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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to your Daily Prayer, a podcast

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Speaker 2: dedicated to helping you find the words you need to

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Speaker 2: connect with your Father in Heaven. No matter what is

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Speaker 2: going on in your life today, you can trust that

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Speaker 2: God wants to hear from you. Right after this short

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Speaker 2: word from our sponsor, people will pray through today's prayer

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Speaker 2: to be happy when God is generous to others. Together

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Speaker 2: a prayer to be Happy when God is Generous to

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Speaker 2: Others written by Laura Bailey by Carrie Iberger. In the

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Speaker 2: course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of

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Speaker 2: the soil as an offering to the Lord, and Abel

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Speaker 2: also brought an offering fat portions from some of the

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Speaker 2: firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on

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Speaker 2: Abel at his offering, but on Cain and his offering,

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Speaker 2: he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry,

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Speaker 2: and his face was downcast. Genesis four, verse three through five.

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Speaker 2: I struggled to compose a response to my friend's recent

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Speaker 2: good news that she'd landed her first book contract. Though

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Speaker 2: I was genuinely excited for her, there was a piece

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Speaker 2: of me that felt envious. Dare I say slighted that

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Speaker 2: God opened that door for her while it continued to

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Speaker 2: remain shut for me. I'd been waiting far longer than

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Speaker 2: she had to get a book contract. I'd invested more

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Speaker 2: time and finances honing my craft. So why did God

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Speaker 2: give her the blessing of a book deal instead of me?

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Speaker 2: Frustrations over God's generosity towards others are a new concept.

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Speaker 2: In fact, the idea that we are entitled to God's

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Speaker 2: blessings and our irritation over God's generosity to others is

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Speaker 2: at the heart of the first recorded murder and scripture.

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Speaker 2: And Genesis four, we see that Adam and Eve have

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Speaker 2: two sons.

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Speaker 1: Pay and Abel.

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Speaker 2: Cain, the oldest brother, works the ground, while Abel's a shepherd.

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Speaker 2: The brothers both bring a sacrifice to the Lord, Cain

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Speaker 2: some fruits and able the fat portions from his flocks

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Speaker 2: first born scripture does that provide details as to why

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Speaker 2: the brothers felt the need to bring forth the sacrifice

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Speaker 2: to the Lord, Only that God looked upon Abel's offerings

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Speaker 2: with favor and unfavorably upon Cain's offerings, Cain became angry

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Speaker 2: and his face was downcast. I'll be honest if I

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Speaker 2: were Cain, I would be upset too, especially as the

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Speaker 2: older sibling. If God preferred the offering of my younger

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Speaker 2: brothers to mine, and in the time this was originally written,

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Speaker 2: it would have been unheard of for the older child

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Speaker 2: to be passed over for the younger sibling. We can

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Speaker 2: easily read this text and feel that Cain is validated

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Speaker 2: in his frustrations. At the very least, we might be

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Speaker 2: tempted to demand that God give us a reason for

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Speaker 2: his generosity to able over Cain. However, as we read further,

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Speaker 2: we see that God does not validate Cain's feelings. He

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Speaker 2: also doesn't provide justification for his actions. God tells Cain

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Speaker 2: that he doesn't have a reason to be upset. If

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Speaker 2: Cain does what's right in the Lord's eyes, that he

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Speaker 2: too will experience God's fever. But Cain has a choice

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Speaker 2: in his response to feeling that God was undeservedly generous

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Speaker 2: to Cain. He can accept and trust God's sovereignty even

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Speaker 2: if he doesn't like it, or, as we see, Cain

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Speaker 2: can allow jealousy, resentment, and pride to rob him of

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Speaker 2: his peace and ultimately cause Cain to murder his brother

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Speaker 2: in an active rage. Graciously, my annoyance with God's generosity

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Speaker 2: hasn't caused me to take someone's life. Still, I have,

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Speaker 2: like Cain, acted rudely or harbored resentment towards someone I

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Speaker 2: felt was undeserving of God's generosity. But here's the thing

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Speaker 2: about God's generosity. It's not limited. God blessing someone else

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Speaker 2: doesn't mean he can't bless us too. We are finite

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Speaker 2: in our humanness. We only have so much love to give,

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Speaker 2: so much time and energy to invest in people. When

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Speaker 2: we give attention to one area, someone or something else

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Speaker 2: goes without. But God doesn't work that way. He is

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Speaker 2: infinite in his ability to love, grant grace, and extend mercy.

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Speaker 2: If you find yourself, like me, to say, pointed or

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Speaker 2: frustrated when others receive something that you'd hoped.

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Speaker 1: For, worked for, and prayed for.

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Speaker 2: No, that's a normal response, and God understands your feelings. However,

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Speaker 2: light Cain, we have a choice. We can choose to

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Speaker 2: trust in God's methods, his timing, his decisions to give

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Speaker 2: generously to whoever he desires.

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Speaker 1: Or we can allow sin to take over.

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Speaker 2: We don't have to compete for God's generosity, like a

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Speaker 2: bud waiting to bloom. We can still flourish even if

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Speaker 2: the garden is filled with flowers. We just have to

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Speaker 2: trust that God is working all things for our good

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Speaker 2: and his glory. Let's pray, Heavenly Father, thank you that

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Speaker 2: we don't have to compete for your generosity. Your love

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Speaker 2: is abundant, your mercy's constant renewing, and your grace abounds.

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Speaker 2: I humbly ask that you shift my perspective so that

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Speaker 2: when I am tempted to doubt your goodness or trust

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Speaker 2: in your plan, I am reminded that you are the

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Speaker 2: creator and I am the created. Lord, help me fully

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Speaker 2: grasp that you have enough love, grace, and mercy for

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Speaker 2: me as well as the rest of the world. I

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Speaker 2: can't earn my way to you. I can't strive, hustle,

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Speaker 2: or knock out others so that you love me more.

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Speaker 2: I am loved because I am your child.

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Speaker 1: I love you, Lord.

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Speaker 2: May I see my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ

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Speaker 2: as companions, not competitors.

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Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, Amen, Your.

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