IDEAL PRAYER FOR MONEY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY JULY 18, 2024.

SUBJECT: IDEAL PRAYER FOR MONEY! 

Memory verse: "Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6 vs 11.)

READ: Proverbs 30 vs 7 - 9:

30:7: Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die):

30:8: Remove falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches—feed me with the food allotted to me; 

30:9: Lest I be full and deny You, and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.

INTIMATION:

The Scripture recognizes that money is necessary for survival, but it warns against the love of money: “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (First Timothy 6 vs 10.) Money is dangerous because it deceives us into thinking that wealth is the easiest way to get everything we want. 

However, having too much money can be dangerous, but so can having too little. Being poor, in fact, can be hazardous to spiritual as well as physical health. On the other hand, being rich is not the answer. As Jesus pointed out, rich people have trouble getting into God’s kingdom (Matthew 19 vs 23 - 24). Like the apostle Paul, we can learn “how to be abased” of “how to abound” (Philippians 4 vs 12), but our lives are more likely to be effective if we have neither too much nor too little money.

Abundant possessions can make many feel self-sufficient, and consequently, turn their back on God and forget Him. Self-sufficiency is as destructive today as it was in biblical time. In times of plenty, we often take credit for our prosperity and become proud that our hard work and cleverness have made us rich. It is easy to get so busy collecting and managing wealth that we push God right out of our lives. But it is God who gives us everything we have, and it is God who asks us to manage it for Him. If you are traveling along a smooth and easy path right now, beware of forgetting who gave you your good fortune. Don’t depend on your gifts; depend on the Giver. 

In the passage we read today, Agur, the psalm’s writer prayed that he not fall victim of falsehoods and lies. He asked that he be given only that which would sustain his life. He had seen the curse of wealth, and the despair of poverty. In order to live a life of contentment without the worry of riches, or the desperation of poverty, Agur’s prayer was for a life that was without the frustrations of either riches or poverty. This should be the ideal prayer of the Christian; to have enough that will make him lead a sustainable life and be content with such that he has. We must pray for those things that are necessary for the sustenance of life.

Being content results from proper perspective of life—seeing life from God’s perspective. When you do that, you will focus on what is available to you per time, and not what you feel you should have. This helps you put your priorities right and straight, and be grateful for everything God has given you. Like the apostle Paul, we should detach ourselves from the nonessentials so that we could concentrate on the essentials with eternal values. Often the desire for more or better possessions is really a longing to fill an empty place in a person’s life. 

Most people are continually greedy for more money, regardless of their financial state of being. Regardless of whether one is poor or rich, most people continually seek to acquire more things of this world. Those Christians who are poor must learn not to complain and murmur about their situation and blame others for their predicament. Contentment of mind must be learned by those who are poor. When you are rich, learn how to possess money without money possessing you. Therefore, the rich must also learn to be content with their own financial well-being. They must learn not to allow money to become the idol of their lives. 

The Scripture states that it is difficult for the rich to be about kingdom business because their minds are continually directed and controlled by that which is of this world. Their wealth diverts their attention away from those spiritual things that will exist long after the material has been destroyed. It is difficult for the rich and influential rulers of this world to become obedient subjects of the kingdom reign of God.

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is to serve You with the talents, abilities, and possessions You entrust me with. May I never have anything that will drift me away from You, nor have anything that will cause me put my trust in any other thing than You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!