In my book “The Price of Financial Freedom – 3 Essential Steps towards Breaking The Cycle of Debt“, i wrote about the necessity for people to develop the habit of saying ‘NO’ to themselves when they are tempted to buy anything on impulse. There is, however, another kind of talking that we neeed to add to our financial freedom arsenal – prayers.
You see, we sometimes rush to buy things because advertisers tell us to buy. They assure us that we will be prettier, feel better, be more acceptable to all especially the opposite sex – as we use their products. There are advertisements on TV and in magazines and other media that try to get us to buy things RIGHT NOW. They don’t want us to think about it too much or talk to too many people about it; and they definitely don’t want us to talk to God about it. They want us to buy it IMMEDIATELY, because they are afraid that if we think about it we might not buy it at all.
To break that impulsive cycle, we need to try the “Pray Before You Pay” method. To avoid impulse buying in the first place, make a shopping LIST and stick to it. Also you need to make a shopping PLAN of the places you will go to shop. If you are going window shopping don’t carry more money than you wish to spend. If you have a shopping decision to make – pray right there and then – God is every where.
So what kind of prayer would you want to pray before you make a purchase? Try something like:
“God, help me know if this purchase is good for me and will really make my life better. Thank you that you love me so much, that I don’t have to buy something just to feel good.”
or
“God, I really want this, but I’m not sure if I need it. Help me to sort that out and to know that even if it is only something I want, it could still be OK to buy it, if it is really good for me”
After you have done that WAIT for an answer!!
There are other quick prayers that you could come up with that would help you make a decision about whether or not to buy something. The sellers and advertisers have one goal: to make the sale. But God has other goals and values, and so do you. Praying helps bring those values into decisions about buying things. You and the class can talk about what those values might be.
Brought to you by: Niyi Adeoshun – Inspiring you to take control of your finances to the glory of God
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