The Bible has a lot of great advice on money management. Over half of Jesus’ parables deal with handling material possessions. In fact, Jesus spoke more about money than He did about either heaven or hell.

There are two common myths about money: (more…)

by Rick Warren
“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone” (Ephesians 1:11-12 MSG).

Many Christians don’t make the connection between Sunday and Monday. They compartmentalize their life. They think, “Well, I’ve got a spiritual life and I’ve got a secular life. My spiritual life is when I read the Bible, when I pray, when I go to church, when I do good things for others. That’s my spiritual life.” And that’s over in one compartment.

So then, they think, over in another compartment: “This is my secular life. That’s my work, my job, my career, my business decisions, my finances, my pension plan; all these things are my secular life.”

God says, “No, that’s wrong. All of life is spiritual.” The word secular isn’t in the Bible. It all matters to God; everything in your life is important to God. God is as interested in your work as He is in your prayers. In fact, I would suggest that He might be more interested in your job because you spend more time working than you do praying.

The fact is, your relationship to Christ is like marriage. Marriage is a full-time relationship, and so is your relationship with Christ. What do you think would happen if I came up to my wife and said, “Honey, I’m going to act married only when I’m at home”?

The fact is, all of life is important to God, and you can’t separate your Christianity from your work, just as you can’t separate your Christianity from your life.

by Rick Warren
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV).

Your work can be an act of worship. No matter what you do, it’s never just a job if you are a believer. This is because God designed you with talents, gifts, and interests that He wants used for His glory.

You are custom-made. There’s nobody like you in the whole world. And the gifts, the abilities, the talents, even the interests you have, they were genetically encoded into you by God. You didn’t have a say in what you were going to be interested in, what you are naturally good at. God made you with a specific mission in mind and He wants you to use the gifts He’s given you in your work.

The Bible says that you are God’s workmanship. The Greek word used for workmanship is poema; that’s where our word for “poem” comes from. You are God’s poem! You are God’s work of art. You are God’s masterpiece.

Your work is part of God’s plan for your life and that is why, as you work, you worship God.

by Rick Warren
“When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7-8 TEV).

God created you and so He wants you to be the real you. By being authentic when you speak to God, you worship Him as your Creator.

For years I copied the prayers of other people. I noticed they used certain words and even a special tone of voice. I imitated all the religious clichés: “Lead, guide, and direct us, O Lord.” “Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies.” “Bless the gift and the giver.”

In New Testament times, prayers were wordy, meaningless rituals. There was no spontaneity, no genuineness. But Jesus says don’t get caught up in ritual prayer. You don’t have to use fancy language. You can’t impress God with fancy language, and you shouldn’t be trying to impress other people, either.

I love to hear new Christians pray; there’s no pious pomposity. They haven’t learned the clichés yet. They just say, “Hi, God. It’s me.” That’s how you make contact with God. You just talk with your heavenly Father about what’s on your mind. Just pray your heart. Reveal yourself.

Imagine I walked in the door one evening and my kids said: “O, almighty procreator of our family. How wonderful thou art, who sovereignly deposits our allowance to us. Oh, the majesty of thy wonderful self! We beseech thee to come eat dinner with us.” I’d check their temperatures to see if they were sick! I don’t want to hear that. I want them to say, “Hey! Dad’s home. Good to see you, Pop!”

I’m not saying to be flippant in prayer, but that’s how you make contact with God. You just talk with him in a genuine and heartfelt way.

Jesus gives us a model we can use as we learn to make contact with God. In the next six devotionals, we’ll look at six things we can talk to God about when we pray.

by Rick Warren
“Give us today the food we need” (Matthew 6:11 TEV).

Once you have given God your love and your life, Jesus teaches you can give Him your worries by asking God to provide for your needs and then trusting that He will provide.

For instance, we can ask God to give us the food we need each day. Some translations say, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

What is “daily bread”? It’s the necessities of life—our physical and material needs that we’re always worrying about. God wants you to ask Him to provide those things so you don’t have to worry about them. He’s promised to provide all your needs: “My God shall supply all of your needs” (Philippians 4:19 NASB).

What do you need today? Energy to make it through the day? Finances? Wisdom? You have two alternatives: panic or pray. Philippians 4:6 says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (NIV).

Do you really believe this verse? God says you can pray about everything. Nothing is too great for God’s power. Nothing is too insignificant for His care. Anything worth worrying about is worth praying about. If we prayed as much as we worried, we’d have a lot less to worry about! Give God your worries.

When you talk to God about your needs, you need to be specific. When you pray generically—”God, bless me”—how are you going to know if He answered it or not? What’s a blessing? Sometimes blessings come in the form of problems. You’d better be careful when you pray, “God, bless me.”

Notice the Philippians verse also says, “By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving.” When you pray, be specific and do it with thanksgiving. Psychologists say gratitude is the healthiest emotion you can have. The more you develop an attitude of appreciation for God, your family, and other people, the healthier you are emotionally.

You worship God through prayer when you give him your love (praise), your life (purpose), and your worries (provision).