There is a question that should be asked, and that is: Why does God loves a cheerful giver?
2 Corinthians:6-11
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”[a] 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
There are times when we ask God for things in prayer and meditation, however when there are delays in answer to our requests, we doubt God, His existence, His ability to hear us, His ability to give us what we ask for and whether He will give us what we ask for, since most, if not all our requests are from our desires which are per definition selfish or from self-interests.
Any true giver gets pleasure and satisfaction in giving, this gives us an insight into the possible answer to the question: why God loves a cheerful giver? Because God Himself gets pleasure in giving to His true children, the ones that seek Him in truth and in Spirit. Our Lord Jesus Christ explained in Matthew 7:7-12; “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
There are times when there are delays in answer to our prayers, this may be due to one of the fundamental principles of God’s way of working or operating, such as expressed in the scriptures in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Therefore since only God Himself that determines the times and the seasons for everything, including showering of His favours and blessings, not us, we are not the ones who determine when we should get what we ask for, it is the Giver that determines the time of giving, which is then when the receiver gets the gift.
One thing is certain, the Lord hears us when we talk to Him in prayer, this is evident in Psalm 94:9; Does he who fashioned the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see? Obviously, God does hear and see us. Just as our Lord Jesus Christ taught us in Matthew 6:7-8; And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
There is a guaranty that when God decides that something is good for us, then when we ask for it, He will surely give it to us, it is a question of time of materialization or manifestation of the gift or request. According to the scriptures in James 1:17; Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Since God is a giver of good and perfect gifts, therefore when we ask and do not receive, this may be due to the fact that what we are asking is not good for us, or what we are asking for, is based on wrong motives or selfish desires, according to the book of James, chapter 4 verse 3; When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Given the above considerations, why then were we advised to be persistent or consistent in prayer in Romans 12:12; Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Well this may be due, aside from God’s timing which is perfect, to resistance from spiritual entities that are ineffectively trying to abort God’s plan. Case in point, is that of Daniel when he was trying to figure out how long he and his people would remain in captivity what he was asking from God was information (information is power), not only for himself but also for his people (therefore not entirely selfish, but also for the benefit of others and most important of all for the Glory of God). When we are in a negative territory, or lack or denial of something such as freedom, fruitfulness or material possession; the most crucial commodity in such circumstances is hope, hope in when the reversal of fortunes will take place. In the case here, of Daniel, see the book of Daniel, chapter 10, having the information about the reversal of fortunes gives or is a source of hope. Well, God answered immediately when Daniel started the twenty-one days fasting, however Daniel didn’t receive the answer immediately because of some spiritual entit-y(-ies) who delight in fighting, was thereby delaying Angel Gabriel. Well what did God do, as a result of the faithfulness in prayer of Daniel, God sent a General, whose speciality is warfare, that is Angel Michael, to keep the Principality (who delights in fighting and was delaying Angel Gabriel, since one angel cannot vanquish another spiritual entity, only the Creator can give and take) busy or take him on, while Gabriel can then go and deliver his message to Daniel. God hear us when we call on Him and He answers.
The most important issue or concept is that everything belongs to God, all powers belong to God (Psalm 62:11-12), all gifts are expressions of His power. And He does not literally or metaphorically give then to us, but He lends us, and the temporary “possession” means that they are not ours, how can we possess ephemeral things that belongs to our Creator? The only gift that is permanent or eternal is the Love of God (see Psalm 136), that is in Christ Jesus, which has already been given for the redemption of our sins. Therefore, another question is, who is the Cheerful Giver? And the answer is God.
