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[Gary Petty] A woman decides that she just needs to make more money. If she could have
a little more money she would be much happier. Her life would be so much better. So she works
up the courage. She thinks about it. She goes to her boss, and she demands that she get
a raise, that she just can't live off her wage. Her boss said, "Well, I didn't realize
things were so bad." He says, "How much do you need?" She was a little taken back. And
she said, "Well, I need $40 more a week." He said, "Well, let me do a review." He goes
back. He reviews her work. He looks at what she does and what she accomplishes, and he
comes back and said, "You know what? You're right. I can give you $40 more dollars a week."
She's just ecstatic. She's happy. She just said, "I can't believe it was that easy. I
can't believe I'm now going to have money for that new purse. I'm going to have money
to spend on clothing. Wow!" And then she thinks, "You know what? I should have asked for $80."
And immediately she begins to feel discontented and like things are bad, and within a very
short period of time she's right back where she started feeling like she doesn't have
enough money.
Have we ever been that way? You want more. You want more, but no matter how much you
get it's not enough?
There's a man in the Bible that very few people know about. His name is Agur. Agur has a prayer
that he gives in the Bible. Agur's the author of Proverbs chapter 30, and this is his little
prayer to God, he says, "Two things I request of you. Deprive me not before I die. Remove
falsehood and lies far from me" (Proverbs 30:7-8) So the first thing he prays for is
that his life will not have any falsehoods in it or any lies said about him or he won't
live in falsehood.
And then here's the second thing he asked: "Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed
me with the food allotted to me lest I be full and deny You and say, 'Who is the Lord?'
or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:8-9) Think about
that. He says, God, give me enough but not too much so that I don't get very proud of
my riches and what I have and who I am and I forget everything depends on God, but also
please do not let me live in poverty lest I become dishonest in order to get more. What
a simple prayer.
Next time you struggle with, "Oh, I wish I had more," or sometimes you find that having
too much can be a curse also. Next time you struggle with either of those extremes remember
Agur's prayer and ask God to give me not too much, but just enough.
That's today's BT Daily. Join us next time.