As you know, I like to pray for telemarketers when they call me up. I also offer to pray for the server at our table in restaurants, or sometimes for grocery store clerks.
When I ask them, “How can I pray for you?”, I would say that about half of the time it catches people off-guard. They aren’t used to having somebody take an interest in them!
For about a third of the people, they respond with graciousness – either a specific request for something going on in their life, or to say how that simple request made their day.
And, I would have to admit, about 10-20% just say, rather quickly, “Pray that I would make a lot of money today.”
Those are the ones that I pray for most – that they would find a peace that doesn’t rely upon how much money they have. Because the truth is, money doesn’t buy happiness. If you are not satisfied with your life now, getting more money won’t fill that emptiness.
I did some research a while back and I found that, while money doesn’t buy happiness, there actually is a threshold that helps to eliminate worry! The study I saw showed that the stress levels between people who earned less than $75,000 a year and those who earned over that amount were markedly different. For some reason, that $75,000 figure means that a person who is financially wise can live with less worry. You don’t have to worry as much about getting a flat tire, or one of the kids getting sick, or about paying the rent or mortgage – you can cover it.
Of course, it does depend upon where you live and if your home is already paid off or you have any other debt. But below that $75,000 figure in America, it is hard to make ends meet. And, interestingly enough, ABOVE that figure there comes a new set of problems to start worrying about!
Money itself is not the root of all evil; the LOVE of money is! And money itself is not the solution to all of your problems – what you DO with that money is!
Money is like a brick – it’s a tool. You can use bricks to build a church, or to build a prison. The more bricks you have, the more possibilities you have; but the goal of life is not to gain more bricks. It is to use the bricks you have to build something that will last. And that, in my opinion, is helping people to find hope and healing through Jesus Christ.
-Rev. Bill