Biblical View of Finances 3 of 3 (Dr. Ken Williams)

Welcome to another edition of MemCare by Radio. I’m Scott Hollinger and I would like to thank you for being with us. We’re continuing our series looking at biblical principles of handling finances. This is an area many of us could probably use some advice and I’ve been working from the material of Dr. Ken Williams of Wycliffe Bible Translators. As we go through this series we are going to look at three areas of our life in regard to finances. First, Christ honouring attitudes, secondly, Christ honouring faith and last Christ honouring behaviour. Today we are concluding our series by looking at the third important area in our view of finances and that is Christ Honouring Behaviour.

 

Christ-Honouring Behaviour

 

According to Dr. Williams, it isn’t enough merely to have right attitudes and faith. God expects us to express our attitudes and faith in action. We must be careful to follow the principles of the Bible related to finances. Here are some principles of behaviour Dr. Williams notes are very important. You may want to add others.

 

1.         Pray in faith.

 

Here are eight critical principles of prayer in the area of finances:

 

a. Be sure to specifically ask Him for what you need and want. Don’t complain and feel unhappy about an apparent lack if you haven’t followed the principles of prayer outlined here.  James 4:2 says, “You want something but don’t get it ... You do not have, because you do not ask God.”

b.         Make sure your motives are right in asking. James 4:3, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

 

c.         Let God know you only want what is His will.

1 John 5:14,15, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of Him.” In the area of material things, we have a built-in safety factor by saying, “Give us this only if it is for Your glory and our good; otherwise, we don’t want it.” This brings asking into accord with contentment; we will be content as we realize by faith that He will give His best if that is what we ask for.

d.         Persevere in prayer. The Williams Version correctly translates the Greek in Matthew 7:7, “Keep on asking ...keep on seeking ...keep on knocking ...”

 

e.         Enlist the help of others to agree with you in prayer. Matthew 18:19, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”

 

f.          Let God answer in His ways and His time. Don’t restrict Him by trying to tell Him how and when to answer. See Romans 11:33,34 and Isaiah 55:8,9.

 

g. Be free to ask about anything and everything, if you are fulfilling the above principles. Philippians 4:6,7 commands us to pray about everything, but be sure to ask with thanksgiving

h.         Finally, include your children in your prayers. Let them grow up seeing how you go to the Lord with your needs and find Him faithful. What better gift to give them than precious memories of God faithfully answering in times of struggle. Note in 2 Chronicles 20:13 how in a time of trouble the men of Judah went before the Lord “with their wives and children and little ones.”

 

By the way, do you ever say, “We can’t afford it” in your home? This statement, repeated hundreds of times over the years, gives a powerful message: “God is stingy; He doesn’t provide enough for us to do what we would like to do and to have what we would like to have.”

 

The statement “We can’t afford it” denies who God is and His gracious provision. Reality is this: either you have the money but want to use it for more important projects; or you don’t have the money. If you don’t have it, then the appropriate action is to decide if you want to pray that God will provide what you want. As you pray for it, you can remind yourselves as a family that if this is God’s will, He will provide (in His way and time). If it isn’t His best, you don’t want it! So when your children want something and you begin to think “We can’t afford it,” try a new approach: “Let’s pray about it, and if it’s the Lord’s best He will provide for it.”

 

2.         Keep your relationship with God as your first priority. The financial part of our life must be considered only in the context of our whole relationship with God. If we have our priorities right we know God will provide.  Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

 

3.         Don’t buy on credit. The Word doesn’t say much about this, but look at a couple of Scriptures:

 

Romans 13:8, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”

 

Proverbs 22:7, “...the borrower is servant to the lender.”

Purchasing a home may be an exception, since a home is a basic need and normally a good investment of the Lord’s money. With other items, wait on God’s provision rather than using credit, not because it’s morally wrong, but for the joy of living a debt-free life. Living free of debt gives God greater Lordship over what we buy, as we trust Him to provide for what He knows we need. And it frees us from the tyranny of interest and debt payments.

 

4.         Don’t spend major amounts unless you’re certain it’s His will. Having money is not sufficient reason to spend it. God may want you to give the money away! Pray, seek conviction, assurance, and peace from God.  Ask God to reveal wrong motives. If you’re married, be sure both of you have peace about it. If in doubt, wait. Before you spend the money, ask God if He wants to meet the need in another way. Give Him the opportunity to provide for you in creative ways.  Proverbs 3:5,6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

5. Give generously. This principle speaks for itself. Many Scriptures emphasize it.

Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 

Proverbs 3:9,10, “Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

 

Proverbs 11:24,25, “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

 

6.         Have a regular savings plan, but beware of wrong motives. It’s not wrong to save for the future! The Word encourages it. However, be careful of the dangers of wanting to get rich, seeking security through savings, and pride. Proverbs 27:23-27 provide several insights into this area.

 

You should take good care

of your sheep and goats,

24because wealth and honor

don't last forever.

25After the hay is cut

and the new growth appears

and the harvest is over,

26you can sell lambs and goats

to buy clothes and land.

27From the milk of the goats,

you can make enough cheese

to feed your family

and all your servants.

 

 

7.         Train your children at every opportunity.

 

We have almost limitless opportunities to train our children in godly financial principles. As we “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” according to Ephesians 6:4, let’s be sure that handling money is included. Our example, coupled with verbal instruction over many years provides powerful training. One of the finest gifts we can leave our children is for them to grow up committed to Christ-honouring attitudes, faith and behaviour regarding finances.

 

8.         Demonstrate your gratitude to God and others. As mentioned before, gratitude must not only be felt but expressed. Are you genuinely grateful for every blessing, spiritual and material, and do you demonstrate that gratitude both to God and to those whom God is using to bless you? Paul expressed this in 2 Corinthians 9:11, as quoted in the introduction.

 

Gratitude is absolutely necessary. Why is an attitude of gratitude essential to financial success in God’s sight? God’s nature is to respond to a grateful heart. Hundreds of Scriptures attest to this. And He has created us in His image, to respond as He does to gratitude and thanks. When we express our gratitude to others, it is their nature to respond, with a greater motivation to pray, give, and be more involved with us. Our motivation for thanking God and people must not be to get them to respond. It must be an expression of the genuine gratitude we feel. But when people respond to our gratitude, we can accept that as God’s work in their hearts.

 

This principle is so important that we must not ignore it! If our needs are not being met in the way we want them to be met, this is one place to look for at least part of the solution. Ask yourself, “Do I consistently express my thanks to God and to others for every act of kindness shown, for every gift given?”

 

I would like to thank you for allowing me to share with you today. I hope this program has been helpful. I’ve been working from the material of Dr. Ken Williams of Wycliffe Bible Translators.