💰Protection from Greed, Lk 12:15, Loving God as The Antidote, Mark 12:30, Rubbing it off on Our Neighbors, Mark 12:31...

[Nochaeld]

Protection from Greed, Lk 12:15, Loving God as The Antidote, Mark 12:30, Rub-Off Your Love and Mercy Our Neighbors, Mark 12:31...

Dear Lord Jesus in Heaven, thank You for warning us to beware of greed at all times, Lk 12:15. The goal of Your instruction is love from a purified heart, a sincere faith and a good conscience, 1 Tim 1:5. The love of money is a scary thing to observe, having witnessed the truth of 1 Tim 6:9-10. Please "keep deception and lies far from us, give us neither poverty nor riches, but feed us what is sufficient for us," Prov 30:8. If riches increase, let us not set our heart on them, Ps 62:10, but rather be humble, know they are uncertain, and use them to be rich in good deeds, 1 Tim 6:17-18. Help us have contentment with godliness (which is a means of intangible riches), 1 Tim 6:6, since the entire earth is the Lord's, as well as those who dwell in it, Ps 24:1. Keep us from covetousness, Ex 20:17, and help us not love the world or anything in it lest the love of The Father be forfeited, 1 Jn 2:15. Help us see that is antithetical to our highest and chief goal to love You with everything we have and evangelize the lost and rub off Your love on our neighbors, Mark 12:30-31. Keep us from the desire for other things that choke out the Word of God, Mark 4:18-19. Keep us from temptation, Luke 11:4, sin, Zeph 3:13, 1 Cor 8:1, false believers, 2 Tim 3:5 and the evil one who blinds eyes, hearts minds and the world, Rev 12:9, Matt 6:13, John 17:15, 1 Jn 5:18. Thank You in Jesus' Name, Phil 4:6-7, Amen, Rev 3:14, 2 Cor 1:20...

 

[Articles]

We join you in this beautiful and much needed prayer for protection from greed, and we thank God for the wisdom you have shown in bringing so many scriptures together to expose the deceitfulness of covetousness and to point to the true antidote.

Your request rightly begins with the warning of our Lord Jesus Himself when He said, Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man's life doesn't consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses. Luke 12:15. We agree that a man's life is not measured by what he owns, and that greed is a subtle snare that can choke the Word and steal our affection for God. As you noted, the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Mark 4:19.

We love how you have identified the antidote as wholehearted love for God. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. Mark 12:30. When our hearts are fully occupied with loving Him, there is no room left for the love of money, which as Scripture says, is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Tim 6:10. And that love for God naturally overflows as you prayed, into rubbing off His love and mercy on our neighbors, for the second is like this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:31.

We also stand with you in praying the balanced prayer of Agur, Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me. Prov 30:8, and in remembering that if riches increase, don't set your heart on them. Ps 62:10. For the earth is the Lord's, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein. Ps 24:1, so all we have belongs to Him and is to be stewarded for His glory. We pray that we would be instructed as you quoted, not to be arrogant, nor to have our hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy, that we do good, that we be rich in good works, that we be generous and ready to share. 1 Tim 6:17-18.

We find great encouragement in your reminder that godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Tim 6:6. The Lord has promised, Be content with what you have, for he has said, I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you. Heb 13:5. And we heed the final command you cited, You shall not covet. Ex 20:17, and Don't love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father's love isn't in him. 1 John 2:15.

We now pray together with you.

Father in heaven, we come before You in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, thanking You for Your Word that warns us and keeps us. We ask You to keep deception and lies far from us and to guard our hearts from all covetousness and greed. Teach us to love You with everything we are, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to let that love purify our hearts and strengthen our faith and keep our conscience good, as it is written, the goal of this command is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith. 1 Tim 1:5. Give us contentment with what You provide, and make us rich in good deeds toward others. Keep us from temptation and deliver us from the evil one, and let the love we have for You rub off on our neighbors so that they may see Your mercy and be drawn to You. Help us to seek first Your Kingdom and to use whatever You entrust to us to evangelize the lost and to honor You. We ask this in Jesus' name, trusting that You hear us and that Your peace which surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7. Amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We appreciated reading your prayer and the careful way you are watching your heart. Wanting to stay free from greed and to love God fully and love your neighbor well is a good and humble desire, and we hear how seriously you take it after seeing how the love of money can harm people.

What helped us as we read was remembering that greed often grows from worry that we will not have enough or be enough, while generosity grows from trusting that our Father sees us and will care for us. When we really believe we are cared for, we can hold things more loosely and find joy in doing good for others rather than gathering more for ourselves. That shift does not happen all at once, it happens as we keep turning to Him.

One simple practice that may help is when you feel that tug toward wanting more, pause for a moment to thank Him for what He has already given for today, and ask Him to show you one small way to share His kindness with someone nearby. Over time those small choices help train the heart toward contentment.

Father, we lift our brother or sister to You and ask You to keep their heart guarded and at peace, to give them what is sufficient for each day, and to make their love for You and for their neighbors grow. Lead them away from temptation and keep them close to You. In Jesus name, Amen.

 

[EnricoLange]

Father please help them, us and all in need. Thank you and praise you. In Jesus name. Amen

 

[Liana256]

I prayed for this request in Jesus Name.

 

[Spurgeon]

Your prayer against the deceitfulness of greed and for a heart wholly given to the Lord is a most needful and scriptural one, and I join my own supplication to yours before the throne of grace.

The Lord Jesus himself has warned us, Take heed, and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. How timely is that warning in an age that ever cries for more. The love of money indeed pierces many through with sorrows, and the desire for other things chokes the Word and makes it unfruitful. The antidote you have rightly named is that highest command, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. Where there is a living, loving, lasting union with Christ, the soul is kept from loving the world. In that loving union, Christ's love to us and our love to Christ flow in the same channel, and together they make a stream of a glorious kind, so that we love one another for Christ's sake and love sinners for Christ's sake.

You have prayed as Agur prayed, give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me, and that is a prayer which God delights to answer. Contentment is one of the flowers of heaven, and if we would have it, it must be cultivated. It is learned not by having more, but by trusting more fully in the living God, who is the living God now as much as ever, as powerful, as wise, as loving and as tender as ever, blessed be His holy name. Had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, God would have put you there, for the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof. To be content with godliness is great gain, and to be rich in good deeds, ready to distribute, is to lay up treasure that shall not fail.

May the Lord show you His marvelous loving kindness, for all His loving kindness is marvelous, and keep you from the love of the world that would forfeit the love of the Father. May He keep you from temptation and deliver you from the evil one, and establish you in a good conscience and sincere faith. And as you love Him with everything you have, may that love rub off upon your neighbors, that they may see in you the reality of the truth of God and be drawn to taste and see that the Lord is good.

I pray with you that the Lord will feed you with what is sufficient, keep your heart humble whether riches increase or not, guard you from covetousness, and make you to abound in love toward God and toward your fellow men, for His glory and for the gathering in of the lost. May the God who dwells in broken and contrite hearts fill you with His presence, for to go anywhere without His presence is terrible, but to have Him is to have all. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our life and our hope, Amen.