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Maxirad
Guest
Is it OK for you to pray to God that He will send you money if you are struggling financially?
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808Catholic
Guest
Perhaps it might be better to thank God for what you have. He knows what you need and will provide. Be patient and faithful. God Bless you.
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Neofight
Guest
It please God when we ask him for help. Its not a matter of what you are asking for, it is a matter that you are asking.
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Beryllos
Guest
Like so many things of this world, money can be used for good or evil. The problem is not with money itself, but love of money. If you love God first, and also your neighbor, then you will use money in good ways. And why not pray for it, just as we pray “Give us this day our daily bread.”
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Confiteor_Deo
Guest
It is completely fine to pray for money when we are in need of it. Money is used to fulfill basic temporal needs like hunger, shelter, and clothing. It is only bad when our prayers arise from the vice of greed.
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Catholic1954
Guest
Yes, it is ok. You can also pray to Our Lady of Good Remedy.
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7_Sorrows
Guest
I don’t pray for money specifically. I pray for help with my finances.
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AttendeDomine
Guest
I’m certainly no moral authority, but I don’t see anything at all wrong with praying for money—provided it’s done in a spirit of detachment and, ultimately, that you on some level desire to use it to God’s glory. Make no mistake, the more money a person has, the more good they can do, and the more resources they have to advance God’s Kingdom.
One clear example of this would be a family who are looking for a particular job because it will bring them more money and will, in turn, allow them to have another child. That sort of thing is a wonderful motivation for money. Being able to afford more kids is a great thing! Being able to live more comfortably and with less anxiety and more freedom to worship God is likewise a worthwhile goal. Having the ability to take care of those who need help is an important role for a Catholic.
On the other hand, there’s clearly a temptation with money and other material things, and that’s the temptation to become attached to them, and to treat them as an end in themselves. If we can take them or leave them, and bless God one way or the other, then I think we’re doing fine.
One clear example of this would be a family who are looking for a particular job because it will bring them more money and will, in turn, allow them to have another child. That sort of thing is a wonderful motivation for money. Being able to afford more kids is a great thing! Being able to live more comfortably and with less anxiety and more freedom to worship God is likewise a worthwhile goal. Having the ability to take care of those who need help is an important role for a Catholic.
On the other hand, there’s clearly a temptation with money and other material things, and that’s the temptation to become attached to them, and to treat them as an end in themselves. If we can take them or leave them, and bless God one way or the other, then I think we’re doing fine.
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mikekle
Guest
If God CAN grant monetary gifts, which I assume he can and probably has, why would he not see that devout people win the lottery, I mean, if they did, this money would likely go towards many good causes and not just wasted on material things. Seems like most of the big lottery winners I see are very non-religious, odd they would have luck like this without God on their side though.
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mh2007
Guest
Given the economic system of the U.S. we need money to survive. Just like we need oxygen and water, we need a certain amount of money. Pray for opportunities to serve and make money. God Bless You.
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Confiteor_Deo
Guest
Some people are not wealthy because they simply could not take the temptation. It is the wisdom of God that determines who receives wealth and who doesn’t. For some people, their wealth has aided their salvation through donations & alms, and for others their poverty has aided their salvation since it prevents them from greed & love of the world and to look more to God for support than money. I am always reminded that poorer families are usually more religious and have more children than wealthy families. Wealth also has its source in the choices people make in their studies & diligence, so God can’t be blamed for all of it.
As is the case of lottery winners, they could be considered an example from God that wealth doesn’t grant true happiness (as many of them have said) and that it can actually be detrimental to us. I do think that chance is the main cause of who is the winner, though. Gamblers tend to be less religious, I think.
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Crown_of_Stars
Guest
Agreed. If you truly have faith in Him, He will sustain you.
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808Catholic
Guest
I think I read where most big lottery winners eventually go broke; if they had just kept on with their lives as before they won the lottery, they would have been better off. Who’s the lucky ones???
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mikekle
Guest
Well, that is true, but Im thinking of when Jesus fed the 5000 with just a few fish and loaves of bread, note that he did not make a bunch of money appear so people could go buy what they needed, instead he made the actual food/supplies they needed appear out of nowhere.
Maybe he does the same thing today, people may pray for money, planning to use it for food or other essentials, but instead, maybe their fridge ends up fully stocked out of nowhere, Im sure God has done things like this in our world, but we just dont hear about them, because most would not believe it anyway.
Absolutely.
A person with millions of dollars can make a sizable donation to the Church to pay for new pews or to help people in need.
A person who’s struggling financially may be a great person and a great Christian but that person can’t do that.
Maybe people who are more religious are less likely to play the lottery, so if that’s so it turns out that the lottery winners tend not to be religious.
Exactly what I used to pray for when I was out of work.
I didn’t pray to be “Bill Gates rich” or to have a lot of money, but for the opportunity to “get my foot in the door” so I could get something on my own merits and efforts.
I don’t know if it’s “most,” but I don’t doubt that there are lottery winners who later wish they had never become involved with it.
I can see how winning the lottery could cause problems with family and friends.
If I won the lottery, my cousin might say, "Gee, my cousin signit knows I’m struggling. He’s got all those millions he doesn’t need; you’d think he’d offer to help me out " And if I didn’t give it to him he might be resentful.
This is really interesting.
I often wonder if God picks who’s going to have material success in life and who isn’t.
Maybe God gave that other person millions of dollars he never worked for because He knew that other person could handle it, and did the opposite for me because He knew if I had a lot of money I’d buy drugs?
I don’t know; I’ve seen it come out the other way lots of times. Plenty of wealthy celebrities’ children get into trouble with all their spending money, and plenty of people who have good moral character who I think would be able to handle wealth remain poor all their lives.
And if poorer families are more religious, it might not be because wealth itself is a bad influence or poverty is a wonderful thing, but because religious people don’t believe that material success is the only thing and don’t make choices that lead to wealth.
One of the favorite phrases people use is “money can’t buy happiness.”
Maybe not 100% of the time, but I certainly think it can ease misery. If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, wondering which bills you can pay this month, money could do a lot of good.
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hazcompat
Guest
TRUSTFUL SURRENDER TO DIVINE PROVIDENCE
by St. Claude de la Colombiere
maintain us in our position in life, but we must wish for these things in their proper order. If we want our desires in this respect to be met without fail we must first of all ask for the larger things, so that while granting them He may also add the smaller ones.
…Let me show you a good way to ask for happiness even in this world. It is a way that will oblige God to listen to you. Say to him earnestly: Either give me so much money that my heart will be satisfied, or inspire me with such contempt for it that I no longer want it.
Peace
by St. Claude de la Colombiere
- RECOURSE TO PRAYER
maintain us in our position in life, but we must wish for these things in their proper order. If we want our desires in this respect to be met without fail we must first of all ask for the larger things, so that while granting them He may also add the smaller ones.
…Let me show you a good way to ask for happiness even in this world. It is a way that will oblige God to listen to you. Say to him earnestly: Either give me so much money that my heart will be satisfied, or inspire me with such contempt for it that I no longer want it.
Peace
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808Catholic
Guest
So true. I have a relative who regularly brings food to our house to share with us. It’s often times too much for us so we take some to other family members and some to our weekly Scripture study to share with them as well. When God gives us a gift (via His angels sometimes disguised as relatives!), we would do well to share His gifts with others.
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Confiteor_Deo
Guest
It can turn out that poor people sin and wealthy people strive for virtue, or vice versa, because we are still given the choice by Almighty God to choose Heaven or Hell regardless of how much money He gives us. We really can’t judge who can sustain themselves in wealth and who cannot. Someone who always has weak temptations may believe they can have stronger ones so they can offer more to God, but when they get them they realize why the temptations were always weak: because they simply can’t take strong temptations. God, knowing their limitations, only allowed the weak temptations. God never gives us more than we can handle, sometimes it might seem like a little but really it is all we can take.
Money buys happiness if it is used to obtain necessary temporal goods such as shelter and food. Once these needs are satisfied, it’s ability to make someone happy diminishes greatly. In the case you laid out, I agree that money would ease their stress & increase happiness since they are struggling to pay the bare minimum.
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GreyWings
Guest
My suggestion is to ask for the intercession of St. Cajetan…
I hope and pray things get better for you.
Pax,
GreyWings
I hope and pray things get better for you.
Pax,
GreyWings
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