Our daily bread: why prayer matters
Jesus taught his disciples to pray for daily bread. He invites us to live our daily lives prayerfully; trusting in and grateful for God’s provision.
Luke tells us about two rich men who meet Jesus. First up, a rich ruler (Lk18:18-23) who calls Jesus Teacher when asking about eternal life. He walks away sad. His money gets in the way. The price of discipleship is too high. Next up, Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10). He’s also rich but salvation lands at his front door. The proof of his new life in Jesus: generous giving and financial integrity.
Teacher or Lord?
You see, for the Rich Ruler, Jesus was a Teacher. But for Zacchaeus Jesus is Lord. There’s a world of difference. The Bible can and does teaches us all sorts about living well with money. There’s bible wisdom on budgeting and borrowing, spending and saving, and giving. But we enter into generous discipleship when Jesus becomes Lord of our money, our possessions.
When we pray we can, like Solomon, seek wisdom in all things, including our financial decisions. But when we come into the presence of God in prayer it runs deeper than those money decisions. When we are in the presence of God we open our hearts to let Jesus be Lord of all we have and hold. Prayer is a spiritual vagus nerve connecting our head, our hearts, our whole life.
Owner and giver
When God’s people came home from Exile to Jerusalem they found a broken city, a shattered economy and a ruined Temple. The prophets Ezra and Haggai called the people to rebuild God’s house. It was a huge challenge. It needed their time, talents and treasure. It was worth it. Haggai offered God’s people a promise, a vision of God’s glory filling God’s house. And then this: “the silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord Almighty”.
When we pray we acknowledge that God is the owner and the giver of all that we have. It’s no longer ‘my money’ to do with as I please. It’s God’s money entrusted to our stewardship. That’s the all important shift in generous discipleship. We don’t get there just by a decision we make in our heads. It’s a change of heart that is born of prayerfulness.
Prayer and generosity
Hardly then that the Bible is packed with stories which connect prayer, shared worship and financial gifts. The Tabernacle in the wilderness, the first Temple in Jerusalem and the restored Temple after the Exile were each places of God’s glory, of God’s dwelling with his people and were built by the extravagant generosity of God’s people (Exod 35:1-36:7; 1 Chron 29; Haggai 1). In the great festivals of Israel’s faith no one should come empty handed but bring gifts in proportion to their blessings (Dt 16:17). The Tithe provided for the priests who served the Temple worship (Num 18:21-32, Neh 10:35-38).
The purpose of Giving in Grace, of any stewardship programme is more than balancing the books, resourcing the ministry. We can do that with a godly asking. The deeper goal is a gentle and growing change of the money culture in our church. A change in tone in how we do our money talk. We can only do that with a godly praying. Prayer helps us connect our faith, our giving, our worship, our lifestyles.
Fruit of the loom
Quarry Bank Mill near Manchester is fascinating, a window into the industrial revolution and into a hard past. Huge, noisy machines send a shuttle flying across the long warp threads, weaving in the weft threads which bind the fabric. Both warp and weft are needed.
In Giving in Grace, the financial data, the case statement, the literature we prepare: these are the warp threads. They are the structure of the programme. Our preaching and our prayer - these are the weft threads and without them, it all falls apart. So, make time to pray, make use of our prayer resources and make prayer a priority in the planning group, in church and in personal prayer.
Check out the liturgical resources for prayer together in church, themed to the different bible passages in Design the Programme
There is a simple order of service for prayer in the planning group, in small groups or on the PCC
For personal prayer or in small groups see the selection of stewardship prayers (upload 8th April) - and curate your own.
Get creative. Think about how to encourage the congregation to pray about Giving in Grace. Think prayer groups and prayer triplets; prayer at the PCC and in house groups; prayer bookmarks or fridge magnets with a ‘theme prayer’.
I am with you
Haggai challenged Israel to rebuild the Temple; to think big, get busy, give sacrificially. It only makes sense, is only possible because: ‘I am with you’ (1:13, 2:4). Prayer is how we hear the promise, know the presence, see the glory.