There are, of course, a number of scriptures that come to mind as I think about all this. They are so familiar; I hardly had to look them up! These are the words from God that we have memorized, in part because they hold such promise for us as His children. (I encourage you to copy these next few lines, read and repeat as necessary! They can literally be read as though they were written together.)

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you (John 15:7). Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7). Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete (John 16:24). Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God … and my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Phil 4: 6, 19). This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him (1 John 5: 14, 15). You do not have, because you do not ask God (James 4:2c). The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none (Deuteronomy 28:12). Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it (Malachi 3:10).

The fact that they come to mind so easily is not the problem. The problem is not in remembering them, it is in believing them. And it is not in our inability to read them or quote them but in our ability to speak them or sing them with absolute confidence in what we then hear.

Especially in these times

These are difficult times for most of us. Every day I hear someone (typically my husband) lament on how much the stock market has plummeted and how much money has personally been lost. At least twice a week I sit with a checkbook in one hand and a stack of invoices in another and wonder how to make the two dovetail. I have learned and am learning the “art” (for lack of a better word) of saying “no” to unnecessary purchases and of making one dollar stretch to two. And sometimes five.

I’ve gotten pretty good at that, actually.

I recently spoke at a writers conference where I said, “As a country, we can blame our president – past or present – or we can blame the congress or we can blame the big dogs with all the money and power who sit in their corporate offices. But the truth of the matter is, our economic crisis begins with us as individuals.”

To be a little more complete in that statement, allow me to add: …begins with us as individuals as we stand before and God. As I recently heard Joel Osteen say, we have to stop standing before God with our tin cups extended and start standing before him with our empty barrels, fully expecting Him to fill them up to overflowing!

Your application

This doesn’t just have to be about money, you know. This truth – that God is more than able – extends from your bank account to your health; from your health to the health of your children; from the health of your children to the needs of yourself and all your loved ones, whatever they are, whoever they are. No matter what your need – and especially when there is nothing you can do about the situation – God can. (2 Chronicles 20:12)

All you have to do is believe.

To sing along with Don Moen, go to: “Be Magnified”

Eva Marie Everson is the coauthor of Reflections of God’s Holy Land: A Personal Journey Through Israel (Thomas Nelson/Nelson Bibles). She is an award-winning author and speaker. To book Eva Marie for your next speaking event, contact The Nashville Speakers Bureau.