Four Prayers for Your Financial Crisis
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No money for movies. No money for dinners out. No money for anything but essentials like food, gas, and toilet paper. Not exactly the dream life, is it?
But it's the life millions of Americans face in the current economic crisis. Foreclosures, unemployment, and stock market drops were once topics for news headlines. Now those topics fill our dinner conversations and our prayer requests.
I know what it's like to pray about overwhelming financial challenges. In my husband's first years as a pastor, our house payment gobbled half his income. I didn't expect riches when I married a minister, but I also didn't anticipate 13-16 percent interest rates on a starter home. After our tithe and a sacrificial gift to our church's building program, we lived on 30 percent of my husband's small salary.
During those ground beef and tuna years, I learned that lean financial times call for more than strict budgets and financial discipline. Tough times call for tough prayers—prayers that move us past frustration and helplessness to seeing God's power and glory in our daily lives. We can replace panic with confidence when we focus our prayers on these four requests.
Pray for Clarity
Every time I hear Suze Orman say "De-nied" to a caller's ridiculous spending request, I recognize the value of clarity. Many personal finance gurus encourage us to hold our financial records before a mirror so we can see our true monetary situation. Without a clear picture, we won't know how to balance our income and expenses. We won't make the hard choices needed for economic survival.
But like it or not, our money and jobs are entwined with our views of life and self. And that link makes it difficult to assess our circumstances objectively. My money problems often trigger a storm cloud of conflicting feelings—fear, pride, and anger—that block a clear vision of all the issues involved. Prayer helps me deal with my churning emotions before they skew my decisions and perspective.
On one level, my friend Amy felt a great peace when her husband lost his job. On another level, she felt angry about the circumstances surrounding Mike's layoff. Her irritation with union politics triggered heart tantrums as frustration battled faith for control. When she couldn't stop the tears, she finally hit her knees.
Earlier that week Amy had studied the confrontation between King Hezekiah of Judah and King Sennacherib of Assyria described in Isaiah 36-37. Desperate for God's help, Hezekiah laid Sennacherib's threatening letter before the Lord and prayed.
Amy decided to do the same thing with Mike's pink slip. She grabbed it from the kitchen counter, laid it on the floor, and knelt over it. As she prayed, God did more than calm her heart. He refocused her passion on Mike's salvation. "This job was always yours, God," Amy prayed. "It's not about the job or the money. It's about my husband seeing you and your glory." By the time Amy spoke with me a few days later, she'd regained both her peace and her purpose.
Related Topics:
Finances, financial problems, Prayer
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Bobbie
Timely and encouraging words...God bless you!
Dagny
One famous Bible teacher used to say he felt bad for people that never needed anything,because they didn't have to use their faith and rely on God, so they never got to know him that way.Just think of how well we'll know him by the time this recession is over!
Judith(Registered User)
Well written and timely ......... my husband is on a small disability income and I just lost my job 6 weeks ago. Thank God my recently deceased mother's estate is now being settled, or we'd be on the street. The timing was God's in that, no doubt. But I'm looking for work and trusting God to lead and provide and help me keep calm by His presence. Keep us in your prayers as I also keep others needing work in mine. Thank you.
Barbara
Very encouraging for a christian keepit up
Jonatas Rodrigues
Thanks for this words. God bless you.
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