“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” –Matthew 6:21

Years ago I heard a famous preacher tell about a conversation he had with the president of a South American nation. The president of that nation told the preacher that he had discovered the roots of the difference between the United States and his own nation: “Our ancestors came to these shores looking for gold, but your ancestors came looking for God.”
    
That’s a profound difference. And probably a little distorted, in that certainly there were some early settlers in America who came looking for gold, too. But that leader was right in understanding that there was a solid segment of those who came to the American colonies with a sincere desire to seek God and religious freedom.

What are we seeking now as a nation? God or gold? All too often we have been known as a nation that is interested more in money and things than in God and people. This attitude has infected the church as well as the nation. There is no doubt that the love of money is one of the key idols in our nation, and is standing in the way of another great move of God in our midst. Where is your heart today? Your answer indicates where your treasure is.

Prayer Points

• Ask the Lord to reveal clearly to you where your treasure is.
• Pray for your heart to be clearly focused on the Lord.
• In Jesus’ name, tear down the idol of mammon (money) that has taken up residence in America today.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You spoke so often about money and the danger it can represent to us. Yet, You also used the wealth of the rich to accomplish Your mission. Help us to walk in that biblical understanding of both the danger and blessing of money. Forgive us for making an idol out of money or material things. Especially, Lord, forgive us when such idolatry happens in Your church. Help us to live lives that are free from greed and coveting, that we might be a prophetic voice to our nation. May we become a nation that treasures You far more than we treasure gold.   

Taken from Desperate for Change: 40 Days of Prayer for America by Dave Butts (c) 2012 PrayerShop Publishing.