Do Not Give Me Riches

Do you hear any “Christian” preachers telling you to not pray for riches? “Lord, do not give me riches!!!”

Have you heard that in any of the “churches” you’ve been to?

Do you hear any of them telling you to not seek to be wealthy? Most of the time, the preachers want 10% or more of your money so they want you to make more money and become wealthy.

When you get a raise at work, the pastor at your church gets a raise. Think about that. Most pastors in churches today are in it for the money.

So, of course they are going to want you to be wealthy and to make more money. They want you to be rich so they can be rich.

Is this Biblical? Does God ever tell you to pray for riches and wealth? Does God tell you to pray to win the lottery? “Lord, please help me win the lottery.”

Have you ever prayed that prayer before? Most people have.

But, let’s look at the Scriptures and see what they actually teach.

Proverbs 30:7-9 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: 9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

We should be praying for the same things as it is written in the Scriptures.

Please notice verse 8 and read it carefully and closely. We are to pray for God to not give us riches. “Do not give me riches!” Give me neither poverty nor riches.

So, we shouldn’t want to live in poverty NOR should we want to be rich. God knows better than we do.

I’ve said this myself before in my life: “I won’t turn away from God if I gain great riches.” But God knows us better than we know ourselves. The Scriptures must be fulfilled. Follow what the Scriptures say and trust what God says in His words.

We don’t want to be begging for food each day. We don’t want to be homeless. But, we also don’t want to be rich.

Why is that? The Bible tells us why in the same set of Scripture. Read verse 9 from Proverbs Chapter 30 very closely and carefully.

If you’re rich, verse 9 says that you could become like this: “Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord?”

When you full of everything you need in your life, you end up forgetting about God. If you don’t think that’s true, take a look at examples in the world today. Look at our country. The vast majority of people are doing great in this country.

If you don’t think that’s true, look to other countries and compare.

We also shouldn’t want to be poor. Many people think that anyone who has some amount of wealth are no Godly people. Many so-called “Christians” are taught that in churches. “Oh, you have some money so you must be evil. We’re poor so we aren’t evil.”

Is that what the Bible actually says? No, it’s not.

The latter part of verse 9 in Proverbs Chapter 30 says: “Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.”

If you’re poor, the Bible says you will steal and take the name of God in vain. Some people believe that it’s okay for poor people to steal as long as it’s for a good cause. No, it’s not okay to steal. Stealing is evil.

It’s not okay to riot, steal, and vandalize for any reason.

The Bible teaches us that you don’t want to be poor and you don’t want to be rich. You don’t want to be poor so you sin against God. And you do not want to be rich so you sin against God.

And yes, you should pray what the Bible teaches. “Lord, do not give me riches. Lord, do not give me poverty.” This is called praying according to God’s words that we find within the Bible. God’s words = God’s will.

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Don’t pray for riches because riches lead to you believing that you don’t need God in your life. Is it ever true that you don’t need God in your life? No, that’s a lie. You always need God in your life.