Arnold Toynbee, a historian and critic of Western civilization, will long be remembered.  Toynbee, who died at the age of 86, was born on April 14, 1889 into a family of distinguished scholars and philanthropists.  Although he was best known for his twelve‑volume A Study of History, which was written over a 34‑year period, Toynbee was still vocal about a wide range of topics from sex to religion to the spread of cities.

When Howard Rutledge was shot down over Vietnam, he prayed for the first time in 20 years, but, believe me, it didn't take another 20 years for Rutledge to try prayer.  He started praying and praying hard.  "When one is dying from starvation," he later wrote of his ordeal, "a bowl of sewer greens is a gift from God.  Before every meal during my captivity," he said, "I offered a prayer of thanks."

A youth was speaking admirably of his father when he said, "When Dad's in trouble, he almost always prays."  Many of us are like that.  When we're facing danger, we are quick to call on the Almighty to get us out of a tough spot.  Many of our prayers are filled with rather personal requests--"Lord, give me this and give me that"--often asking for financial blessings, which we tend to think would solve all our problems.

When the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him to teach them to pray, He said, "This is how you should pray:  ‘Our Father in heaven...’" Stop!  But just where is heaven?  Literally the words are "in the heavens."  The space that surrounds planet earth is really pretty vast, right?  Is this what He is talking about?  Yet, if you are in China and look overhead, you're looking at the opposite direction of our friends in Quito, Ecuador who are listening to this program.  Just where is the dwelling place of the Father? For a few moments, think with me about how vast the heavens really are.

"To be a Christian without prayer," said Martin Luther, "is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."  Yet, so often, we voice words mechanically and perfunctorily, and fail to grasp the meaning behind them.  How often have you prayed, "Our Father who art in heaven..." and repeated a prayer by rote, without even thinking of what you were saying?

Those of you who are familiar with computers are aware of pull-down menus.  When you touch one item, a whole series of possibilities opens up before you.  Such is the way it is with 57 Greek words which, translated into English, constitute a prayer we commonly refer to as The Lord's Prayer.  Each phrase in this dynamic prayer opens powerful vistas of spiritual insight and potential.      

In his famous sermon on money, John Wesley advised, "Get all you can, save all you can, give all you can."  Today--some 200+ years later--we understand the part about getting all you can, especially without having to work very hard for it. But the saving and giving parts of it are often misunderstood today.

I had just flown into a rather primitive area in Northern Luzon, a tribal area of the Philippines, where Bible translators from Wycliffe had given the New Testament to a group who were reading it for the first time. Along towards evening, men came from the fields and women and children joined their husbands in assembling in the group house to hear the Good News.

There are only three things that you can do with it: 1. Save it; 2. Spend it; and 3. Give it away.  It's money--the most explosive and troublesome issue involving families today. It isn't really how much you have, or how little you have, but what you do with what you have. The handling of money is the #1 problem facing people today. Our problem, simply put, is that we spend far too much, save far too little, and end up with nothing to give.