Daily Prayer 2/7/08

1 Tim 6:17-18 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. {Instruct them} to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

As Americans we are rich. I don't care how tight the money is, by the world's standard, we are all VERY rich.

If you could reduce the worlds population to 100 people, our village would look like this:

60 would be Asian, 12 Europeans, 5 American or Canadians, 8 Latin Americans, 14 Africans

51 of us would be male, 49 would be female
82 would be non-white, 18 would be white
89 would be heterosexual, 11 would be homosexual
33 would call themselves Christian, 67 would be non-Christian

5 of the American's would control over a third of our small villages money.
80 would have sub-standard housing
24 would not have electricity
67 would not be able to read!!!!

1 would have a college education
1 would have HIV

50 of us would be malnourished and one of us will soon die of starvation

33 will not have access to a safe water supply (and the Americans let the faucet run)

1 would be near death
2 would be near birth

My point is this.... This verse above is all of us. Even the poorest of us is really RICH by the worlds standards.

We must define what really matters in life....It's all perspective and as Americans we must admit we live in a land of SO much wealth our perspective has been warped. So even though some of us are rich, we think we are poor.

Be wise with your money and store up riches in heaven, not on this earth.

Why do we work so hard to hold on to what we can not keep? Instead work for the riches which are eternal and can never be taken away.

Take the words of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior to heart:

Matt 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
Matt 6:20 "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
Matt 6:21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


Father, teach us! We need You to show us that godliness leads to contentment. It's not easy but we learn it. Once content things of this world lose their value quickly. Judge us not by what we give, but what we keep back from You. Help us to understand that every dollar, every possession, every talent we have is Yours, given to us. It is temporary. We must be good stewards of what You have provided us with. Teach us....we definitely need Your help!

At the same time any money we offer back to You or for Your work, let it be in faith and in joy as an act of worship for what You have done for us on the cross. Teach us that it does not buy us favor with You or the gifts of heaven are never ever for sale, blessings can not be purchased and most importantly it can never, ever open the gates of heaven for us or any family member.

Help us to use our money wisely to further Your Gospel so others can have the blessings of a church to come together in, or have Bibles in their hands or even a very little act of kindness to show another the love of Christ.

This is a very hard thing for us, so we need Your help Lord!

I think of very very dear friends Lord in this world who have SO much less than we do here. I may never ever know their pains and struggles, but I pray they never know our entrapments of materialism!

Meet our basic needs Father and hear the world when they cry "Give us this day our daily bread!"

Thank You Lord Jesus for being the spiritual bread of eternal life! What a feast of grace is available to those who will place faith in Your work on the cross to purchase us from the penalty of sin. Those are the unmeasurable, unfathomable riches we must seek!

Lord hear our plea for Your help and wisdom! Amen.