March 9, 2003 Proverbs 30:7-9
“Financial praying”
INTRODUCTION
The message today will be the last installment in our series on biblical finances. I think that after today, we will have gained enough information to chew on for a while. Like the messages that we have received up to this point, you will have to make a decision on whether or not you are going to believe and act on what you receive today. I know that some of you are going to do today the same thing that you do virtually every time that you hear a pastor speak on finances. You’re going to say, “That sounds all well and good, but it won’t work in my situation.” You might be justified in saying that if I was up here giving you my own thoughts on finances or if I had gained what I’ve shared with you through listening to unsaved businessmen and financial planners whose only financial goal is the meeting of their own pleasures. But that is not my source of information. My source of information is the Bible, and therefore this teaching that I give comes not from men but from God. It is God’s truth. God’s truth is absolute. That means that it applies to all people, in all places at all times regardless of their situation. You would be wise to listen, and you would be even wiser to put it into practice.
Even knowing that the ultimate source is God, still there is the temptation to disregard the financial advice that a poor preacher gives to you. After all, if I was seeking for wisdom on how to be financially stable, I would go to someone who had a million dollars – someone who is financially stable – not to someone like me who has less than a hundred dollars in his checking account. Any of you who are prone to that way of thinking are going to get just what you asked for. We’re going to learn from someone who was one of the richest men of all time. We’re going to learn from Solomon, the third king of Israel.
Solomon knew what he was talking about when it came to money. God had enabled him to accumulate great wealth. The book of 1 Kings talks about some of his wealth – 40 thousand horses, a temple that was built of costly stone and overlaid with pure gold on the entire interior and a home that was built of stone overlaid almost completely with cedar. Solomon knew riches. The advantage that he had was that he also had wisdom. God gave him greater wisdom than anyone of his time (1 Kings 4:30) and perhaps greater than anyone of all time. Solomon recorded much of that wisdom in the book of Proverbs - one of three books that he wrote. It contains many short wisdom sayings about almost every aspect of life, including money. We heard many of those verse read already this morning. Some of the proverbs recorded in the book originated with him, but many of them were collected from other sources by Solomon. Since Solomon chose to collect all these sayings, we know they are wise and can be trusted. And since God was in control of the whole process, we know that these Proverbs are God’s own truth.
We come to one of those collections of someone else’s wisdom here in Proverbs 30. Here we have the “sayings of Agur”. Though we know nothing about Agur’s background or financial condition, we know a lot about his character from things that he says here in this chapter.
1. He was a teacher (vs. 1). He passed along truth to other people. He knew that the truth he was given through precepts and through experience was not given to him to keep to himself but for him to pass it along. The same is true for you. The truths that I have gained and given to you, you have a responsibility to pass along to other people.
2. He was humble (vs. 2-4).
3. He had a high regard for God’s written word (vs. 5-6).
4. He had a relationship with God (vs. 7-9).
5. He liked lists (vs. 15,18,21,24,29). Lists helped him organize his world so that he could get a handle on it. I can identify with that. I, like some of you, organize my day and my week by a list – a list of those things that are important for me to accomplish. I am glad that you included being in God’s house as a part of your list of important things for this week.
Today, we are going to spend our time on that 4th characteristic that Agur possessed – his relationship with God particularly as it relates to how he viewed earthly wealth. This sermon picks up where we left off last week concerning the greatest danger of money – idolatry. There is great potential for conflict between my relationship with God and my attitude toward money. Verses 7-9 are a prayer that Agur prayed out of his desire to make sure that he kept God and money in their proper place in his life. His prayer shows 4 recognitions that controlled what financial goals he sought and what he was willing to do in order to get there.
1. He recognized that all good things come from God. “I ask of you”
(James 1:17 NIV) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…
What I have does not come through my own efforts (no room for pride). This includes my salvation. (Ephesians 2:8,9)
What I have does not come from my boss
What I have is given as a gift from God. My proper response is thankfulness.
Agur communicated his attitude toward money in the form of a prayer. That’s what I’d like us to do with each section that we look at today. You have a place there on your note sheet that you can come up with your own prayer based on what we see in Agur’s prayer. You can put whatever you think is appropriate in the blank for each section, but here is my suggestion:
PRAYER: Lord, cause me to remember that everything that I have now is a gift from you so that I will be thankful. And Lord, whatever needs present themselves today, remind me that you are the only one that can meet those needs.
2. He recognized that money is for this life, and is therefore, temporary. “before I die”
“A person with a healthy attitude about finances realizes that whatever my financial condition, it is only temporary.”
(James 1:11 NIV) …the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
Later on in that same book, James talks about businessmen who make plans to go to another city to buy and sell goods to make their fortune. Making plans is good, as we saw last week. But these men made plans as if they were absolutely sure that there would be a tomorrow. In response to their attitude, James says to them and to us, (James 4:14 NKJV) …you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Not everything is temporary though. (2 Cor 4:17-18 NIV) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Paul goes on to say in 5:1 that we will inherit “an eternal house in heaven”.
PRAYER: Lord, remind me that whatever financial need or surplus I am dealing with today, it is only temporary. Cause me to focus on and work toward the eternal reward that is waiting for me when I get to be with you.
3. He recognized that lies are a dangerous tool to gain wealth for you or from you. “keep falsehood”
It was about a year and a half ago that we learned about the lies that the company called Enron had told to its employees and to the general public. The executives of this company teamed with some accounting executives at Arthur-Anderson to re-shape Enron’s financial records to make the company look more profitable than it actually was. They did this so that the general public as well as their own employees would continue to buy Enron’s stock and invest needed capital into the company. When the lie was exposed, the whole company fell apart. Most of the employees lost their jobs, and all of them lost the money that they had invested in their company’s retirement package. I remember hearing of one couple whose 401(k) had reached a little over a million dollars. They were getting ready to retire in just a few months while still in their 50’s. Now, they are left with nothing – no job and no retirement money. But, as you know, not everyone suffered from the fall of Enron. Several of the top executives cashed out their stocks just before it came tumbling down and made many millions of dollars. Lies were used to take money from some and to make money for some.
But you don’t need to be an Enron to benefit financially from or be hurt financially by lies. I submit that many of us have used lies, or at least been tempted to, in order to help “the bottom line”. Let me suggest a few.
Lies that he could tell
Taxes (not reporting all income, claiming deductions that are not true, overestimating the value of charitable contributions, underestimating the value of properties that you possess)
Receiving gov’t financial help that you do not qualify for (i.e. food stamps, medical help)
Not correcting a cashier or employee who makes a financial mistake in your favor (we are quick to correct them when the mistake is not in our favor)
This past week, I was tempted to lie in order to benefit the church financially. Last Sunday, some of you may have seen me counting the tiles on the floor. I wasn’t doing that because I was bored or because I had gone insane. I was trying the determine the square footage of the amount of space that we occupy in this building. That’s what our liability insurance is based on. As I added it up, I was dismayed to find that it was a lot more space than I thought which would mean that our insurance would go up. I was tempted to leave out a couple of rooms in the final count, but I did not give in to that temptation.
Not paying your employees what they deserve, thereby lying to them about their real worth to you and your company
Employees who call in sick to work so that they can still get paid without doing the required work
Companies who lie to their employees about the financial instability of the company in order to get salary concessions from them
Financial advisor who lies to you about the security and potential growth of a company’s stock in order to get you to buy that stock so that he can get a bigger commission
People that come to the church and lie about their financial needs in order to get food or money from the church
Car or computer salesman who lies about the quality or cost of their product in order to get you to buy the bigger, more expensive model to get a bigger commission
Lies that he could hear and believe
Money/wealth can provide satisfaction, fulfillment, happiness and meaning. Not according to Solomon. Later on in his life, after he had experienced all that wealth had to offer him, Solomon wrote another book – Ecclesiastes. Listen to what he says about his quest to find meaning and satisfaction through the things that wealth enabled him to do. (Eccl. 2:4-11)
Wealth can be gained and kept without hard work. We don’t have to earn it. That’s why people play the lottery. That’s why people keep hoping that Ed McMahon will show up at their door one Superbowl Sunday. They want something given to them.
A hobo walked up to the front door of a big farmhouse, and knocked on the door until the owner answered. The hobo said, “Sir, could I please have something to eat? I haven’t had a meal in days.” The well-to-do owner of the house said, “I have made my fortune in the world by never giving anything away for free. If you go around to the back of the house, you’ll fine a fresh gallon of paint and a clean brush. Paint my porch and I’ll give you a good meal.”
The hobo headed off to the back of the house. About an hour later he knocked on the front door. The homeowner was surprised. “You’re finished already? That was quick! Come on in and sit down, and I’ll have the cook bring you a meal.” “Thank you, sir!” the hobo said. “I must tell you though, you really don’t know your cars. That’s not a Porch back there. It’s a BMW."
The Bible makes it clear that financial stability can be gained and enjoyed through no other means than hard work. (Prov. 28:19; 24:33-34)
The ultimate goal of life is the acquisition of wealth. (Luke 12:29-31 NIV) And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things… Every time that you see one of those info-mercials on TV that say you can make millions of dollars through buying and selling properties or setting up your own web sight, they’re lying to you. Why are they lying? To get you to send in that $99.95 to get their special book or method for making money. They’re telling you that your greatest objective in life is to make money and get stuff. That’s a lie, and if we’re not careful, it’s a lie that we will pass along to our children.
The Bible very clearly teaches us what the ultimate goal of life must be. (Isa 55:6-7 NIV) Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. David, who is described as a man after God’s own heart said, (Psa 27:4 KJV) One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life… In the New Testament, Paul said, (Col 3:1-2 NIV) …set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Whenever God tells us to do or not to do something, there is always a reason. God warns us about making the acquisition of wealth our ultimate goal because He knows that doing so will only create heartache for us. It ruins families. It ruins marriages. It will ruin you because it will make you willing to do just about anything, break any ethical code if it will benefit you financially. And even if you get there, you will get there alone, and you will find it empty and unable to fulfill all its promises. The Bible says that the rich have many friends (Prov. 14:20), but that those friends are only there to get what they can from you.
In contrast, it is also clear that there are great rewards to seeking after God. (1 Chr 16:10-11 NIV) …let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. (Psa 34:10 NIV) …those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. God promises that those who make a vital and growing relationship with Him their number one goal will have their physical needs met, and they will also have their emotional and spiritual needs met. They will have joy, strength and they will have satisfaction. You see, no matter how much I seek after wealth, I will more than likely end up frustrated and bankrupt. There are only a few who ever become wealthy. But everyone who seeks after God will find Him and get to enjoy all that He has to offer. (Jer 29:13 NIV) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. That is the truth. That is something that you can trust. I tell you this not because it will benefit me financially but because it will radically change your life.
Agur prayed that God would prevent him from using lies to benefit himself financially and prevent him from getting entangled by other people’s lies. In himself and in others, he wanted to recognize truth.
PRAYER: Lord, help me to always speak the truth no matter how much it costs me. And Lord, may I recognize lies and truth when they are spoken to me so that I will seek after what is important to you.
4. He recognized that financial extremes can easily create spiritual problems. “poverty nor riches”
a. plenty disown (Prov. 14:20b)
Part of the problem of growing a church here in Bridgeport is that a majority of the people that live here are not financially needy. They might not describe themselves as wealthy, but they are financially comfortable. They have good jobs, they feel relatively secure, they possess nice homes. It is harder for people in that kind of situation to see the need for God in their lives. Jesus said that it is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven (Matt. 19:24). It is not because the door of heaven is closed to him or pulled too tightly for him to squeeze through. It is because he has learned to trust in his checkbook, so there is no need for him to trust in God.
All of you who have come to God came because you recognized that there was some kind of need in your life. Some people have gotten in touch with God through a financial need that caused them to seek out help from a church. But most of you came because you felt a need for meaning in life, a need for your life to have greater significance than just living and dying, a need to receive forgiveness and release from the guilt that you were carrying. And God met those needs for you just as He will meet those needs for anyone who comes to Him. God will pour out His blessings in extravagant ways until there is not room for us to hold any more.
Agur knew that, and I’m sure that he wanted to enjoy God’s spiritual and emotional blessings in an extravagant way. But when it came to financial blessings, Agur didn’t want God’s extravagance. He said basically, “Please God, don’t make me rich.” “When was the last time you prayed for God not to give you some type of financial blessing? Usually, we want every financial blessing coming to us. And in fact, we will generally think if we are not receiving those blessings something must be wrong with us.”
This portion of Agur’s prayer was prompted by a danger that he saw and that we need to be aware of. Agur was afraid that the glitter of gold and diamonds would cloud his vision so that he could not see the glory of God. He feared that he would give in to the temptation to forsake God in order to gain and keep money. It is the danger of discarding the valuable things that God has already given us because of the lure of something that sparkles more. How many marriages have been ruined because in seeking for a “greater, more exciting, more fulfilling” relationship, one or the other spouse lost the relationship that they should have been treasuring all along? We all have this same tendency. It is the “grass is always greener” syndrome.
Solomon should have listened to these words of Agur’s because the very thing that he feared happened in Solomon’s life. He got his eyes on the wealth and other treasures of this life that God had given him and took his eyes off God. He forgot what the true treasure of his life was.
“My financial prayer request should not be only for what I need; it should also [be] for strength not to seek what I don’t need.”
b. poverty dishonor (Prov. 14:20a)
This part of the prayer makes a little bit more sense. It is a little bit easier for us to stomach this kind of prayer. Some of you have been praying this prayer for a long time and feel like God has not been answering. Lest any of you think that you already fit into this category of poverty, let me remind you that we are not talking about poverty as it is defined by the U.S. government. The Bible is our standard and according to it, poverty is defined as not having food to eat or clothes to wear. (1 Tim 6:8 NIV) But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. From the looks of everyone out there, no one here is living in poverty because you’ve all got clothes on, which I am thankful for, and it looks that all of you have had plenty to eat, some of us a little bit more than plenty. If you want to know what true poverty is, go to other countries of the world and listen to mothers wail as they hold their baby that has just died from starvation.
c. provision daily dependence (Prov. 30:8c)
Agur wanted neither the extreme of plenty nor the extreme of poverty. All that he asked for was the very thing that Jesus told us to ask for: (Luke 11:3 NIV) Give us each day our daily bread. I believe that both Agur’s request and Jesus’ counsel were based on the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness. Every day, the Israelites had to go out and gather off the ground the food that God had provided. They called it manna. The Israelites in the wilderness were totally dependent upon God’s daily provision. If God did not provide, they would starve.
Living in a setting where you are totally dependent on God for His daily provision does something for you. It keeps you in close contact with God. You know that without God intervening today, someone’s going to go hungry. It keeps your prayer life consistent and passionate.
George Mueller was a man who knew about daily dependence on God. Following God’s leading, he established an orphanage in Bristol, England. He would often put the children to bed at night, knowing that they had no food to fix for breakfast the next morning and no money with which to buy food. So he would pray, and he would pray with passion. George Mueller’s journal tells of times when the children would be gathered around an empty table for a meal, and would say the blessing over empty plates. As soon as they stopped praying, there would be a knock at the door from the milk man. His truck had broken down in front of the orphanage and he wanted to know if the children could use any milk since it would soon spoil anyway. Often when the orphanage was out of money, George would take a walk only to meet a friend who would say that the Lord had placed it upon his heart to give. George never told anyone but God what the needs of the orphanage were. He, like Agur, knew that his dependence was solely on God not on other people, and it kept him on his knees in prayer.
Of all the things that Agur’s prayer shows about him, the primary thing that it shows is that he considered his relationship with God to be the most important focus of his life. He didn’t desire riches. He feared that riches would destroy his relationship with God. And the only reason that he asked that God not send him into poverty is that he feared poverty might make him disobey God’s laws and do harm to the honor of God’s name. His concern was not for himself and his own personal comfort through material wealth. His great concern was for his relationship with God because He considered that to be of far greater wealth. That was in fact true wealth because that would last forever and because a vibrant relationship with God was the only thing that had the capability of meeting his true needs.
PRAYER: Lord, help me to realize the value of the treasures that you have already given me so that I will not be tempted to gain something more and risk losing what I already have. Lord, keep me trusting in and dependent upon your constant provision for me.
CONCLUSION
I imagine that every person in this room has prayed a prayer about their personal finances at some time or another. Those prayers usually go something like: “Lord, help!” Maybe our prayers about money need to go a little bit deeper than that. Maybe our prayers need to be prayers about thankfulness, truth and trust.
INVITATION
Everyone here this morning is seeking something. Seek the right things. Don’t set your heart on what this world has to offer, but set your heart on what only God can provide.
Right now, God is seeking you. Jesus said that He came (Luke 19:10 NIV) …to seek and to save what was lost." He is seeking you to give you the most valuable treasure of all – a relationship with Him. You may have been running from God for a long time. Give up today. Let him catch you. He’s waiting to meet you here at the front. Stop running from Him and run to Him.
NOTE: All quotes, unless otherwise indicated, are from a message preached by Dr. Dave Hartson on 8/07/02 as recorded on sermoncentral.com
