   
3. Church leaders are not aware of what members have in their pockets until the members are presented with a financial challenge. People give in response to a challenge, and their preference is unknown until they give.
   
4. Once a member’s pocket is opened, that member will give again from that same pocket with the same motivation to the same kind of need.

Here are the six pockets of giving, as identified by Stan Toler:

Number one is the maintenance pocket. The givers from this pocket are the general operation givers. They are the people who are just going to give to the general fund. They are concerned with providing funds for utilities, salaries, supplies, and general maintenance. They tithe and that’s it—not much else.

The second pocket is the missions pocket. When you’ve said “World Missions” to people with this pocket, you’ve said it all. When it comes to raising dollars for overseas ministries, you can always count on them being on board. Certain members want most of their money to go to outreach, usually out of the concern for the Great Commission. Here is where MISSIONAL THINKING about the church in America comes into play for these givers.

A third pocket is the benevolence pocket. This is the “cup of cold water person”—the person who is always interested in helping the homeless or the hungry. One church has a group that receives an offering every Wednesday night just to help take care of the homeless in the community, and the people in this group are thankful to support that cause.

The fourth giving pocket is the building pocket. Their cause is brick and mortar. They’re the first to offer a “challenge gift” when raising funds for a new family life center. They propose the paving of the parking lot. They want the facilities expanded. They’re the volunteer members of the committee on building the new family life center or helping to fund a new church plant.

Number five is the education pocket. Because some church members value higher education, they direct their money to the denomination’s Bible college or liberal arts college or possible the church discipleship program. Receive an offering for a new educational venture and they are all ears!

A sixth and final pocket is the evangelism pocket. These are individuals who have a desire to see the world come to know Christ. When you say, “Let’s evangelize the world,” they’ll be right there to help you in the process.

You may or may not feel that all of Toler’s principles and pockets are relevant to your church. His insights, however, point to three universal rules for developing an effective stewardship emphasis:

1. People give to ministries, not budgets. Sharing the VISION and impact of these ministries is critical.
   
2. Ministry needs, progress in meeting those needs, and stories of ministries completed must be communicated often.
   
3. People have giving preferences, and they respond to opportunities to give to ministries that have special appeal to them.

Seek God for the City is a 40 Day Prayer Initiative that begins on February 17 and concludes on Palm Sunday (March 28). Waymakers has provided the Body of Christ with a tool to pray for and affect community transformation.

The tendency of many is to pray for things that immediately concern them, or the people in their inner circle. Seek God for the City gives us a plan which enables us to impact entire communities, work places, and neighborhoods by saturation prayer.

Intentionally planning a time of saturation prayer and mobilizing a team to pray for everyone in their community is the right thing to do according to 1 Timothy 2:1-4. "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all people....This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

"First of all" means that it's a top priority. Since God desires for all people to be saved his Word urges us to expand our prayers to match the heart of God.

Jesus reveals God's passion for every person in the Parable of the Lost Sheep. "What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?" (Matthew 18:12).

We see the heart of God again in Matthew 9:36 "Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36).

"Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.'"

The point is this: That God is watching and working in every person's life. But God works in accordance with the prayers of His people. I encourage everyone to pray and make God’s hand evident in our community, workplace and neighborhoods by joining WayMakers, IPHC and many others during these forty days of focused prayer.