How to: Pray about Money

How to: pray about money

Proverbs 30:7-9

     Virtues and virtues:  Last week, I was in Washington, DC and had the privilege of meeting and hearing David Brooks, the op-ed columnist for the New York Times, Yale professor, and author of the best seller, The Road to Character.

     Brooks opened his talk by speaking of the difference between resume virtues and eulogy virtues.  Resume virtues are those skills you possess that you believe will contribute to success, the ones you list on your application to college or on your professional resume, i.e., that you work hard, that you have a 6.5 grade point average on a 4 point system, that you were head cheerleader and captain of the football team….  I’ve seen hundreds of resumes – and these virtues are unquestionably important. 

     But Brooks also spoke of eulogy virtues, which are deeper.  They are the ones that are at the core of your being – that you hope will be remembered. These eulogy virtues are the things that get talked about at a funeral, i.e., whether you are kind, brave, honest and faithful.

     With that difference between resume virtues and eulogy virtues in your mind, we come to the book of Proverbs to see what God says about our use of money.  Most talks and books in our day that address topics like money or career success speak only of the resume virtues:  How you can earn money, invest it, and use it to be successful.  And, the Book of Proverbs speaks a great deal about what we might call resume virtues.  For example, Proverbs tells you that:

• You’ll probably acquire more money if you work hard (6:6-11);
• Get rich schemes rarely work (13:11);
• A disciplined and strategic life is more likely to lead to success than an unplanned one (21:17,20);
• Caring for all your resources well (people and otherwise) will be beneficial (27:23-27).

     Those are all important things for us all to learn and put into practice.

     But today, I want to think about the final word found in Proverbs about money.  In my view, all the other teaching about money in Proverbs points to what is found in Proverbs 30:7-9. These verses point us to what Brooks calls eulogy virtues, the most important things that should be developing in the heart of all godly people with regard to money.  Note this! This is the only prayer in Proverbs, prayed by a man named Agur:

Lord, I ask you for two things.
      Don’t refuse me as long as I live.
      Keep falsehood far away from me:

Don’t make me either poor or rich,
      but give me only the bread I need each day.
If you don’t, I might have too much.
    Then I might say I don’t know you.
    I might say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I might become poor and steal.
    Then I would bring dishonor to the name of my God.

     Let me ask you:  Do you ever pray like that? I have heard many prayers prayed in church and among fellow Christians and I’ve never heard one like it.  But, I’ve come to believe that this prayer found boils down the teaching about money in Proverbs that relates to “eulogy virtues” into 3 verses.  If you miss what God says here, you’ll miss the main thing about all the other teaching.  (Are you listening?)

     As I tried to point out last week, Proverbs often catches us off guard.  The wisdom found in it clashes with the way we usually think in our fallen world – even with the thinking of many churchgoers.  This prayer surely turns our ways of thinking about money upside down.  It looks like the prayer is a prayer for all of us to become middle-class people.  Could that be?  That doesn’t sound much like the Bible!  I can imagine a lot of complacent Christians thinking, “Oh, it’s not great but it’s OK.  Answer that prayer, God, and I can still be fairly comfortable financially.”  So, I think we need to meditate on these verses a bit.

What Is the Prayer Saying?

     Look carefully at vv. 7-8 and note this: First, Agur says he has two requests.  Then, in v. 7b, he adds a note of urgency:  “don’t refuse me as long as I live” meaning, “I’m going to need you in this way every day of my life. So, when we pray this, we’re really praying about a way of life that we want the Lord to help us live with regard to money.

     Then, in v. 8a, Agur prays, “Keep falsehood away from me”, showing us that we must be aware that these are two things he asks for are about situations in his life in which he knows he can easily be deceived. To summarize it: Agur is saying, “I want to live a life of integrity, Lord, that honors You every day of my life so please, please grant these two requests. 

     What does he pray so passionately for?  1) Don’t let me be too rich and 2) don’t let me be too poor.  The Bible is claiming here that extreme wealth and extreme poverty both are situations in which our own deception and falseness are very prone to come out in such ways that God is dishonored.  Both can deceive us into thinking that living unwisely is OK.  The deception in poverty comes out of a conviction that God is incapable of providing.  The life of self-centeredness for the wealthy comes out of thinking God is unnecessary.  So, let’s look at the dangers, first of being too poor and then of being too rich.

What are the Two Dangers?

Danger #1:  The Danger of Having Too Little: Disobeying God

     Agur’s first passionate request is, “Please God, don’t let me be too poor!”  I can imagine that many of us have prayed something like that.  It’s not too hard to pray, Lord, bless me with some money, at least that! An old Jewish proverb – not in the Bible – says, “Poverty is no disgrace – but it’s no great honor either.”

     But, I’m sure there’s a lot more to the prayer than that.  Remember that Agur had said that he didn’t want to be living his life on the kinds of paths where he was prone to deception.  How might you be deceived particularly when times are tough?

• Other people might deceive you.  There are unjust predators on the poor in every society.  There are people who promise a good job and then trap you into things that are abusive or wrong.  The trafficking industry is fueled by that kind of deceit.  The same is true of the illegal drug dealing.  When you are poor and are in survival mode, then you can be deceived in innumerable ways by those who are evil and mean evil for you.  The  Proverbs had spoken of this often before this prayer is offered by Agur, like in 22:22: The rich may rob the poor, because he is poor or crush the afflicted at the gate…
• You might deceive yourself.  This is what we see in v.9 when Agur acknowledges a tendency he sees deep in the human heart (including his own), If I am too poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God.

     Do you see the point?  Agur’s prayer concern is not simply to get money.  Agur wants to avoid the temptation to steal.  He knew how we human beings are, i.e., that when we are in deep need, we feel temptation to take from our family or friends.  Many even feel the temptation to steal out of the church offering plate.  We often may deceive ourselves into thinking that we will repay this as soon as any money becomes available.  But, that rarely happens.  We start down a path of life – and it becomes harder and harder to turn back to a life of honesty and integrity    

     I think most of us here can relate to this temptation.  What can you learn from this first prayer request?

In times of need, you must be very aware of your vulnerability.

     Agur knows himself: that if the conditions were desperate enough and given the opportunity, he might steal and deceive himself into thinking it’s not all that bad.  Agur prays that God would provide him enough materially because he knows his flesh is weak.  His prayer shows his desire to stay away from places and situations in which he knows he is vulnerable and might give into temptation.  Does this sound like another prayer?  Remember that, when he taught us to pray, Jesus said, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…”

2.  In times of need, your deepest desire still must be to please God.

     Agur’s main concern is not about breaking the law and getting thrown into jail.  That surely is a part of this – but it’s not the main thing.  His concern is not about being a man whose life is in keeping with God’s ways – and he knew God had specifically said, “You shall not steal!”  Agur’s deepest longing was to honor God.  This prayer is more about a relationship more than about integrity.

     Do you see it?  If you pray this way, you show that you love God – that you fear displeasing the God you love even more than you fear poverty.  And you know that in a moment of weakness, you are capable of doing some foolish things like disobeying God by stealing from others.  So you pray,  “Lord,  I need help every day of my life. So, even in my time of need, let me not mess up by breaking your 8^thCommandment.”

    

Danger #2:  The Danger of Having Too Much: Disowning God

     The second passionate request is this:  “Lord, please protect me from having too much wealth!”  Have you ever prayed this?  We might pray, “Deliver me from poverty.”  But have you prayed, “Deliver me from wealth!  No, Lord, I have too much income.  Save me!”  I imagine few of us have.

     But again, Agur knew his weaknesses. He recognized the danger of always having more than he really needed.  Look at how concisely and clearly he put it in: “If I have more money than I need, “then I might say I don’t know you, God.  I might say, ‘Who is the Lord?’

     Here is the principle, one made often by Jesus:  Money has a way of making us rely on God less.  When all our needs are met, we tend to deny our need for God.  We live without any reference to God. All too often, material things are the first things we tend to put into the place of God in our lives.

     Do I need to say more about this?  I doubt it.  Many of you in church tell me about family or friends that you witness to – but who say to you, “I’m doing well on my own.  Why do I need God?”  They may know deep down that you need God, but deep down inside, they also feel like they’re doing fine without Him.

     But, let’s stop thinking about “them”.  What about you?  Does wealth makes you feel secure, strong, protected, accomplished, admired, empowered.   When things are going well, do you come to the place of thinking you don’t desperately need God’s help – that you can take care of yourself quite well.  There is a subtle way this kind of self-sufficient lifestyle begins to play out.  It often begins with what some call a growing “obsession with 1st world worries.”  This will come out in your prayer life (if you still have one).  It will sound something like this:

• “Lord, don’t let me break one of my nails because I’m going out with a guy I like.”
• “I’m frustrated because I can’t decide which Instagram filter to use on my selfie!.”
• “Lord, it’s so stressful for me to own and care for two houses!”

     It becomes so easy for us, when we have a lot, to come to God only to get him to give us more things.  It’s clear to me that the way to live well is to live day by day in dependence and trust upon God for all we have.  Never to take what we have for granted.  Never to fail to see that every good gift has come from God.  Always to seek to use whatever he has entrusted to us to further his goodness in the world.

     This is the Proverbs perspective for many of us: It’s not always comfortable, but sometimes not having all the resources we want is the best place to be. 

What Are the Keys to Praying About Money?

     Let’s try to bring this teaching into our lives now.  Here at LAC, we have people at both ends of this spectrum and in the middle as well.  How do we find the faith and wisdom to pray this way?  I believe there are two keys provided right in the text – one is in the middle of the prayer and the other at the end.

 

Key #1:  Pray to live Each Day Dependent upon God:  “Give me only the bread I need each day… (v.8b)”

     Agur’s prayer is exactly the same as the way Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6.  “Give us this day our daily bread…”  So, this must be important in our walk with God.  What the Bible is talking about is living every day of our lives knowing that all we have comes from God.  We dare never take it for granted.  And we must trust him to provide and be grateful – deeply grateful – each day he does provide.

     God generally doesn’t want to be your Costco or Sam’s Club: supplying everything in bulk, keeping a large reserve of everything in storage...  When God fed the Israelites manna in the desert, he told them to collect only enough for one day.  If you collected more, it would all go bad overnight.  You could only collect enough for that day and had to trust that God would bring more food tomorrow.

     The Bible teaches that there is wisdom in being in a situation where you have to come to God each day.  It keeps you close, dependent, prayerful. I think most of us can understand the principle, but if we’re honest, we don’t really want it.  We’d much prefer to have some extra money in our savings, an emergency fund.  We’d much rather have more than just one day’s supply of food at hand. 

     Listen to me carefully: I don’t think the Bible teaches that we should all give away our savings.  After Jesus taught us to pray about daily bread, he also pointed us to how God cares for the birds.  We know, of course, that birds store up for the winter as a part of that care.  But I am saying that we should welcome the situations when we trust God to supply our needs. 

     And, I am convinced from other Proverbs and from the rest of the Bible as well that one way God provides for his people in need is through other Christian people who give generously to care for those in need.  If you are in a place now where you are blessed financially, you should be the most thankful person in the world – and you should look daily for ways to further God’s work and to bless others.  Have you read Proverbs 19:7?  Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and the LORD will repay him for his deed.                                                               

Key #2: Make Your Deepest Prayer a Longing to Honor God – “I will not dishonor God (30:9b).”

     The wise person does not want to be in deep poverty because he is afraid he will break God’s 8^th commandment and steal  Both the poor and wealthy person do not want to be in places in which we are tempted to break the 3^rd commandment and bring our God’s name into dishonor.  Our deepest longing should be that people in the world will watch us and see 1) our confidence in God in hard times and 2) the generosity of God in good times.  The longing that runs through this prayer was not, “Where would I be most comfortable or happy?”  That’s the way it is with many prayers.  It was, “In what situation would I be most likely to honor God – to glorify God, to be close to God?”

     Sometimes you need to recognize that some situations we think we most want are simply not very wise places to be.  We often pray for things that actually will make us less dependent on God, that will not require any faith.    

The bottom line of the teaching in Proverbs about money is this:  You live wisely 1) when you live day-by-day in complete dependence on God and, 2) when you have possessions, you do as much good as is possible with the money God has entrusted to you.

Don’t make me either poor or rich,
      but give me only the bread I need each day -- so that I might honor your Name.

 

To His glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor

Greg Waybright • Copyright 2015, Lake Avenue Church

中國翻譯遵循...

如何為金錢禱告

箴言30：7-9

成就與評價：上周，我在華盛頓市有幸遇到大衛·布魯克斯，並聽了他的演講。他是紐約時報的專欄作家，耶魯大學的教授，也是暢銷書“個性之路”的作者。

布魯克斯在開場白中談到了職場成就與身後評價的不同。職場成就是能夠使你成功的一些技能，也就是那些能夠列在你的大學申請中，或寫在你的職業簡歷之中的一些特質，比如，你努力工作的態度，你在滿分是4分的評分體系中得到6.5分，你是拉拉隊的隊長、美式足球的隊長等等。我看過上百封簡歷，毫無疑問，這些成就都是很重要的。

但是緊接著，布魯克斯講到更深刻的層面---- 一個人身後的評價。他認為那才是一個人生命最核心的特質，是你希望被別人銘記在心的。這些評價是人們在喪事禮拜之中才會談到的，比如你是否善良、勇敢、忠誠或者信實。

在想清楚職場成就和身後評價的不同之處以後，我們再來看看，在箴言書中，神對我們如何使用金錢是怎樣說的。現今大多數關於金錢或事業成功的書籍和演講，都只談到職場成就這一方面，比如你怎樣賺錢，投資，並且如何使用這些金錢獲得成功。在箴言書中就談到了職場成就，比如，箴言告訴我們:

•             如果你努力工作，你就會得到更多金錢（6：6-11）

•             沒有什麽捷徑會幫你積累財富（13：11）

•             自律與有計劃地生活更能使人獲得成功（21：17，20）

•             認真管理你的資源（包括人力及其他資源），你會得到益處（27：23-27）

這些事情都是我們需要學習和實踐的重要方面。

但是今天，我想要講一講箴言最後幾章中關於金錢總結。在我看來，箴言中

講到金錢的其他所有內容都包括在30：7-9中了。這幾節經文與布魯克斯提到的身後評價很相似，這是所有屬神的人都應當擁有的最重要的金錢觀。請註意，這是箴言書中唯一的一段禱告文，是一個叫烏甲的人的禱告：

                我求你兩件事，

                在我未死之先，不要不賜給我

                求你使虛假和謊言遠離我，

                使我也不貧窮，也不富足，

                賜給我需用的飲食。

                恐怕我飽足不認你，

                說，耶和華是誰呢？

                又恐怕我貧窮就偷竊，

                以至褻瀆我神的名。

                你曾經這樣禱告過嗎？我聽過很多基督徒的禱告，但是我從未聽過這樣的禱告。然而我相信，箴言中關於金錢觀的這三節禱告文，與一個人的“身後的評價”有關。如果你錯過了神在這幾節經文中的意思，你也就會錯過祂其他教導的重要含義。

                正如我上周講道中所說的，箴言中的智慧與我們在世間的思想方式常常會有沖突，即使對許多基督徒來說也是如此。這個禱告與我們的金錢觀完全相反。看起來這個禱告是想讓我們都成為中產階級。這聽起來可不太像聖經裏的話！我可以想象，許多基督徒會得意地想: “這不是太令人滿意，但是也還算可以了。神啊，如果你應允這個禱告，我在經濟上還是能夠生活得很舒適。”因此，我覺得我們在這裏有必要思考一下這幾節經文。

這個禱告在說什麽？

                請仔細讀7-8節經文：首先，烏甲說到他有兩個要求。然後在第7節後面一句，他又加上了表達急切之心的話: “在我未死以先，不要不賜給我。”意思就是，在我生命的每一天，我都需要你如此行。因此，當我們這樣禱告的時候，我們其實是在為一種與金錢有關的生活方式而禱告，我們需要神幫助我們建立這樣的生活方式。

                接著，在第8節，烏甲禱告說，“求你使虛假和謊言遠離我”，他提醒我們必須要小心這兩件事，這也有可能是他容易犯的錯誤。總之，烏甲的意思是，“主啊，我想要過正直、每天榮耀你名的生活，所以求你應允這兩個禱告。

                他這樣熱切禱告，所求的到底是什麽？1）不要讓我太富足；2）不要讓我太貧窮。聖經說，太富足和太貧窮這兩種狀況都容易使我們陷入虛假和謊言之中，而讓我們無法榮耀神。這兩種情況都會使我們相信，我們即使過著沒有智慧的生活也無所謂。太貧窮會讓我們覺得，神無法供應我們。自我中心和太富足的生活會讓我們覺得不需要神。下面讓我們看看太貧窮和太富足的生活的危險性。

這兩種危險是什麽？

危險之一：太貧窮的危險: 我們可能會違背神

                烏甲的第一個請求是：“神啊，不要使我太貧窮！”我可以想象，我們中間許多人都曾這樣禱告。這樣禱告並不難：主啊，賜給我一些錢，至少達到那個數目！有一個沒有收錄在聖經裏的猶太諺語這樣說，“貧窮不是恥辱，但也不是榮耀。”

                我想，人們一定還有很多類似的禱告。烏甲說，他不想要讓他的生命行在容易讓他陷入謊言的道路之中。在你人生的困境之中，你如何會陷入謊言？

•             其他人可能會欺騙你。在每一個社會中，都有專門欺騙窮人的人。有人答應給你一個好工作，但是卻使你陷入非法之事。生意場上就充滿了欺騙。非法毒品生意也是如此。當你在貧窮中掙紮著生存的時候，你會很容易被惡人以無數種方式所欺騙。在烏甲的禱告之前，箴言中就已經提到這件事了。比如在22：22，貧窮人，你不可因他貧窮，就搶奪他的物。也不可在城門口欺壓困苦人。

•             你可能會欺騙自己。在第9節，烏甲看到人心深處的思想（包括他自己）: 恐怕我貧窮就偷竊，以至褻瀆我神的名。

你看到了嗎？烏甲的禱告，不僅僅是要得到金錢，而是要避免偷竊。他了解人性，

當我們有深切的需求時，我們就面臨著向家人或朋友偷竊的試探。有些人甚至會偷教會奉獻袋裏的錢。我們常常會欺騙自己說，只要我們有了錢，就一定會償還的，然而這卻是很少發生。我們開始了這樣一條人生之路，就會越來越難走回到那條正直和忠誠的路上。

我想，我們在座的很多人都面對過這樣的試探。從這第一條禱告中，你學到了什麽？

1.            在你有需求的時候，你必須要特別清楚自己的軟弱

烏甲了解他自己：如果境況絕望，又有機會，他便會偷竊，並且欺騙自己說，這沒

有那麽壞。烏甲求神賜給他足夠的物質所需，因為他知道自己的軟弱。他的禱告讓我們看到，他渴望遠離使他軟弱和面對試探的境況。這聽起來是不是和另一個禱告很像？當耶穌教導我們禱告的時候，祂說，“不叫我們遇見試探，救我們脫離兇惡……”

2.            在你有需求的時候，討神喜悅仍然應當是你最深切的渴望。

烏甲所關心的不是違法和進監牢。這當然是其中一個後果，但卻不是最主要的。他

主要關心的也不是保持神所定規的生活方式，他知道神曾定規說：不準偷竊！”烏甲渴望的是榮耀神。與做正直的人相比起來，這個禱告更多涉及到與神之間的關系。

                你看到了嗎？如果你這樣禱告，你就是愛神的，比起擔心自己受貧窮來，你更擔心你所愛的神不喜悅你。你知道，自己在軟弱的時候，你會作一些違反神旨意的事，比如偷竊。所以你禱告說，“主啊，我每天都需要你的幫助，所以，尤其在我有需求的時候，求你不要使我違法你的第八條戒命。”

危險之二：太富足的危險: 中斷與神的關系

                第二個渴求是：“主啊，請保護我，不要讓我太富足！”你這樣禱告過嗎? 我們可能會禱告說，“不要使我太貧窮”，但是你有沒有禱告過“不要使我太富足？”“主啊，我掙太多錢了，救我！”我想大概很少人會這樣禱告。

                然而，烏甲知道他的軟弱之處。他了解，當他所擁有的超過他的需求時，會遇到什麽危險。他清楚簡明地說，“如果我錢財太多，‘恐怕我飽足不認識你，說，耶和華是誰呢？’”

                這裏有一個耶穌常常使用的原則，錢財使我們不必依靠神。當我們所有的需求都得到滿足時，我們的生活就不再需要神了。物質常常在我們的生活中代替了神的位置。

                我還需要在這方面說得更多嗎？教會中很多人告訴過我說，當他們向家人或朋友作見證的時候，他們說，“我靠自己過得挺好，為什麽需要神？”可能他們內心深處知道他們需要神，然而同時，他們心中又感覺到他們沒有神也能過得一樣好。

                讓我們不要再去想別人，你自己如何呢？財富有沒有讓你感覺安全、堅強、被保護、有成就、被羨慕、和有能力？當一切都順利的時候，你會不會認為自己不那麽迫切地需要神的幫助?你自己可以很好地照顧自己。這樣的自我滿足的生活方式往往會在我們的生活中悄無聲息地存在，並且通常都會以人稱“世界第一大困擾”為開始。如果你生活在這種情況下，還能找出禱告事項的話，你就會這樣禱告：

•             “主啊，不要讓我的指甲斷掉，因為我要和我喜歡的人去約會”。

•             “我很有挫折感，因為我不能決定在我個人空間裏使用哪張自拍照”。

•             “主啊，我的兩棟房子都需要打理，壓力很大! ”

當我們擁有很多財富的時候，我們還是很容易向神求更多的東西。對我來說，要想

有好的生活，就要每天依靠和相信神，來得到我們所需的一切。我們要盡力使用祂所交托給我們的一切，來彰顯祂的良善。

                對我們很多人來說，這就是箴言的建議：也許有時你所有的並不是最舒適的生活，但是可能滿足一切需求並不是人生最好的境況。

為金錢禱告的關鍵是什麽？

           在教會中，總是有人在兩個極端之處，也有人處在中間。我們怎樣才能有信心和智慧為金錢做這樣的禱告？我想，有兩個關鍵所在：

關鍵之一：為了每天依靠神而禱告：“我們日用的飲食，今日賜給我們……(8節)”

                烏甲的禱告與耶穌在馬太福音第六章中所教導我們的禱告一樣。“我們日用的飲食，今日賜給我們……”我們若要與神同行，這一點非常重要。聖經的意思是，在我們度過每一天的時候，我們都應當知道，我們所有的一切都是從神而來的。我們不會認為，這一切都是我們理所當得的。我們每天都必須要依靠祂的供應，並且為之感恩，深切地感恩。

                當然，神不想成為你的Costco連鎖倉儲店，大量提供各種商品，將一切都儲藏起來……當神在曠野中供給以色列人瑪拿的時候，祂告訴他們只收取一天的分量。如果有人收取多了，第二天早上就會生蟲。你也應當只收取夠當天的分量，然後就要相信，神明天仍舊會賜給你需用的飲食。

           當你每天都要來到神面前祈求的時候，聖經會教導我們在這種境況之中所需的智慧。你會接近神、依靠神，和常常禱告。我想，我們很多人都能夠理解這個原則，但是如果我們夠誠實，我們都不希望遇到這樣的境況。我們都更喜歡銀行裏有多余的存款，可供緊急時使用。我們都希望有不止一天的飲食。

                請仔細聽，我並不認為聖經教導我們放棄我們的存款。在耶穌教導我們為日用的飲食禱告之後，祂也告訴我們神如何看顧麻雀。我們知道，麻雀也為冬天而儲存食物，那也是神看顧的一部分。我的意思是，我們應當歡喜面對依靠神供應的境

況。

                從其他箴言章節和聖經的教導中，我也相信，神供應祂子民的其中一個方式，是通過其他基督徒對有需求的人的奉獻和照顧。如果你現在在金錢上蒙受祝福，你是最應當感恩的人，你應當每天思考如何延伸神的工作，給別人帶來祝福。你讀過箴言19：17嗎？憐憫貧窮的，就是借給耶和華。他的善行，耶和華必償還。

關鍵之二：讓渴望榮耀神成為你最深的禱告 ---- “不要讓我褻瀆我神的名（30：9）

                聰明人都不想受貧窮，因為他害怕自己會違反神的第八條誡命，偷竊窮人和富人的財物，從而違反了第三條誡命，褻瀆了神的名。我們最深的渴望，應當是讓世人看到：1）我們在困境中的信心；2）我們在順境中經歷神的信實。這個禱告的關鍵不是“我們如何才能得到最舒適和快樂的生活，”盡管許多人都這樣禱告。我們的禱告應當是：在何種境況中，我們才最能夠榮耀神，與神親近？“

                有時候你需要認識到，我們最想要的境況，並不是最好的。我們總是祈求得到那些讓我們更少地依靠神、不需要任何信心的事物。

                遵循箴言關於金錢的教導的下面兩個原則，你才能過有智慧的生活：1）當你完全依靠神過每一天的生活；2）當你擁有財物時，你要用神所托付給你的錢財盡可能地行善

 

不要讓我太貧窮或太富足，

賜給我每日所需的飲食，

讓我能榮耀你的名。

 

祂的荣耀，

格雷格Waybright博士
主任牧師

Greg Waybright • Copyright 2015, Lake Avenue Church