A Great Stewardship Prayer

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. 15 We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 O LORD our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. 18 O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. 1 Chronicles 29:14-18

What a great prayer this is. This is the prayer of David at the end of 1 Chronicles, when he entrusts Solomon with the building of the temple. At the end of his life, David is giving over his possessions to accomplish this great thing. In this short prayer we have so many of the basic principles of Christian stewardship.

David starts out by affirming or place before God. The thing is God does not need us. He doesn’t need our money. He doesn’t need our possessions.   He doesn’t need our knowledge or wisdom. God is God. There is nothing we can offer him that he doesn’t already have. So David humbly acknowledges our place by saying, “who am I and who are my people that we have anything to offer?”

We have nothing to offer God. Yet, in spite of that he gives us the privilege and the opportunity to do his work. How awesome is that! Think about it for a minute. We get to do the work of God! There is no higher calling in life. There is nothing more important we will ever do than the work of God. We get to participate in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. Wow! How can you not be overwhelmed by this?

The second thing David acknowledges is that nothing we have is ours alone. Everything we have comes from God. God is the creator. God is the owner. There is nothing I can lay claim to. Whatever I possess is simply on loan and I will give an account for it all on the last day.

The problem many of us run into with our possessions is that our possessions take ownership of us. Our possessions start to control our lives and begin to determine how we utilize our time. The more we have, the more time we spend taking care of it and maintaining it. And the less time we have for God’s work.

In verse 15, David acknowledges our time is short. We only have a so many days on this earth. In fact, everything about our life on this earth is limited. We are just passing through. There are two things we can do. We can simply pass through unnoticed or we can pass through and leave a mark behind. Our hope is not to stay here forever as this is not our home. Heaven is our home!

David continues by giving God thanks for the abundance he has provided. Unfortunately, we too often focus on what we don’t have rather than what do have. If you are reading this, God has blessed you in an incredible way. Just the fact that you can read this means that you were given the gift of an education. If you live in America you are rich by the world standards. I once was told that when you pray, focus on God and not your difficulties, because God is so much greater than your difficulties. In the same way there is no comparison between what we have been given versus what we don’t have. We have been given so much more than whatever it is we don’t have.

In verses 17 and 18 David talks about integrity and the joy of giving. When we give to the Lord it is not out of obligation. It is to be done in joy. It is not the amount of our gift that matters to the Lord, but rather intent of our heart. In the New Testament is says that God loves a cheerful giver. Notice what it does not say. It doesn’t say God loves the extravagant gift. He loves the extravagant giver. It is about the condition of our heart. That is what brings God joy and brings us joy as well. Remember, God doesn’t need the gift.

God had certainly blessed David. God has certainly blessed us. He has put many things into our life. Possessions are good things. Money is a good thing. God gives it to us to use to provide for our families and to serve others.

No doubt you have things in your life! David had many things. And like David we need to ask ourselves how we can use these things for God’s purposes, for his glory, and for the sake of his kingdom. God doesn’t give us things to bless ourselves alone, but to bless others. How can you use the things in your life to bless others?