Fervent Prayer: Providence - God’s Provision

We can read, study and research a lot about God’s provision. We can reflect looking back in our own lives or the lives of others how God’s provision has been made visible. However, it’s often much more difficult to trust, to live out today, knowing God is our provider. He’s our provider today as much as he was yesterday. This is difficult.

I’d challenge us to reflect on God’s provision today through prayer and scripture. To help us to reflect on this, I’d ask we start with Matthew 9:11: “Give us this day our daily bread…” there can be so much in this one verse we could reflect on.

Known to be someone that prayed often, every day, Martin Luther was once asked for advice on how to pray. So in true Martin Luther fashion, he wrote a letter to help provide guidance. I’d encourage you to read that letter. Today, I’d like us to reflect on his response to verse 11 of the Lord’s Prayer below.

The fourth petition. "Give us this day our daily bread." Say: "Dear Lord, God and Father, grant us thy blessing also in this temporal and physical life. Graciously grant us blessed peace. Protect us against war and disorder. Grant to our dear emperor fortune and success against his enemies. Grant him wisdom and understanding to rule over his earthly kingdom in peace and prosperity. Grant to all kings, princes, and rulers good counsel and the will to preserve their domains and their subjects in tranquility and justice. Especially aid and guide our dear prince N., under whose protection and shelter thou dost maintain us, so that he may be protected against all harm and reign blessedly, secure from evil tongues and disloyal people. Grant to all his subjects grace to serve him loyally and obediently. Grant to every estate-townsman or farmer-to be diligent and to display charity and loyalty toward each other. Give us favorable weather and good harvest. I commend to thee my house and property, wife and child. Grant that I may manage them well, supporting and educating them as a Christian should. Defend us against the Destroyer and all his wicked angels who would do us harm and mischief in this life. Amen."

Here is an excerpt from Martin Luther in his letter “A Simple Way To Pray:”

The nature of God’s provision is well reflected in Luther’s letter. Several elements that stand out when reflecting on God’s provision are:

1. God’s blessed peace.

2. Wisdom and understanding to rule, notice it’s not about looking for prosperity; but rather managing what we have.

3. The grace to serve.

4. The ability to display charity and loyalty to each other.

5. Wisdom to manage our household well and protection against the enemy.

These are just a few. All of which, seem reflective of God’s characteristics as it relates to his provision. Very countercultural to how we see provision today. The intention of asking God to give us our daily bread ultimately can be viewed as follows:

1. A declaration that he is our provider and not us.

2. A reflection that this isn’t just about us, but rather asking he provide so we in turn can provide for others.

Hopefully today, you too can reflect on what God’s provision means for you. What’s our understanding of the intention of this declaration? Is it simply to be comfortable today? Or is there more we should be considering?

Fervent Prayer: Financial Commitment and Provision

" For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” 
2 Cor 8:13-15

Over the years there seems to have been two dominant theologies related to personal finances that have emerged in the church. The first is a ‘poverty theology’. Explained simply, it is the idea that people who are in poverty are somehow more holy or more spiritual then those who have wealth. That one of the marks and means of your spirituality is maintaining a place of poverty. It is true that the bible does seem to indicate that a life in poverty has the potential to teach us about the nature of Jesus. Bonnie Pattison in her book, Poverty in the Theology of John Calvin, describes Calvin’s view of the sanctifying work that is discovered when we live lives of Christ-like poverty. Calvin, she says, describes the life of the believer that “bears the cross” of poverty and affliction, which he calls the “mortification of the outward man”, as lives that are being consecrated by the life and death of Christ. That this humble life becomes an instrument of divine grace and blessing for the believer. Hardships create opportunities for the knowledge of God’s glory to be revealed to the believer, with adversity revealing God’s glory in a way that is otherwise concealed where humble living is absent. The experience of “bearing the cross” brings a knowledge of one’s own spiritual poverty which works to foster humility in the believer. There is no doubt that this state MAY provide a pathway to greater spiritual understanding but poverty in and of itself is NOT greater spirituality.  The willingness to live in a state of poverty has the same potential for arrogant carnality that riches does. 

The second dominate theology related to personal financial status is a ‘prosperity theology’. It is the belief that personal financial wealth reveals personal spiritual maturity. That the blessings of God manifest on the spiritual in the form of financial prosperity. If you are spiritual you will be wealthy and if you’re not wealthy you’re probably not spiritual. Although every believer should always acknowledge that all blessings are gifts from God toward us, there is nothing in scripture to indicate that financial prosperity follows spiritual maturity. In fact a cursory reading of scripture will show that some of the great giants of faith throughout scripture were living in a state far from what could be described as financial prosperity. Jesus Christ himself describes His situation on earth as ‘having no place to lay his head’ and literally needed a miracle to pay His taxes. For that matter he says ‘woe to those who are rich for you have already received your reward’. But even with that being said, being wealthy or receiving abundant financial blessings from God is not necessarily a mark of carnality. There were many great men and women of faith that God did bless with financial well being;  it was how they chose to use that wealth that revealed their spiritual state. 

You see there is a financial theology that properly frames both poverty and prosperity that not only addresses the tension between poverty and wealth we see in scripture but also properly focuses the eyes and heart of the follower of Jesus Christ.

If I were to identify what I believe the bible teaches as it relates to finances in the life of the believer I would say it is neither a theology of poverty or a theology of prosperity but a theology of need meeting. It is the belief that God meets our needs and we in turn meet the needs of others. Every time you see the topic of God’s provision for His people you see the word ‘needs’ associated with it. Whether it is in Christ’s encouragement in the Gospels to not chase after the basic provisions of the life because ‘your Father knows’ your needs and he will provide them or the encouragement in Philippians 4 where we are told that God will supply all our needs according to His riches. What you discover is that God is aware of our needs and willing and wanting to meet them. But in addition to the meeting of our needs (not wants) being met by God,  throughout scripture we are called to meet the needs of others with our extra; your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need. This was the practice in the first century church where they were distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need (Acts 2 and Acts 4). And it’s not just the needs of the individual but it is the needs of the ministry of God’s church. Paul in Philippians 4 commended them for funding his ministry and throughout his teachings he emphasizes to the members of the church that duty to provide for the ministry of the church (1 Corinthians 9, 1 Timothy 5). 

The reason I say that the theology of need meeting puts it all in proper perspective is because it removes the focus from ourselves and on to God and others. We do not become fixated on whether our spirituality is providing our blessing or whether our willingness to sacrifice means we’ve earned our righteousness. Both of these are mindsets that spring from and lead to spiritual arrogance. Instead, through a theology of need meeting,  we are focused on God as gracious provider and on others as the recipients of our God inspired love. When we see the undeserved provision of God towards us our gratitude towards Him grows as does our desire to be generous toward others. 

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Dear God, the one who knows and provides all our needs, we come before you with open hands and open hearts. Please give to each one of us that which we need to grow in our knowledge of you. Help us to always turn our faces to you to receive and our faces towards others to give. By your Holy Spirit, may we learn the beauty of dependence on you and the beauty of generosity towards your church and your people. Amen.

Fervent Prayer: Financial Commitment and Provision

Hopefully throughout your time at Mercy Hill, you’ve sensed and heard that why we give matters more than what we give. We emphasize this every Sunday during worship. And through the example in Luke 21, the Bible gives us many reasons to be generous. Today I’d like to highlight one of those reasons; to care for others. 

Matthew 6:33 says to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  “These things” referring to essentials like food, water, clothes. The author, Craig Blomberg in his book Neither Poverty nor Riches states the following:

“As the community of the redeemed seeks first God’s righteousness standards, by definition they will help the need in their midst.”

We see this play out in Acts 4 with the early Christians when it states “ There was not a needy person among them.”

In January, we communicated highlights as to where our finances were for 2016 and the general direction for 2017. What excites me about this year are two things; we will be celebrating 10 years since launching Mercy Hill and our hearts for church planting continues to be a part of who we are. What was written as our mission then still holds true today,

“Mercy Hill is committed to a philosophy of church that values community and focuses on the development of people rather than the expansion of the organization.  We are not focused on building a church, but rather, focused on being the church.”

Being the church to our community, sharing and living out the Gospel. This continues to be made possible by God’s gracious provision and your continued submission to gracious giving.

To reiterate what we shared last month; we ask you spend time today in prayer and in discussion with your families to continue to discern where the Holy Spirit is leading you in terms of engagement with the broader church, whether through finances, serving at church, or serving in a community group. Let’s continue to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”

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