“A Lifestyle of Prayer”

This week’s prayer focus:  Possessions!

“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.  But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’  In tithes and offerings.  You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me.”
Malachi 3:8-9 (NIV)

This week we will focus our prayer time on God’s command to not steal!  As with all of God’s commands, our breaking this command is typically an issue of the heart as much as, or more than, a problem with our actions.  As we understand the source of our possessions and examine how we use them, we may discover times when we are guilty of stealing — from ourselves, from our family, from others, and/or from God!  As you pray this week, ask God to help you have His perspective on possessions and to fill you with a spirit of generosity.  Pray that you would not only not take things that belong to others but that you would not keep things that you are supposed to give.  Pray for a unity of spirit among believers in general and among your church family in particular.  

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) 

Please spend time each day praying about, and writing down, how God would have you live out that day’s aspect of prayer.

Sunday: Pray for your church, its staff and leadership, and for all of the preaching and teaching that takes place.  Pray for me (Tom Lemler) and the work of Impact Prayer Ministry.

Monday:  Treasured Possessions.  Pray that you would see yourself as God’s treasured possession.  Pray that you would always see people as having greater value than things.  “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him.”  Malachi 3:17 (NIV)

Tuesday:  Abundant Possessions.  Pray that you would not measure your life, or the lives of others, by the quantity of possessions that are held.  “Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”  Luke 12:15 (NIV)

Wednesday:  Give Possessions.  Pray that you would be willing to give of your possessions and use them to make right any wrongs you have done.  “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’”  Luke 19:8 (NIV)

Thursday:  Received Possessions.  Pray that you would always recognize the true source of all possessions that you have.  “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”  1 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)

Friday:  Eternal Possessions.  Pray that the value you place on possessions would only be in reference to the good they do in proclaiming and sharing God’s kingdom.  “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”  Matthew 6:20 (NIV)

Saturday:  Shared Possessions.  Pray that God would give you a heart of compassion that learns to share possessions with those in need.  “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”  Acts 4:32 (NIV)