Trusting God for Our Daily Bread

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Hi, I'm Rob West. Fortunately, Jesus didn't stop there. He goes on to give us the Lord's prayer as the way we should bring our needs to God.

But have you ever noticed how we sometimes overlook a key part of it? The part about provision? I'll dive into that today and then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is faith and finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. I want to talk about the place in the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6-11, where Jesus instructs his disciples to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. It's a very important verse that we tend to take for granted, but we shouldn't. Jesus is teaching his disciples and us that God is our provider, and we're to ask him to provide for our needs.

And the most basic physical need is food. This verse serves as a powerful reminder to humble ourselves before God. How often do we truly ask him to provide the food and water we need for today and thank him for it, especially now when prices are higher than ever? When we pray these words in the Lord's Prayer, do we genuinely mean them? I think sometimes we're just reciting words because we forget that only God can provide us with the food and water we need to survive.

He owns everything. We may think that our actions, earning and saving money, provide those things, but that's never the case. Even our ability to earn money comes from God. We're only reminded that God is our real provider when we sense that those things are about to be taken from us, and we begin to feel hunger and thirst.

But this is about more than making money to buy food. We hunger for many other things in this world, peace, love, purpose, healthy relationships, you name it. The Lord's Prayer is an example of how we should pray for all of those things. Jesus wants us to go before our Holy Father in prayer and ask for everything we need, humbly admitting that only he can provide them. Give us this day our daily bread likely carried a deeper urgency 2000 years ago when famine was a constant threat.

Today, living in one of the wealthiest nations in history, this request might feel less pressing. For most of us, though not all, worrying about our next meal isn't a daily concern. In fact, for many, the challenge isn't needing more food, but perhaps less. It's still crucial to pray for God's daily provision, no matter where we live, because doing so reminds us that we are not self-sufficient. This prayer helps guard against the illusion that we can meet our needs apart from him. In other words, it's a bulwark against prideful thinking that we or the things of this world provide what we need. Jesus knew that we're prone to that kind of thinking. That's why those words are in the Lord's Prayer, and that's why we should take them seriously. All of this highlights the subtle danger of materialism.

It's worth reflecting on how much we may be influenced by worldly attitudes toward self-sufficiency. Perhaps we've come to believe that we can sustain our lives without relying on God, and that mindset might explain why many of us approach prayer so casually. In addition to warning about pride, Jesus is also telling us that our Father in Heaven wants to give us every good and perfect gift.

A few verses later, in Matthew 6, he tells his disciples, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. What that means is, we don't really need to worry about bread or water or money. We need God, and prayer reminds us of that, and of God's promise that he'll provide all of those things. An important thing to remember in today's culture of abundance is that we should seek God's help to free us from what can become self-sustaining Christian lives. We must acknowledge daily that we can't sustain ourselves.

Of course, with every believer, that begins by admitting that we need Christ as our Savior. But it must extend into all areas of our lives, that we need God to sustain us with even our most basic needs. And that's how we can avoid the pride that comes from materialism. No matter how much money we make, how big the house we live in, or how fancy the car we drive, we don't really need those things.

We only need God. And when we say those words, give us this day our daily bread, we need to really mean them, and thank God for providing it. And one more thing, we can show our thankfulness through generosity.

Giving breaks the power that money has over us, and demonstrates our faith that God will meet our needs. There's no shortage of things to worry about, economic downturns, market fluctuations, and unexpected disasters, but don't let these concerns shake your trust in God's promises. Instead, turn to him in prayer, asking for your daily bread as a reminder of his faithful provision. All right, your calls are next. Don't go anywhere. Are you overwhelmed by financial fear and anxiety?

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I'm Rob West. It's time to tackle your financial questions today here in just a moment. We've got some lines open, so this would be a great time for you to call 800-525-7000. Now, whatever's on your mind today is perfectly in play for our conversation. As long as it's financial in nature, we can talk about your spending plan and how you can rein in spending, perhaps get on a budget that works for you this year.

Maybe it's a breakdown in communication around money with your spouse or others that you love. In fact, I was just looking at what our most downloaded and listened to podcast was, and it had to do with a question that we actually address in the new first issue of our publication, Faithful Steward. In fact, if you're a Faithfight partner, you'll be getting it in the mail. It's 52 pages.

It's beautiful. We're so excited about this new offering to help you grow in your stewardship journey. But the question we tackle is, should I lend to family and friends? That question is really more relational than it is financial. And we tackle that, give you some helpful things to consider.

But when we dealt with that topic on the broadcast, it was actually our most listened to of the last several years. Well, money issues are hard issues. And so if you've got a challenge in your financial life related to someone in your life, well, let's hear about it.

We'd love to talk about that. Perhaps it's your investments or your credit score. Maybe it's how do you pay off debt once and for all? With credit card debt at a record $1.14 trillion, the highest ever, it's a real challenge.

And with expenses up, everything costing more, that's not going away. So how do you put a plan in place to actually pay off your debt? Let us know if you have those questions. Again, the number 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. You can call right now.

We're going to begin in Jacksonville, Florida today. Hi, Teresa, go ahead. Hi, thank you for your time. I really appreciate it.

Absolutely. So I'm 68. I plan to retire when I'm 72. I owe $95,000 on a condo. And when I retire in those years, I won't have my two paychecks. I'll have my Social Security and my pension. I'll have $200,000 and drop and I have investments. So my question is, my interest rate on this condo is 7.125.

And that just hurts my stomach. So what I'm trying to do, yeah, so I'm throwing money at the principal every month. I have about $1,000 at it every month, along with mortgage payments, because I just want to pay the thing down.

And that's all. But could I take that $1,000 and do something better with it? I would really like to be debt-free when I retire.

Yeah. Well, I mean, I love the fact that you've got some angst about this debt hanging around, and especially given that that rate is up north of 7%. So, you know, you're going to be hard pressed to find anything with a guaranteed 7.1% return. And that's essentially what you have. Every dollar you put toward principal reduction is a guaranteed return of 7.1% that you're no longer paying in interest.

So that's a good thing. And secondly, to your point, you're three years away from retirement. So if you could get ideally to a place where that mortgage was gone in 36 months as you're transitioning into retirement, that's going to take what is likely your largest monthly expense, remove it from the equation. And now it's going to be a whole lot easier to balance that budget with Social Security and pension. And perhaps you can just let your drop investments and other stocks and bonds just continue to grow.

So I think this is a fabulous idea, Teresa, not only on the financial side of the equation, but also just on the spiritual and peace of mind side of the equation, which is just as important, if not more. Because as you said, you know, you've got a sinking feeling in your stomach, just knowing that it's hanging out there. And you're going to have a lot more peace of mind once you call me and say, Guess what, Rob, I just made my last payment. So I'd say keep it up. Okay, well, I appreciate that, too.

And then just one last thing. I think I did something bad last year, I took the money out of different investments to throw at this principle, and it's about $13,000 worth. So I'm going to have to pay taxes on that. So I don't think I'm going to take any more money out of my funds this year coming up. You have any thoughts on that?

I do. So let me just clarify, where did you pull those from? What which account? An annuity. Oh, from an annuity.

Okay. And it was a qualified annuity pre tax money? Here, I should know my vocabulary, but I didn't get a penalty on it. There was no penalty from the annuity company, but I'll have to pay taxes on it.

Got it. Yeah, yeah, I would not take money that is in a pre tax environment to pay down the mortgage. So I would let that grow, whether it's in the annuity or in your drop program or any other investments, I'd let that just continue to grow. And I would focus on principal reduction that comes from exactly what you've been doing.

And that is living below your means, taking after tax dollars and throwing in a principal reduction. That would be my preferred approach. Don't worry about what you did.

Yeah, you're gonna have to pay some tax, but I wouldn't continue that. I just do it the way you are. Okay, you've been a blessing.

Thank you for that piece. I'm doing the right thing. You sure are, Teresa.

Absolutely. And thanks for your call today. 800-525-7000. We're nearly full, but still a few lines remaining. You can call right now. Let's go to Louisiana. Hi, Johnny.

How can I help? Hey, how's it going, Rob? I have a question. I have some stock money that I've been saving up for a while. I was really just planning on using it as part of my retirement, but I lost income a couple of years ago and got in a little financial bind. So I had to max out a credit card. And so now it got sent to collections. And I know they sent me a letter saying if I pay a lump sum, they would take maybe only like 75 or 80% of the total amount. And so I was wondering, would it be a good idea to pull money out of that stock to get that credit card out of the way? Or is it better just to try to work out a monthly payment plan and just leave my money in my stock where it's been growing pretty good since I bought it? Yeah, gotcha.

Yeah, I mean, you certainly could. And I like the idea that they're willing to, you know, give you a lower payoff. They may end up sending you a 1099 for the difference between what you owe and what they would settle for, which would make that taxable. My preference, though, would be you leave the stocks right where they are.

You said they've been doing well. And let's see if we can get this into a credit counseling program, what we would do. Hope is that it hasn't been purchased by the collection agency, they're just acting on behalf of the original creditor. And you could still work with the original creditor. Because if that's the case, through credit counseling, they would call what's called re age the account. So essentially, the account would be brought current, and then you would slide into a debt management program, which leaves the debt right where it is, the account would be brought current. And then you would slide into a debt management program, which leaves the debt right where it is, the account is either closed or at least suspended, but the interest rate is dropped. And that way you could get back current, but with a lower interest rate, which means a lot more of your monthly payment is now going to principal reduction. And you don't have to pull the money out of the the stocks. So I would probably start with that approach just to see if our friends at Christian credit counselors could work with the original creditor.

And get that re aged and slide you into that program. And the way you would do that is go to Christian credit counselors.org. And then if that just isn't going to work out, and you end up needing to pay the lump sum, you know, that way, at that point, you could look at what assets you have available and then potentially pulling from the stock portfolio. Does that make sense, though? Yeah, yeah, definitely. So I think I tried to call my the original creditor one day to work with them. It has been but it was, it was been like over a year since I made a payment.

And so I think last time I tried to call him, she said it was showing the account was closed. Yeah. And that I needed to refer to the the creditors or their whoever.

So I'm not sure if that means they officially bought it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

And so that may be the case now there still may be an option with regard to, you know, sliding it into debt management. So it'd be worth you reaching out to the Christian credit counselors just to get their advice before you make that final decision. Yeah, yeah. Okay. All right. So that on the web Christian credit counselors.org. Let's let them take a look at it, and then see where we go from here. Thanks for your call today. We'll be right back with our final segment.

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They're distributed by four side funds distributors LLC, which is not an advisory affiliate, a registered investment advisor, nor do they provide investment advice. If the heavy burden of debt is robbing you of freedom and peace of mind, Christian credit counselors can help. We're a nationwide nonprofit credit counseling organization that has helped over 300,000 individuals in the last 27 years get out of credit card debt 80% faster while honoring that debt in full.

To learn how Christian credit counselors can help you visit Christian credit counselors.org that's Christian credit counselors.org or call 800-557-1985. Hey, thanks for joining us today on faith and finance. We've got room for a few more questions today. We've got some lines open if you weren't able to get through earlier or you haven't called yet, but you'd like to call right now with your financial questions. Our team is standing by at 800-525-7000.

Again, that's 800-525-7000. We're going to head to Oklahoma in a bit and talk about emergency reserves for churches. That's a great conversation.

But first to New Mexico, Joseph, go ahead, sir. Yes, Rob. Thanks for taking my phone call. Sure. And I really, really do appreciate your program, man. Thank you. I appreciate that.

I have a question. I actually won a house from St. Jude dream home giveaway. Wow.

Congratulations. Believe it or not, when they call me and to tell me, I'm sorry about that. I have a little bit of a cold right now, but they called me up. The girl called me up and said, you won this house. And I hung up on her. I just thought it was a scam.

And so anyway, she called me back and I said, well, listen, I'm going to hang up now. I'm going to call you back to make sure this is legit. And it was, it was legit. I won a, uh, 2,300 square foot home on a, it's a smart home and it's on a half acre land.

And the house is valued at, Oh, my $570,000. Wow. Incredible. Yeah. I mean, it was just a blessing from God. Really?

Our family's always been big givers and we've always, you know, done the Dave Ramsey thing, just living debt-free when you, if you can't afford something, you know, to pay for cash, you don't buy it. Yeah. Yeah.

What a novel idea, right? Oh, I know. But anyway, I had to get into this house. I had to pay, I think it was right around 35 to 37% in taxes, which came out to be $205,000. And I had the money, so I went ahead and got into the house and I'm getting ready to sell the house. And I talked to my CPA and they were saying that it was going to be another 20% capital gains on that house. Yeah. You know, when I sell.

Interesting. Well, the thing that's confusing to me, and I'm not a CPA, so I would take his, his counsel on this, but you, you paid the tax on the winnings. And so in order to determine the cost basis of a house, one in a drawing or sweepstakes or whatever it would be, is generally based on my understanding, the cost basis of the home would be the fair market value on the date you officially received ownership, because you paid the tax on the winnings. And now we need to determine, is there a capital gain? And in order for you to get the long term capital gain, which would either be 0, 15 or 20%, you would determine as long as you've held it for at least a year, you would get the long term capital gain. But I would question whether there's any gain at all, because, you know, are you turning around and selling it pretty soon after you received it? No, I've had the house for a couple years now.

Okay. And has it appreciated since you got it? It stayed pretty much the same because of, you know, the interest rates. And, you know, I mean, it's still about that.

I could probably sell it for the 570. Yeah, yeah. So is he saying the entire value of the home is a capital gain? That's what they're saying. You know, maybe I misunderstood them or something.

I don't know. That's why I'm doing the research to, you know, kind of figure out how I can keep the tax burden down. Well, the fair market value is typically the value stated by the contest sponsor, which would have been the, the amount that would have been taxable to you, you know, it could be based on a professional appraisal or the price the sponsor paid for the house, you know, and then in terms of you having a capital gain, it would really be just the difference between your selling price, and you know, the adjusted cost basis, which is, you know, that fair market value, and you received it, you know, plus any major renovations, which I can't imagine you had any at all, you know, or landscaping improvements, things that added to the value of the home. And then, you know, you would come up with your, your capital gain.

And as long as you held the property for at least a year, then whatever gain you had would then help you determine along with your income, what long term capital gain rate you pay. So, you know, for 20, 30 years, you know, you're going to have a lot of money. So, you know, for 2025, you know, if you have, are you are you married or single?

I'm single. Okay, so single filing status for 2025. If you have taxable income, between 48,351 and 533,000, you'd pay 15%. But again, that would only be based on the the gain that you had. And I think based on what I'm hearing, you could make the case there isn't any gain because it has a appreciated since the fair market value of what you received.

So I think what you need to do next is go back to your CPA and just say, help me understand here why there's a capital gain, just given that this has an appreciated since I received it. Okay, yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, I just, you know, that money you pay out more than 50% in taxes.

Yeah, it's kind of gets to you. Yeah. Well, yeah, again, I think, you know, the con, the contest reports the fair market value, and that becomes your cost basis. And you've already paid the taxes on the winnings. So I, you know, I think that's your next step here.

Hopefully, there'll be good news. Maybe you just misunderstood or maybe I'm missing something here. But I think it's at least worth you checking back to the point where you're looking back in with your your tax professional. By the way, in terms of determining your long term capital gain bracket, it's really what's called total taxable income. So it's your AGI, your adjusted gross income, which includes wages and salaries and bonuses and interest and dividends. And then any long term capital gains. So the gain from the sale of the home would be added in. And when you put all that taxable income together, you know, minus any deductions, then you you know, that would help you determine what's in the market. Okay, where do I fall? And that's why most people, when you put all that together fall in that 15% bracket or rate.

But again, the question here is, is there any gain at all to even be concerned about? And that's where I think you need to go next. Joseph, congratulations, again, what a blessing. And thanks for calling today.

We appreciate you being on the program. Well, as we round out the broadcast today, let me finish by reminding you the five principles of money management that we find in God's Word. You know, after we recognize that God owns it all, and that we're stewards or managers of God's resources, the next question is, well, how do I faithfully manage those resources? And that's where these five wise principles come in number one, spend less than you are. That's the key to every financial success. Number two, avoid the use of debt because debt mortgages the future. Number three, have some liquidity or some margin in your financial life, something left over at the end of the month. That's the only way that you'll ultimately be able to accomplish your longer term goals and objectives, whether that's paying down your debt or increasing your giving or saving for the future. Fourth, have long term goals, you see the longer term your perspective, the better the decision you'll make today. And number five is give generously because giving breaks the grip of money over our lives.

I hope those five principles are an encouragement to you and will be helpful to you along the way. Well, a big thanks to my team today. We certainly couldn't do this without them. We're grateful for Jim Henry, Taylor Standridge, Chad Clark and Amy Rios and everybody here at FaithVide. We hope you'll come back and join us next time. And until then, may God bless you. Bye bye. FaithVide and listeners like you.