Praying God’s Will For My Finances – Day 3

 (submitted by Kerry Patton)

 “¹⁷ As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.¹⁹ You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰ And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”²¹ Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.”

Mark 10:17-22

For My Finances, O God… May Your Will Be Done

Matthew 6:24 highlights how vulnerable we are to becoming slaves to money: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Our tendency is not so much that we are literal slaves, but that the responsibility of earning, and managing what God provides becomes blurred by the million and one places we can spend what God provides.  Can we keep our God as Lord of our finances? Or will we go our own way?

We have retirement concerns, daily bread concerns, debt concerns, entertainment concerns, compulsive purchasing concerns, tithing concerns, and charity or benevolence concerns.  How do we ensure that God’s will is being accomplished in our finances? 

We continue this week, focusing on praying for God’s will to be done…and today, we pray for his will to be done in our finances for this New Year of 2017. 

We asked members of our Prayer Advocates team to contribute prayers as examples of how they ask for God’s will to be fulfilled in their finances.  As you read their prayers, may the Holy Spirit of God inspire you and lead you as you pray for God’s will to be done in your own money matters. 

From Alan Myers:

“Holy God, Jehovah Jireh, Thank you for trusting me with your money to meet my needs. Speak to me Lord about the needs of others and give me the trust to share abundantly.”

From Judy Myers:

“I feel so blessed and my need is only to remember to thank God each and every day for the financial security and blessings He has given us.  I learned a long time ago, there is absolutely NO question of giving Him the top 10% and more if possible even when I have over the years wondered how I would have enough money for everything else He always provided above and beyond anything I expected. He has promised to meet my necessities NOT my luxuries…there is the lesson I indeed had to learn.”

From Robin Moore:

“Lord we come to you with our finances, God let us be faithful with our giving and trust you with the things we need. We want you to be proud of us to use wisdom with our pay checks. God with our wants let us remember to go before you in prayer and pray about them so we don't make a mistake that we will be sorry for, We know that you know what is best for us... amen”

 From Laura Patton:

“Heavenly Father, - in our finances, I rest in knowing that you promise to meet all our needs.  I understand there are times of abundance and times of drought.  We pray that in all times we will find contentment in what we have.  We pray that we will be generous to those in need - that we will be Christ to those who go without.  We pray that we will seek You wisdom in how to manage what we have been given and that the spirit of giving will richly dwell within each of us.”

From Kerry Patton:

“Father, I hear echoes of Revelation 3:17… “¹⁷ Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,…” and I worry about how I am spending YOUR monies. By comparison O Lord, we are so wealthy in this nation.  We have so many toys, we go and do what we wish.  We buy and sell what we wish.  And we do so, often without worry or regard for how those monies could be used in your Kingdom…for your purposes.  I pray for wisdom Father… Please make us wise in the use of our monies.  You are Jehovah Jireh, and you have been so faithful in providing all we need.  I pray that you are glorified by our administration of your funds.  Father, help me submit to your will in matters of money.  Help me, as Mr. Wesley prayed so long ago, to ‘earn all I can, save all I can, and give away all I can in the service of my God.’  Thy will be done…in the finances of my life and family.   In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”