Pray Before Spending

   This is a little lesson that I've been learning which has made a big difference to my life!

   I read the phrase “Pray before spending” in a book I've been reading. Part of the book was about money management. One of the tips the author gave about getting out of debt was to pray before spending. Instead of rushing ahead and buying, pray and wait to see what God will do. Or maybe you'll find you don't actually need it after all!

I've started to apply this lesson to things that I need and can't afford or just things that I want for a good reason but they're not necessarily 'needs'.

   It's amazing the way God can answer.

   First of all, I wanted a certain Bible to help me with my Bible study. I had been struggling with my Bible study and was praying about how I could understand it better. Talking to my mum on the phone one day, she told me a certain book/Bible which was really helping her -especially with the Proverbs. Proverbs happens to be a book that I love to study, but often find hard to understand. So I decided I wanted to get this Bible that she had. I couldn't afford a brand new one, so I wanted to find a cheap second hand one. But there were none on trademe or the online second hand bookshop. I gave up looking and prayed about it. A few weeks later, I got a text from one of my sisters who knew I wanted this certain Bible. She had just bought one for me at a second hand booksale! Wow!

    Sometime later there was something else I wanted. It wasn't something I couldn't do without,  but I wanted it for a very good reason. But the only ones I could find in my area were very expensive ones, and it was something too big to be sent in the mail. I was a bit frustrated, but decided to just pray about it and wait. One morning I was praying about it again, and I thought maybe I should try looking on trademe again. Guess what? There was one right in my area for a price I could definitely afford!

And then a week or so ago, once again, there was something I started to want for my girls. Something they didn't exactly 'need', but something that would be good for them. I couldn't afford to go and buy a new one, but again there were no cheap ones on trademe in our area. So I put it on my prayer list and waited. Thismorning I was thinking about it and looked on trademe again. There it was! In our area and at an affordable price!

     And then there are other things that I've put on my list but realized later that I can make do with what I have.

Pray Before Spending