Matters of the Heart Day 2
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)
Struggling to make Ends meet
I have been in situations where the cupboard is empty, the bank account is on zero, and the car has barely any fuel left while I am still two or three weeks away from payday. As a self acclaimed “Doctor of Analysis” I quickly diagnosed that I may have been suffering from a condition called BSAP syndrome - (Broke Soon after Payday) better known as failing to make ends meet. For those of you who have suffered this condition you will know how frustrating and disheartening this condition can be.
Whilst I have the gift of quick analysis and diagnosis of situations the road to finding and implementing solutions is not such a quick easy & process. I would sit down and have pity parties of biblical proportions and feel sorry for myself. I would analyse my budgets and adjust to what I felt was the barest minimum but yet the following month I would find myself again gripped by the BSAP syndrome. This led to lots of tension and anxiety. My heart was affected by the monetary situation and I struggled to navigate the depth of these waters of finances.
As the stress increased around finances so did my desperation to find answers and so I eventually gave up on trying to fix the mess. It is said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and again while expecting different results, so I decided to stop trying to fight the storm and that was my first wise step toward victory because I focussed less on what I could do and turned up the volume of Prayer in my life. Instead I began to focus on what God could do in the situations and also sought wise and godly counsel from trusted people within the Church.
Conversations with God became passionate as well as urgent and specifically focused towards the area of Finances. I was frustrated financially but God is true to his Word, because in Jeremiah 33:3 and Psalm 50:15 He promises to answer whenever we call to him in our distress.
However turning to God in prayer birthed a new perspective that gave me the right tools and perspective to handle the daily and monthly financial matters. As we progress in the week we shall look at that new perspective that helped me through these tumultuous times.
As a Church over the next three weeks, we will looking at how we can move from fighting with the financial storms to surrendering the fight to God so that you can mount up on wings and start soaring above the financial storms and navigating those winds through the peace that God will bring to your heart. Matters of the heart is geared towards equipping you so that you have the best vantage over the topic of finances as it can endanger our hearts in this season.
Our prayer as a Church pastoral team is that this series will bring you peace of heart and mind and birth the right perspective for you to be effective in how you approach plan and utilise the finances that God has blessed you with, and without experiencing a heartache or breakdown.
Scripture Meditation & Prayer
Use the scriptures below to help you gather hope and confidence that God wants to give you the answers you need for your financial situation. Declare the scriptures that stand out to you and see if you can find even more scriptures to show you how God is ready to bring you Hope and Help in your situation. If you are not in a financial storm take this as preparation for the future or the equipping that you need to help others around you who may need practical help in navigating their financial storms
'For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Action Step 1: Move to Understanding
- Understand that when it comes to matters of money your heart is involved so Pray that your heart is protected and healthy when it comes to financial matters.
1. Write down any areas of conflict or anxiety that you have been experiencing
2. List any concerns that you have about the way your finances are at the moment
'“This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ '
Action Step 2: Call out to The Ultimate Saviour
- Call out to God and let your need be known - The heart issues you wrote out in step 1 are the very things you can call out to God about and he is willing to give you answers. You can depend on him because he knows what he is doing as he is the one who created the Earth we all live on.
'“Listen to me, my people. Hear me, Israel, for my law will be proclaimed, and my justice will become a light to the nations. '
Action step 3: - Pay Attention
As you call out to God don't just throw words to God and walk away, Take time to pay attention and listen to how God responds to your Prayers. God always answers but we need to be paying attention to how he answers. You need to actively listen out to God. We shall delve more into how to pay attention to God on Friday.
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