Day 26 Prayers for Financial Stability

Ask for financial stability and wisdom in managing resources.

2 Corinthians 9:8

"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

The instability and recklessness of addiction definitely takes a toll on a credit report. Financial recovery from addiction is a long drawn out process. My daughter and son-in-law have been clean for four and a half years and during that time have had a steady and stable work history and have made all of their payments on time and they still struggle getting approved for credit and leases from the decisions they made in addiction. I can only imagine how much worse it would be if they had continued to have financial stability issues in their recovery. That being said, God has provided and opened doors at just the right time to get them what they have needed. It is not impossible but it takes some extra work and God working His magic to put our loved ones where He wants them.

After rehab my daughter and her newborn son lived in our home while my now son-in-law finished his rehab program. He had proposed and they were planning to get married after he graduated his program. I had not required anything of my daughter financially while she lived here because she was having to pay off fines and restitution and pay for drug testing. When it came time to start planning a wedding, I made one of the best decisions I think I made as a loved one in their recovery. I sat them down and explained that getting married meant being able to stand on their own two feet. I was not going to throw a wedding for them to come back and move in with us. We all agreed that no on wanted that.

At that time they had very few bills and they were both working. I told them to make it on their own they would have to be able to put out at least $1200 per month towards bills (this was before prices rose the way they have since 2020). I also explained when starting out in life that they needed savings or a reserve to handle emergencies or something like a car breaking down could completely erase all the progress they had made. I told them that between the two of them they needed to pay us $300 per week. I told them to work it out among the two of them how they would handle that but that they needed to bring us cash weekly. We told them that we would put that money in a safe and when they got married and got ready to rent a home, we would give it all back to them. I was so proud of them as they worked together to meet that goal each week. They enjoyed seeing it grow so much that they ended up putting more than we asked every week and put their tax refunds in there as well. They loved seeing it grow. When they rented their apartment, they had saved up about $11000 dollars to cover any initial expenses and deposits and they put the rest in savings to be their emergency reserves.

That savings allowed them to get over the unexpected bumps in the road for quite a while. It gave them a cushion to work with to keep unexpected expenses from overwhelming them and taught them the importance of saving. They still use the lessons they learned at that time to maintain their family finances. We have never had to loan them money or co-sign for anything and I think it was in large part because of the plan we all made in their early recovery.

Having established that financial recovery takes a long time, I want to encourage you, my fellow loved ones, to protect your own finances while your loved one is in addiction and when they have entered recovery. It will take you years to recover as well if you enable your loved one and intertwine your finances before they are ready to handle their money and yours responsibly. When they enter recovery encourage financial responsibility and if they are living with you, I encourage you to work out a plan to help them save similar to the one we worked out with my daughter. Never loan or give money you can’t afford to lose. God has called us to be good stewards of the resources He give us and we can not do that, nor can we model that for our loved ones, if we destroy our own financial well-being to “fix” or “save” them. God will provide for their needs as He sees fit.

May God bless you on this journey!

Precious Heavenly Father,

We come before You, lifting up our loved ones who are struggling with addiction. Lord, we ask for Your divine provision and guidance in their financial lives. We pray that You would bless them with financial stability and the wisdom to manage their resources in a way that honors You.

Father, grant them the discipline and self-control to make sound financial decisions, even as they work toward recovery. Help them to avoid the traps of debt, poor choices, or the misuse of resources, and instead guide them toward financial freedom and stability. We trust You, Lord, to provide for all their needs and to give them the strength to steward well what they have been given.

May they find peace in knowing that You are their provider, and may Your wisdom and grace lead them toward a life of stability, free from financial burden.

In Jesus’ mighty name,

Amen.

Philippians 4:19

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus."

Proverbs 3:9-10

"Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine."

Matthew 6:31-33

"So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Proverbs 10:22

"The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it."

Psalm 37:25

"I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread."