A Prayer I've never Prayed before...
I'm not a "name it, claim it" kind of guy, or as I've heard it said "gab it, grab it". I like to give, serve, and love without strings attached so that I'm not messed up with ulterior motives that come with hidden expectations of some sort of kickback. I get to give...I don't give to get. That's what I'm trying to say.
But I woke up this morning and did something I haven't done before.
I wrote out a prayer as I tithed to our church. I've shared before than Heidi and I give on the 1st and 14th of every month as a direct deposit from our checking account and I typically wake up on those days and say something like: "It's yours, Lord...and it's coming to You." It's a moment of worship where I say to him, "You're first and everything else comes after You." It's the sacrament of supremacy...as I give my first I declare him first.
We are in the middle of our "First and Ten 120-Day Tithing Challenge" that comes from a verse in Malachi 3 we studied last month that says...
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "And see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and provide so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will produce ripened fruit. Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a peaceful land," says the Lord Almighty."
I used this verse to form a prayer this morning that was connected to our tithe...as I wrote it out, I felt like it may be a great prayer for us to collectively pray on this, the 45th Day of our Tithing Challenge. It's easy to forget commitments, but these are the disciplines that keep my heart reminded along the way of what my priorities are and why. Here is the prayer that I prayed out of this verse that I'd love to pray as a church as we tithe, whether it's weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, etc....
PROVIDE
Lord, I ask for you to take what I'm returning to you and use it for your kingdom. As my tithe combines with others' in your storehouse, meet people's physical and spiritual needs with these resources, Lord. But I also pray that you would continue to provide for me and my family as we put your first. Give us this day our daily bread. Pour out your blessing on my life and take care of my needs in ways that cause me to marvel. You know where we are struggling to make ends meet and where we need You to show up in order to make it. Could you throw open the floodgates of blessing as you've promised and surprise us with unforeseen provision directly connected to Your providence. You know each of your children and their unique needs, so you known mine. I believe you love me and will take care of me, and even if I can't see Your hand right away, I'm trusting that you will meet my needs according to your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. This act of tithing is me trusting you to supply my needs in your timing and on your terms. I surrender control of my life to you. My responsibility is to give my firstfruits, your responsibility is open the floodgates, so I lean on your Word and lean on your promises to provide.
PREVENT
Lord, as I release control of my finances and trust you, I am asking for you to protect me and my family from the attack of the evil one. I believe what you say in Malachi that you will prevent pests from devouring what you have placed under my responsibility, so I'm humbly asking you to watch over my family spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. As Jesus prayed to be 'delivered from evil' I'm asking for your deliverance and your fierce protection of my heart and home. I pray that you would protect our church and our community from depression and destruction. I ask for you to prevent things that I will never even be able to thank you for because they never happened as a result of your divine intervention. I want to thank you for all that you have done as my Guardian thus far, and I rest on your promise of protection today as I return to you my tithe. As the God of the Heavenly Host of Angel Armies I call upon you to shield us from the enemies desire to steal, kill, and destroy my life. As I demonstrate that you are "before me" with my tithe, I pray that you would go "before me" and fight the battles I am truly unable to fight. The Bible is clear that You are on our side and I'm taking this moment to ask for your continued protection and prevention as Malachi says you will do as I trust you with my finances today.
PRODUCE
Lord, as I give you my tithe this morning, I come boldly to you asking for you to bring fruit from by labor. You say in your Word that "unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain". I have spent years in vanity and futility and I want you to know that I understand that you are the one who brings fruitfulness out of my faithfulness. I acknowledge my utter dependance on your ability and capability, knowing that you alone are the giver of all good things as my loving Father. You are the one who gives and takes away, you are the one who grants abundance and thwarts efforts depending on whether we are trustworthy stewards of what you have blessed us with. As I work and put forth effort, I want you to know that I know you are the one who brings success. You are the one who makes my energies productive and profitable. I can plant and plow, but you are the one who sends rain and sunlight...I can't do that...I need you. You are the God of the harvest and I cannot prosper apart from you. So this tithe I bring today is a token of my reliance on your resources. You are the God who makes my life productive and prosperous and I acknowledge you as the Sovereign Lord of All. As I put you first today, I am counting on you to sustain my life. You are the Lord of the Harvest and I believe you hold the keys to my productivity and success. Let this act of tithing today solidify my belief that you are the One I'm leaning on for my life and livelihood.
PEACE
Lord, more than anything else, I long for the serenity and satisfaction that only you can give. I realize today that I can have all the wealth and wisdom the world has to offer and resent my own life. You are the one who grants the virtues of true rest and joy beneath all my money, my job, my possessions, my family, and even my blessings. This tithe today reminds me that you fill a heart and home with fulfillment. You are the one to bring harmony to marriages and connection with kids. You are the only One who gives us "peace that passes understanding" when our lives fall apart or are torn apart by tragedy or some unforeseen travesty. So more than wanting things from You, I want You first. I am not seeking your hand, I am seeking your face. If I give this gift and get nothing in return but the peace that comes from knowing You...that is enough, Lord. You are enough, just You. To have it all without You is to have nothing, because there is nothing I desire more than the pleasure and peace of your presence in my heart and home and relationships. Replace comparison with contentment. Replace jealousy with joy. Replace outer progress with inner peace. This is truly the blessed life and this is what I want more than anything else in the world. So as I tithe today, I want to make it clear that this is not to get more stuff, it's to posture my heart to say, "I want more of You, God". You are my reason and my reward, and I gladly give back to you a portion of what you've so graciously entrusted to me. I love you, Lord. You are my First Love.
_______________________
It is this prayer than filled the page this morning as I gave my tithe to God. I trust his promises...I believe in his provision, protection, production, and peace with all my heart and I wanted to express my heart more fully this morning for some reason. I hope this prayer represents the heart of our church as we continue to put him first and seek him first in our lives.
Today is Day #45 of our 120-Day Tithing Challenge. I hope that it's beginning to move from a challenge to a change. A Change of priority and perspective. An exchange of meaning instead of an exchange of money. This is not about a transaction, it's about a transformation.
But I woke up this morning and did something I haven't done before.
I wrote out a prayer as I tithed to our church. I've shared before than Heidi and I give on the 1st and 14th of every month as a direct deposit from our checking account and I typically wake up on those days and say something like: "It's yours, Lord...and it's coming to You." It's a moment of worship where I say to him, "You're first and everything else comes after You." It's the sacrament of supremacy...as I give my first I declare him first.
We are in the middle of our "First and Ten 120-Day Tithing Challenge" that comes from a verse in Malachi 3 we studied last month that says...
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "And see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and provide so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will produce ripened fruit. Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a peaceful land," says the Lord Almighty."
I used this verse to form a prayer this morning that was connected to our tithe...as I wrote it out, I felt like it may be a great prayer for us to collectively pray on this, the 45th Day of our Tithing Challenge. It's easy to forget commitments, but these are the disciplines that keep my heart reminded along the way of what my priorities are and why. Here is the prayer that I prayed out of this verse that I'd love to pray as a church as we tithe, whether it's weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, etc....
PROVIDE
Lord, I ask for you to take what I'm returning to you and use it for your kingdom. As my tithe combines with others' in your storehouse, meet people's physical and spiritual needs with these resources, Lord. But I also pray that you would continue to provide for me and my family as we put your first. Give us this day our daily bread. Pour out your blessing on my life and take care of my needs in ways that cause me to marvel. You know where we are struggling to make ends meet and where we need You to show up in order to make it. Could you throw open the floodgates of blessing as you've promised and surprise us with unforeseen provision directly connected to Your providence. You know each of your children and their unique needs, so you known mine. I believe you love me and will take care of me, and even if I can't see Your hand right away, I'm trusting that you will meet my needs according to your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. This act of tithing is me trusting you to supply my needs in your timing and on your terms. I surrender control of my life to you. My responsibility is to give my firstfruits, your responsibility is open the floodgates, so I lean on your Word and lean on your promises to provide.
PREVENT
Lord, as I release control of my finances and trust you, I am asking for you to protect me and my family from the attack of the evil one. I believe what you say in Malachi that you will prevent pests from devouring what you have placed under my responsibility, so I'm humbly asking you to watch over my family spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. As Jesus prayed to be 'delivered from evil' I'm asking for your deliverance and your fierce protection of my heart and home. I pray that you would protect our church and our community from depression and destruction. I ask for you to prevent things that I will never even be able to thank you for because they never happened as a result of your divine intervention. I want to thank you for all that you have done as my Guardian thus far, and I rest on your promise of protection today as I return to you my tithe. As the God of the Heavenly Host of Angel Armies I call upon you to shield us from the enemies desire to steal, kill, and destroy my life. As I demonstrate that you are "before me" with my tithe, I pray that you would go "before me" and fight the battles I am truly unable to fight. The Bible is clear that You are on our side and I'm taking this moment to ask for your continued protection and prevention as Malachi says you will do as I trust you with my finances today.
PRODUCE
Lord, as I give you my tithe this morning, I come boldly to you asking for you to bring fruit from by labor. You say in your Word that "unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain". I have spent years in vanity and futility and I want you to know that I understand that you are the one who brings fruitfulness out of my faithfulness. I acknowledge my utter dependance on your ability and capability, knowing that you alone are the giver of all good things as my loving Father. You are the one who gives and takes away, you are the one who grants abundance and thwarts efforts depending on whether we are trustworthy stewards of what you have blessed us with. As I work and put forth effort, I want you to know that I know you are the one who brings success. You are the one who makes my energies productive and profitable. I can plant and plow, but you are the one who sends rain and sunlight...I can't do that...I need you. You are the God of the harvest and I cannot prosper apart from you. So this tithe I bring today is a token of my reliance on your resources. You are the God who makes my life productive and prosperous and I acknowledge you as the Sovereign Lord of All. As I put you first today, I am counting on you to sustain my life. You are the Lord of the Harvest and I believe you hold the keys to my productivity and success. Let this act of tithing today solidify my belief that you are the One I'm leaning on for my life and livelihood.
PEACE
Lord, more than anything else, I long for the serenity and satisfaction that only you can give. I realize today that I can have all the wealth and wisdom the world has to offer and resent my own life. You are the one who grants the virtues of true rest and joy beneath all my money, my job, my possessions, my family, and even my blessings. This tithe today reminds me that you fill a heart and home with fulfillment. You are the one to bring harmony to marriages and connection with kids. You are the only One who gives us "peace that passes understanding" when our lives fall apart or are torn apart by tragedy or some unforeseen travesty. So more than wanting things from You, I want You first. I am not seeking your hand, I am seeking your face. If I give this gift and get nothing in return but the peace that comes from knowing You...that is enough, Lord. You are enough, just You. To have it all without You is to have nothing, because there is nothing I desire more than the pleasure and peace of your presence in my heart and home and relationships. Replace comparison with contentment. Replace jealousy with joy. Replace outer progress with inner peace. This is truly the blessed life and this is what I want more than anything else in the world. So as I tithe today, I want to make it clear that this is not to get more stuff, it's to posture my heart to say, "I want more of You, God". You are my reason and my reward, and I gladly give back to you a portion of what you've so graciously entrusted to me. I love you, Lord. You are my First Love.
_______________________
It is this prayer than filled the page this morning as I gave my tithe to God. I trust his promises...I believe in his provision, protection, production, and peace with all my heart and I wanted to express my heart more fully this morning for some reason. I hope this prayer represents the heart of our church as we continue to put him first and seek him first in our lives.
Today is Day #45 of our 120-Day Tithing Challenge. I hope that it's beginning to move from a challenge to a change. A Change of priority and perspective. An exchange of meaning instead of an exchange of money. This is not about a transaction, it's about a transformation.
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