A Prayer for Black Friday

Perhaps this is judgy of me (wouldn’t be surprising) but I envision the setting of this teaching as Black Friday. In a stressed out crowd trying to collect all the best bargains, Jesus pushes back on capitalism. He invites us to reconsider what contentment looks like.

And he told them this parable:

The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God. - Luke 12:16-21

Try praying this prayer today.

Jesus, I feel conflicted between what others have and what I have. I feel conflicted between what I have and what I want. I feel conflicted between what I want and what I need. I feel conflicted between what I need and what the world needs.

When it comes to possessions, I’m a mess. I come to you today acknowledging that you know what’s best for me and for others. I suspect that you may be inviting me to more contentment and gratitude and generosity. I know I also get to ask for my daily bread freely and without shame, and that probably includes giving good gifts to loved ones. Help me sort all of this out with freedom and sacrifice and energy today, honoring you and others and even myself.