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| Bowie and Iman's New York apartment in Midtown that they lived in during the 1990s before selling it in 2002. The apartment is up for sale again for $6.5 million, and it even includes Bowie's own Yamaha piano [x]. |
A few weeks ago, I found the perfect place to live in New York. It was affordable, in a relatively safe area, had air conditioning, came furnished, and (the best part) was that it was located in the East Village one mile away from where Bowie lived. I reached out to the landlord but failed to receive any sort of positive response. I also found two other places to live. They were both relatively close to my top choice and were also safe and affordable backup options. But they too did not respond (despite my best efforts). I have no doubt I can find a place to stay in New York, but the difference, of course, is the “where”.
This has led to me contemplating how to pray (well) for something like an apartment. I remember learning about how to pray for general things. For instance, "Lord, I pray for Your strength during this difficult midterm season", or "Lord, I pray that you watch over my grandpa as he goes into surgery". But how do I pray for something that doesn't include spiritual possessions (ie the Lord's strength) or a clear cut answer (ie that my grandpa's surgery is successful and he comes out healthy)?
White American Christian culture clearly doesn't provide an answer. Many articles talk about how material wealth isn't important in comparison to the heavenly treasure above. So take up the challenge - Give up social media! Sponsor a child in a third world country! Give up that Starbucks to donate to the church! They all have a feeling of loose, "feel good" posts about wealth - it's not a sin to be wealthy, but make sure you give to charity, and also look out for your family's welfare, and go on that short term missions trip, and....the list goes on and on with suggestions for how to spend your wealth for good. But is this the most Biblical way to view the blessed American wealth we are in possession of?
When I go to the best source for an answer to this question, I still find myself at a loss. There's lots of great language in the Bible about stewardship, good examples of godly men (both rich and poor by earthly standards), and there's even a precedent set for Christians to come to God and ask for their desires. But how do I apply this to something as specific as a 21st century apartment hunt? After all, there’s technically no “bad” or “wrong” option, but there’s certainly one (or two) I would prefer over the rest.
And as a result, I’ve found myself praying for an apartment with the wrong mentality because of this confusion. It’s difficult for me to pray earnestly for the apartment of my choice when I (deep down) doubt that God will provide and “grant” my first choice (like some sort of genie). As a result, I find myself not fully coming to God in earnest prayer to ask for what I apartment I really want. Instead, I have begun to formulate multiple contingency plans for different apartments that I don’t like as much. I find myself assuming that God will “put me in” an "okay" apartment instead of my “dream” flat. And all of this doesn't even begin to touch on trying to pray for "His Will to be Done" for this scenario (What does that even look like? What does that even mean?).
Perhaps all of this because I still have trust issues with God. I subconsciously set myself up to be disappointed by His answer to my prayers. This naturally stems from an underlying belief that my own choice will be “better” than God’s. As if my choice versus His choice for my life is somehow qualitatively better.
Either way, whether it's because of ignorance or deep-seeded trust issues, I want to change my perspective on prayer for material objects. I want to have a better grasp on how to prayerfully interact with material wealth and how to be a good steward of the earthly blessings God has given me.
I've been told before that prayer is (partly) a conversation, and I hope this post is a good place for starting one.
White American Christian culture clearly doesn't provide an answer. Many articles talk about how material wealth isn't important in comparison to the heavenly treasure above. So take up the challenge - Give up social media! Sponsor a child in a third world country! Give up that Starbucks to donate to the church! They all have a feeling of loose, "feel good" posts about wealth - it's not a sin to be wealthy, but make sure you give to charity, and also look out for your family's welfare, and go on that short term missions trip, and....the list goes on and on with suggestions for how to spend your wealth for good. But is this the most Biblical way to view the blessed American wealth we are in possession of?
When I go to the best source for an answer to this question, I still find myself at a loss. There's lots of great language in the Bible about stewardship, good examples of godly men (both rich and poor by earthly standards), and there's even a precedent set for Christians to come to God and ask for their desires. But how do I apply this to something as specific as a 21st century apartment hunt? After all, there’s technically no “bad” or “wrong” option, but there’s certainly one (or two) I would prefer over the rest.
And as a result, I’ve found myself praying for an apartment with the wrong mentality because of this confusion. It’s difficult for me to pray earnestly for the apartment of my choice when I (deep down) doubt that God will provide and “grant” my first choice (like some sort of genie). As a result, I find myself not fully coming to God in earnest prayer to ask for what I apartment I really want. Instead, I have begun to formulate multiple contingency plans for different apartments that I don’t like as much. I find myself assuming that God will “put me in” an "okay" apartment instead of my “dream” flat. And all of this doesn't even begin to touch on trying to pray for "His Will to be Done" for this scenario (What does that even look like? What does that even mean?).
Perhaps all of this because I still have trust issues with God. I subconsciously set myself up to be disappointed by His answer to my prayers. This naturally stems from an underlying belief that my own choice will be “better” than God’s. As if my choice versus His choice for my life is somehow qualitatively better.
Either way, whether it's because of ignorance or deep-seeded trust issues, I want to change my perspective on prayer for material objects. I want to have a better grasp on how to prayerfully interact with material wealth and how to be a good steward of the earthly blessings God has given me.
I've been told before that prayer is (partly) a conversation, and I hope this post is a good place for starting one.
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