Face up to the poor

If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard. - Proverbs 21:13

 Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator^[a] shall go before you,
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness    and your gloom be like the noonday. - Isaiah 58:6-10

Giving to the poor seems to be able to improve one's prayer life.

Some seem to think that giving to a good cause is what matters and doing so is a sign of great motives.

If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,^[a] but do not have love, I gain nothing. - 1 Corinthians 13:3

May God one day say of us what He said to King Josiah --

 He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
    then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
    says the Lord. - Jeremiah 22:16