Prayer for Purpose

Financial difficulty is a reality faced by millions of people in the world. There’s precious little money for the essentials—things like food, rent, and car repairs—and luxuries like eating out and going to the movies have become a rarity in many households.

But fear not. God has your back, and He’s already given you the key to prosperity: prayer. But this isn’t just a matter of asking God for money. There’s more to prayer than that.

Fortunately, Christ gave us a template for effective prayer in what we know as the Lord’s Prayer, found in Matthew 6:9-13. Let’s take a look at how the Son of God says we should pray.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Amen.”

Notice something about Jesus’ example? Here’s the secret to effective prayer: it’s focused more on God than on us. It’s your will be done. It’s your kingdom come. And the words that are directed at us mention not riches, but “daily bread”.

Now, this doesn’t mean that, as Christians, we’re doomed to lives of poverty. It simply means that we need to shift our perspective a little, and pray for financial success in the context of our service to God—instead of wanting money for that new BMW, we need to want it so that we can give to the poor. We need to want it so that we can more easily do God’s work in the world.

That mental shift isn’t an easy one to make, though, so let’s look at this effective example of prayer that will draw financial success through following Jesus’ example.

For eventual financial prosperity, you’ll need to pray for purpose. Jesus, in Matthew 5:13-16, gives us a sense of what our purpose is—we are to let our “light shine for others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven”.

This means that, whatever you do—whether you’re a doctor or a janitor or a teacher—you do it to the best of your ability. You do it for God, in order to make the world a better place. In doing so, you’ll find God’s blessings—and keep in mind that employers take note when you perform with passion and purpose.

Prayer:

Father,

I pray that You would give me a sense of purpose,
And that You would help me to find a place for the gifts and talents You have given me.
Help me to do everything I do not for my own glory, but for Yours.
Help me to be always selfless and humble, and yet skilled and great.

Please help me to not hide my light, but display it to the world so that it can see a glimpse of Your glory.

Amen.

Unexpected Prosperity

Prosperity can mean many things, as you can see from the Biblical narrative. It might mean that you are simply provided with the essentials. It might mean that you are made a king. But usually, it’s something in between.

But if you pray for these things, you’ll foster the kind of heart that attracts the blessing of financial prosperity. When you are able to let go of the self and embrace your glorious purpose in God’s kingdom, you’ll find that anything is possible.