During
one of the most volatile periods of the current economic crisis—a week in which
global stock markets declined by $7 trillion—Philip Yancey received a call from
an editor at Time magazine. The editor's question was simple: "How should
a person pray during a crisis like this?" Here is a summary of what Yancey
shared in response:
The
first stage is simple, an instinctive cry: "Help!" For someone who
faces a job cut or health crisis or watches retirement savings wither away,
prayer offers a way to voice fear and anxiety. I have learned to resist the
tendency to edit my prayers so that they sound sophisticated and mature. I
believe God wants us to come exactly as we are, no matter how childlike we may
feel. A God aware of every sparrow that falls surely knows the impact of scary
financial times on frail human beings. …
If I
pray with the intent to listen as well as talk, I can enter into a second
stage, that of meditation and reflection. Okay, my life savings has virtually
disappeared. What can I learn from this seeming catastrophe? …
A
time of crisis presents a good opportunity to identify the foundation on which
I construct my life. If I place my ultimate trust in financial security or in
the government's ability to solve my problems, I will surely watch the basement
flood and the walls crumble.
A
friend from Chicago, Bill Leslie, used to say that the Bible asks three main
questions about money: (1) How did you get it? (Legally and justly or
exploitatively?); (2) What are you doing with it? (Indulging in luxuries or
helping the needy?); and (3) What is it doing to you? Some of Jesus' most
trenchant parables and sayings go straight to the heart of that last question.
…
The
same week that global wealth shrank by $7 trillion, Zimbabwe's inflation rate
hit a record 231 million percent. In other words, if you had saved $1 million
Zimbabwean dollars by Monday, on Tuesday it was worth $158. This sobering fact
leads me to the third and most difficult stage of prayer in crisis: I need
God's help in taking my eyes off my own problems in order to look with
compassion on the truly desperate. …
What a testimony it would be if, in 2009, Christians resolved to
increase their giving to build houses for the poor, combat AIDS in Africa, and
announce kingdom values to a decadent, celebrity-driven culture. Such a
response defies all logic and common sense — unless, of course, we take seriously
the moral of Jesus' simple tale about building houses on a sure foundation.
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