Prov. 30:7-9
“Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.
How many of us are willing to pray this prayer as Agur, son of Jakeh prayed? Aren’t we much more likely to pray, “Father, please bless me and my family financially, so that I may ‘do your work’ or so that I may retire without worry.” ?
Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
God truly wants the best for all of us; but His idea of best and our idea of best may be two different things. Some are preaching a “prosperity gospel.” I’m sure this is popular now with the economy in such bad shape, but is it a good thing? God doesn’t want us to be “rich” or “financially well-off” or even “financially stable.” He wants us to depend on Him.
~ Father God, I pray that each of us will depend on You. It’s so easy for us to allow the blessings You have given us to puff us up with pride which separates us from You. Please take care of our needs. Do not let us go without, but keep us mindful that You are our sole provider.