By Brian and Heidi Helm
Hi Parkway family! Welcome to the 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, Heidi and Brian here. Today we’re touching on day eight. We’re touching on lending and borrowing and consumerism. A scripture verse that we’d like to share is Deuteronomy 28:12. “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season, and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but you will borrow from none.”
I think consumerism is a great topic to talk about. Just out of the holiday season, you know, for us, celebrating the birth of Christ. But for most of the world or a lot of the world, it’s going to be all about the stuff, you know, the buying and the gifts, which is great. There’s nothing wrong with that directly.
But for a lot of people, it’s the season of debt as well. It’s actually a financial hardship and suffering, post-holiday from all the purchases. And I think for us, something I just want to challenge everybody with is to really be in prayer about the role stuff has in our life and the consumer culture.
It’s really hard for us in America. I read an article one time that we were one of the most marketed to people groups in the world. And it’s true. I mean, you can’t even write a message to a friend on social media without ads.
I just want to encourage everyone to really dig into scripture in 2025, and focus on God’s direction in finances and what he would have for us. You know, the Lord is abundant. The earth is abundant. The variety that he has given us to enjoy is just mind blowing. And I think we kind of try to shortcut that in many ways.
Instead of waiting on him and just seeing what he has for us, we try to make it happen ourselves and thinking about this topic, the Israelites came to mind where, they’re in the desert, and they’re wandering. And all they had to do was go outside every morning and gather up their food for the day.
It was just provided for them and just ready to go. Couldn’t have been easier. Two things stood out for me. One is that there was only enough for that day. They couldn’t gather for a full week. They could only gather just enough for that day. They couldn’t overconsume basically. And the second part is they weren’t content with it.
There’s this discontentment that crept in over time. They couldn’t have been provided for in a more abundant and easy way. They just had to walk outside and gather up their food in a desert. But, over time, they were not happy. They wanted more and more and more. And the Lord provided more for them.
And they were still unhappy even in that.The rich young ruler asked Christ how to follow him. And he said, you need to give up your stuff and follow me. And he couldn’t do it.
He couldn’t trade his stuff, for the Lord’s abundance. And so I just want us to really be in prayer about that. Pray over our financial decisions, pray about our consumption of stuff. Not that the stuff is bad directly. I mean, the Lord wants to bless us with abundance, but it’s our attitude and where our heart is.
You know about that stuff. That’s really, really the key takeaway, I think, from this. So I want to pray with everyone and join us and just look forward to an abundant 2025. And then we would be more aligned with the Lord’s, will and direction in finances.
So Lord, thank you for your abundant blessing in our life, God, that you have given us so much.
Even in this country. Lord, the things that we just take as an everyday, basic life necessity, we could turn a light switch on, we can open a faucet, get clean water, can enjoy a hot shower just by turning a knob in the morning, or those would be just incredible luxuries for so many people in the world.
And for us, it’s just something we don’t even give a second thought to. So Lord, thank you even for that basic life that we live is abundant. I just ask that you would help us to keep that in mind this year, Lord, that you watch over us and give us so much.
The thief comes to steal and destroy. And that starts with discontentment in many ways, Lord, that you’ve given us an abundant, beautiful life and that we become discontent with what we have and want more and more and more and make our way towards our own power, through debt, through financial decisions that we didn’t consult you on. Lord, I just pray over that. Just God that our minds and thoughts would be about you and what you have for us, and that we would be good stewards of the abundance that you have given us.
Thank you, Lord, for all of these things. In Jesus name, Amen.
