When I passed the Porsche on PCH

I drive a give-to-the-poor-missionary-back-from-Guatemala Ford Escort dredged out of Paleolithic strata. The sun has scorched off paint in places, the lining is falling down onto my kids’ heads.

My son liked this car at the autoshop

So when a Porsche stalled in front of me on Pacific Coast Highway at a stoplight, something inside of me wanted to shout as I roared past: “Get a real car!”

Hmmmmmm. Where did this envy come from? I thought I was free from that.

Sin has a way to lurk in when you least suspect.

When you pray for finances, you need to be on your guard against envy. What is your motivation? To bless others or to bless yourself? To keep up with Jesus or to keep up with the Joneses?

God promises to provide, but many times our idea of provision falls squarely into the realm of “want,” not “need.” It became popular among Christians a number of years ago to call ourselves “children of the King.” The logical conclusion is we want to live it up like princes and princesses. The biggest problem with this reasoning is how Jesus, being much more a Prince than us, lived in poverty: The Son of Man has no place to lay His head (Matt. 8:20).

We can trust God to provide for our needs — and we ought to guard against confusing needs with wants.

Even more impossible: prayer’s power

• How do I pray effectively?
• Prayers of the Bible
• Pray for finances
• Inspiration for prayer

from http://www.alphaconsultant.com

First they were 32,000. Then they were 10,000. Then they were 300.

The shocking attrition was actually good news. If Gideon had too many, Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved Me (God)’ Judges 7:2 NIV. By making victory even more impossible, God assured He’d get the praise.

If your situation is steeply difficult, don’t despair. Don’t calculate “possibility.” A miracle, by definition, is contrary to natural law and contrary to reasonable explanation. Do you have:

1. church rent due with no foreseeable income to cover it?
2. big dreams and small budgets?
3. restrictions on what you can do for God due to finances?

Rejoice! When Gideon won against the Midianites, everybody got whooped up! Don’t glower, don’t be glum. God is going to move! Just pray with faith! Watch and see! Act and know that God will do what you cannot!

How to pray? Get inspired!

Moving music and exhilarating scenic photos combine with scripture to remind you about God’s creation, His power, His majesty in this inspiring video by http://www.PositivePrayers.com

I’m a big believer in getting inspired to pray. I find my prayer life becomes vibrant when either scripture or prose or praise lifts my spirit first.

Prayer is not a matter of saying the right words but having the right attitude. When your spirit soars on wings of eagles, it seems you pray overcoming prayers that make an impact.

God loves the unfavored

This fact makes the case for prayer. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing –– Deut.10:18 NIV. Not many people study the verses of “widow.” To do so blows your mind.

From Exodus to Revelations, God repeatedly and pointedly favors the disenfranchised, the proletariat, the 99%, the unpopular, the underdogs. Forget about smoking pot; it’s not as much a sin as mistreating (or not helping) the widow, orphan, foreigner, poor — the quartet that encapsulates what we now call “powerlessness.”

from DumpaDay

Often, we go to prayer after other options have failed. We are powerless. Outside of divine intervention, things look bleak.

The fabulously fantastic news is God LOVES people who are desperate, broken, without resources. His heart goes out to them.

This should flood your heart with faith. When you cry tears before the Lord, He is there crying with you. Given this unmeasurable empathy, you can be sure He will answer.

Scoff at yourself

from Blue Pueblo

You wouldn’t for a minute allow yourself to think the world is flat. You wouldn’t for a minute allow yourself to think the moon is made of cheese. You wouldn’t for a minute allow yourself to think Santa Claus is real.

from Ben Rogers blog

So why do you allow yourself to think what doesn’t line up with the Word of God? What’ true is true. You wouldn’t believe what’s false, even if your finances don’t currently show God’s provision. Or if your body’s symptoms don’t testify to healing.

But the carnal mind is pernicious. It seizes on negativity. If we think disappointment, we could take it to the next level and confess disappointment. Then we become prophets of our own doom. Death and life are in the power of the tongue — Prov. 18:21 KJV. That’s why it so important to confess good, not bad, over your life.

So the next time, unbelief raises its hoary head and starts its rant, make fun of yourself. The Word of God is true and not my “reality.” It is my reality that needs to come in line with Eternal Truth, not the other way around. Prayer is positive confession, but it is also more than that because it gets God involved!