Fasting Shopping

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Matthew 6:11

Give us today our daily bread

Bible Reading for A Year:[bible]Psalm14[/bible];[bible]Matth14[/bible];[bible]iikin13-14[/bible]

The Compact, a group of U.S. environmental activist, commit to do fasting shopping for a year. They do not buy any new stuff unless their primary necessities. The result? They learn a lot. A teenager said, "There are a lot of stuff that I really want but I do not need it apparently." A mother closed her credit card. She claims that she eventually could appreciate goods more. If they are broken, she would try to fix it first, not buy a new one directly. They conclude, consumerist behavior makes us spend more than we need.

Beware to any trap of this consumer behavior. Advertising and promotion keep convincing us that life is not complete yet before buying their products. We are driven to want and to obtain it all. If it continues to be obeyed, we would do anything starting from piling debt up to making a fuss in order to get more money for shopping. Prayer can also be used to force God fulfilling the shopping list.

James called this "a friendship with the world" ([bible]James4:4[/bible]). When lust has an authority over us, we will envy to those who have more ([bible]James4:2[/bible]). Then prayer will be contaminated with our earthly requests ([bible]james4:3[/bible]).

Do you always feel that what you possess is not still enough? Are you restless if you do not have things that many people have already had? Are your spending not balanced by your income? Is your prayer dominated by material requests? If the answer is "yes", then you are being in the trap of consumer behavior. Free yourself immediately. Try to do fasting shopping from now on as well. Do not forget, ask the Lord Jesus to give His hands on you when you're trying to put it into practice. Because, He is really able to bring you out of the problem you struggle with – JTI

Problem that most people have is not about having too little, but expecting too much

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