Warfare Wednesday: Money Matters

"I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. ⁸ 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. ⁹ 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty." Haggai 2:7-9

This morning when I logged on to the Presidential Prayer Team to see how to pray for President Obama, I was awakened by a warning about our dollar. The dollar of the United States has been the standard to which all other economies are based. Countries borrow and lend, buy and sell, all based on our dollar. According to what I read this morning, our status as the economy of choice could very quickly be coming to an end. The speculation at this time is that if the US economy continues in its downward spiral, it won't take long at all for China or Japan to take over as the world leader for finance...

Let me just point out why this is something we don't want to have happen. There is something about the American dollar leading the way... there is something very important about the American dollar being the dollar to which all others are measured. And that is the four words imprinted on every piece of paper money in the United States "In God We Trust". I think that much of our country, and much of the world has forgotten about these words that are a part of every financial transaction that takes place with our country.

See, if we allow another country to lead the way in a global economy, we are no longer following "In God We Trust", we are following man. The United States has, for so long, been in a status of favor when it comes to money. There's a reason our dollar goes so far- there's a reason that we can buy goods so inexpensively, it's because our dollar is the dollar by which all other are measured. God favors us by blessing our dollar, by making it work harder than any other currency out there.

Yet the time is growing short for the American dollar, unless we pray for God's Will to be done in the financial sector. I also think this verse above is growing more important each and every day. It says right there that the Lord God Almighty says "The gold and silver are mine." We need to remember that. The gold and the silver belong to God. He made them, and he gave them to us to use for the purpose of commerce. Many years ago, the United States dollar was backed by gold. Our country had gold reserves, and the paper dollars represented all that gold that was locked up for safe-keeping. Our dollar is no longer backed by gold, however, I think the idea and the premise is still the same. If the gold belongs to God, and our dollar is backed by gold, it would do us well to remember that, because that means that all we have, all the dollars in the United States treasury belong to God Almighty.

Let's put it this way. Where our dollar was once backed by gold, now, every penny produced by the United States mint is backed by God. Every penny that says "In God We Trust" is backed by the one who has favored this nation from its very beginnings. The mere idea that another currency could surpass the currency backed by the One who created everything is mind boggling. It shows me exactly how far out of favor this country has fallen. Fallen, indeed. I think this is a very serious warning, and that we as followers of Christ should get on our knees and spend some serious time praying about it. We need to ask forgiveness for our evil ways, and we need to intercede on behalf of a nation that has lost its way. If it is the currency of God that is faltering in the economic world, there is something seriously wrong with the world we live in, and it needs our prayers so badly. God wants to hear from His children- hear that we still love Him, that we hold His ideals as the standard by which we live.

I really sense this is a time of urgency for us, and we need to pray mightily for the economy of the United States. We need to pray for wisdom for our President and his team of people that make the financial decisions. Most importantly, we need to pray for this country to turn from her wicked ways and follow the one and true God. We need to turn away from our man-made idols and our man-made mantras, ideals, and doctrine. God is the only answer, and we need to intercede on behalf of those who don't know how to intercede.