Does praying for financial breakthrough really help or does it also depend on my faith? I don’t approach people for financial assistance.
The concept of a ‘financial breakthrough’ is fairly new and is born out of the desire for the Lord to provide funds to take care of the financial trouble we’ve gotten ourselves into. We read in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” We are subject to the consequences of our actions. Most of the time, we learn life lessons through our experiences. If we get ourselves into debt and cannot pay our debtors, what lessons would we learn if the Lord just miraculously gave us the money to get out of our debts? In all likelihood, we would find ourselves back in debt pretty soon after. However, if the Lord allows us to struggle to get out of debt, we will learn our lesson and be extremely careful about going back into debt.
Don’t get me wrong. The Lord is always there to help us. We have the words of the Lord in Psalm 50:15, “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” The Lord will ALWAYS ‘deliver’ us when we faithfully call upon Him when we are in any kind of trouble. But the delivery might be different than what we are expecting. We may call out to the Lord to help in our financial situation and He may provide the opportunity to work to earn the money we need to get out of debt. He may provide a better paying job, or He may provide an extra job to help us in our financial crisis. That way, the Lord takes care of us AND He teaches us a lesson about over-extending ourselves in our finances.
There are times when we may be overtaken by unexpected events that require more money that we have. Unexpected hospital bills, an unexpected injury that prevents us from working, etc. These are things we need to pray earnestly about, committing these cares to the Lord. We are taught in 1 Peter 5:6-7, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” In times like these, the Lord wants us to be humble and ask Him to take care of us. He assures us in Matthew 6:8, “…your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Ephesians 3:20 declares that the Lord, “…is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” We serve a mighty God who can minister to ALL our needs. He has a supply that never runs out. So, in times of need, it is proper to humbly ask the Lord for His provision.
I think you are wise in not asking others for financial assistance. Instead, ask the Lord to provide for you. According to His perfect and loving will, He will answer. We read in 1 John 5:14, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, he heareth us.” (379.4)