“The only thing that prevents what they give from being accepted is the fact that they disbelieve in God and His Messenger, perform the prayer lazily, and give grudgingly.” (Quran, 9:54)
In this penultimate Quran post, I veer a little back toward the topic of genuine worship. Not to come across as harsh or judgmental, but to catalyze thoughts within both myself and others about how we can improve our discipleship. This one has a very clear parallel in the Book of Mormon:
“For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.
“For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.
“For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God. …
“For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be a servant of the devil.” (Moroni 7:6–8, 11)
There is a lot to unpack here, but I want to focus just on the concept of giving “grudgingly” versus “with real intent.” We can go through the motions expected of us by our culture and our religion but get little to nothing out of it. While there’s something to be said for pushing through things you don’t want to do but know are right, this is very different from allowing our worship to stagnate into vain repetition until its personal impact diminishes or disappears entirely.
The good news is that God does not expect our offerings to Him—of time, of effort, or of material substance—to be perfect. Rather, He asks for our “heart and a willing mind” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:33). He asks us to give of ourselves sincerely, even if these sacrifices are hard or currently undesirable to us, so that He can reward us just as fully.
This is why Abel’s and David’s and the Anti-Nephi-Lehis’ sacrifices were accepted by the Lord, while Cain’s and Saul’s and the Zoramites’ were not. In the same way you can’t give someone a Christmas present you know they will hate and expect them to respond with gratitude, we can’t invent our own terms for what God will accept from us and expect the same blessings as those who honor the terms of their covenants with exactness.
I think that’s part of why God commanded Israel to sacrifice the firstlings of their flocks—or, if they were poor, the best they had to offer—instead of taking whatever stray rabbit or extra scarab or wildflowers they happened to find and wouldn’t be missed. When we give up something of value to us, He is able to compound that value in return.
The Commonplace Notebook 