And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Hebrews 11:6
“Several studies have also looked at how religion influences another form of generosity: volunteering. A number of these studies have found that religious individuals volunteer more than non-religious people, and attending religious services has frequently been reported as a strong predictor of volunteering. For example, one study of 50,000 Americans found that religious people are 23 percentage points more likely to volunteer than are secular people (67 to 44 percent)…
A study of 9,464 people from 15 Western European countries offers more evidence that religious attendance is significantly—and positively—associated with volunteering. This study also found that greater “religious salience” (believing that religion is an important part of one’s life) and more frequent prayer were associated with increased volunteering, but to a lesser extent than religious attendance, while religious belief was associated with less volunteering.”
Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.
Here’s what the data reports: Belief appears as empty words. Attendance leads to action. And salience and prayer unleash generous service. From this research and my own discernment time with God, I determined to increase regional prayer with GTP.
At present we have Monthly Global Prayer Hour. Please join us on the third Wednesday every month at 5am Denver / 11am GMT at this link (Meeting ID: 820 2592 7614 and Passcode: PRAY). But we will start regional prayer in the next month.
We will do this in the areas where the need is greatest: Latin America, Anglophone Africa, Francophone Africa, Portuguese Africa, Middle East/North Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Asia. That’s what I can do. What about you?
How might you increase salience and prayer where you serve to unleash greater generosity?