A Prayer for the Economy

For National Day of Prayer 5-7-2020
"Pray God's Glory Across the Earth"

Eternal God – Our Heavenly Father,

In the news today, another 3.12 million Americans filed for unemployment; the 7-week total has reached 33 million. This Coronavirus has not only caused thousands to die prematurely – both here in the United States and in Countries worldwide. It has put millions out of work – caused loss of income needed to support families, pay for rent or mortgages (provide roof over heads), put food on table (feed the hungry) and cover other essentials such as medicine, transportation, etc.

In your Holy Word there are many references on work. In Genesis 2:15 we read – You, “the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Following mankind’s fall into sin you stated, “Cursed is the ground because of you (man); through painful toil (work) you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow (strenuous work) you will eat your food” (Genesis 3:17-19).

    
This you, Oh Lord God, have decreed for mankind – and it has been true down through thousands of years of human history.

    
The Apostle Paul gave this exhortation in his letter to the Ephesian Christians – “He (people) must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in  need" (Ephesians 4:28).

    
He, Paul, practiced what he preached for he stated this to the Thessalonians: “You ought to follow our example, we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you… we did this to make a model for you to follow… we gave you this rule; ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’” (II Thessalonians 3:7-10).

   
People need to work. People want to work but today many millions have lost their employment due to the COVID19 health crisis. So, Lord God we are praying for this disease to be abated – that the health threat would reside so that businesses can again be open to serve the public’s needs and provide gainful employment for their workers. Without jobs people can’t provide for their families (home, food, medicine, transportation).

    
They can’t “render to Caesar” (the government) revenue to provide needed service to protect citizens. They can’t “give to God” their tithes and offerings for ministries…

    
We ask for a healing of our land of the disease and its affect on the economy. We ask not for selfish reasons but to provide work so that the other needful things can be realized again.

    
We continue to pray for your protection for those who are still working – in the healthcare field, first time responders and people serving in essential services including retail (for food and other essentials).

   
Grant these requests/prayers offered in Jesus name – Amen!

The Dignity of Labor

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die’” (Genesis 2:15-17). Of course, like children often do, they went out and did exactly what they were instructed not to!

One of the consequences of the fall by the first couple in the Garden of Eden was that Adam was told, “by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food” (Genesis 3:19). God originally placed man in the Garden “to work it and take care of it.” After their disobedience they had to work a lot harder—“painfully toil” and deal with “thorns and thistles” (Genesis 3:17-18). Growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania, I used to fantasize and wonder what it would have been like to farm and not have to contend with weeds. As a youth I was upset that Adam and Eve “messed things up” but have since concluded I probably would have done the very same thing they were guilty of.

Throughout the rest of Scripture we are given many examples of people performing different types of work: Noah built the ark to survive the flood; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were herders of flocks as were Moses, David and others; the Children of Israel labored to make bricks for the Pharoah in Eqypt; Joseph and Jesus were carpenters; Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen; Paul, Aquila and Priscilla were tentmakers; Luke was a physician; and Lydia was a merchant woman.

The Bible teaches the dignity of labor. Rabbi’s used to teach that if parents did not teach their children a trade they taught them to be a thief.

The Scriptures also set forth the principle that workers are to be compensated fairly for their labor—“the worker deserves his wages” (Luke 10:7, 1 Timothy 5:18). Additionally, “Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin” (Deuteronomy 24:14-15).

As we near the end of summer and celebrate “Labor Day Weekend” let us consider what the Bible says on the subject. And let us pray that the “Great Recession” will begin to subside and folks who want to work will be able to find jobs.