Galatians 2:10: … they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Lord, we Christians in America are so blessed with material abundance! Thank You! But let us not take that blessing for granted, or want to keep it only for ourselves. Open our eyes to the desperate need of the many poor around the world, especially those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Help us to see, and to act on, opportunities to help them, whether directly through gifts, or indirectly through entrepreneurial investment or imparting insights about government, economics, business, trade, and resource use that are crucial to any society’s overcoming poverty. We thank You that a smaller proportion of the world’s population lives in desperate poverty than perhaps at any time in human history, and that that proportion continues to decline as more and more societies implement the principles and practices that have lifted so many out of poverty already. Yet we long for that trend to accelerate, for more and more people to be freed from the sufferings of poverty. So we ask You to motivate and activate more and more of Your people to act accordingly. Curb oppression, O Judge of all the earth, and let freedom ring around the world. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Featured image courtesy of Keith Bacongco/Flickr CC