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In Crisis, Wall Street Turns to Prayer

Financial meltdown triggers prayer sessions citywide.

Tony Carnes | posted 9/19/2008 11:53AM

Starting early last Sunday morning, the turmoil in New York's financial markets triggered a spiritual response among Christian leaders reminiscent of the response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

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larry

Posted: September 29, 2008 8:46 PM


You mean there's Christians on Wall Street? No wonder everything costs so much.

Martin

Posted: September 26, 2008 11:24 PM

We need to be awakened that money should not be the center of our lives, it should be Jesus. His words should echo in our hearts and should also be put into practice with the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us, "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his soul?" This crisis is a test to us. God is teaching us to handle money well and all other resources that He entrusts to us. The question is "will we choose to give even it's inconvenient? Will we give like the poor widow in the Bible? Will we love God despite of this crisis?

Helen Grant

Posted: September 26, 2008 1:18 AM


Depressing and scary subject. Tony Carnes's article reminds me that there is hope in prayer and in God's will.

Carl	Posted: September 23, 2008 10:36 PM

Both parties are at fault. And history is controlled by GOD, not by men. America has handed the keys to our money to the bankers(NOT SMART) . Our funny money will crash or be changed to another type of money. Because its not money, its FIAT. The bankers and government are to blame. READ: Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802) 3rd president of US (1743 - 1826) I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.

Richard

Posted: September 23, 2008 3:11 PM

The sheer ignorance (financial, political, etc) and mean-spiritedness (motivated by envy no doubt) of the posting to this story are a sad tribute to those who claim to be followers of Jesus. If I had a spin, which I don't, I'd say that all those evangelicals who voted for Bush simply because he was supposedly against abortion and homosexuality without realizing that he was he was a firm believer in deregulation, giving the markets a complete freehand (Bush has given out more tax breaks to the rich than any President; His response to 9/11 was to go shopping and then to launch an unprovoked, unilateral war against a nation that had NOTHING to do with 9/11 and harbored no Taliban before we invaded), pretty much can pat themselves on the back right now.

wd	Posted: September 23, 2008 10:25 AM

Christians have been saying "no regulations" "no speed limits" for business. This is what we have now. God will lay it at our doorstep, and the Body of Christ needs real repentance. The only way to avert disaster (disaster = out of control national debt) is to make the sacrifice (taxes!!!) and pay for what we have foolishly committed to Iraq, unregulated business, purchasing houses too big for our incomes... etc. Listening to false prophets like Rush. Foolishness is our Politics. The "me" generation is reaping. Repentance is necessary - in the Body of Christ, let it begin with the church.

DNADEB

Posted: September 23, 2008 8:49 AM

IF we the taxpayers bail these companies out, THEN we should be allowed to regulate them. Of course the Repub mantra is let the economy regulate itself -- the government should not be regulating. BUT I DONT want to see huge bonuses at the end of this year and this GREED going unpunished! Yeah we can bail them out but we are not allowed to keep them from cheating and lying and breaking all kinds of laws!

Dan Stratton

Posted: September 23, 2008 7:54 AM

AsI read this, I want you to know that we at Faith Exchange have been praying daily for over a year for 90 minutes. We, Faith Exchange, are always and have always been doing the work in this strategic place. We don't ask for attention, allowing people to speak about Wall Street from the Spiritual side who think about it once in a while is a big mistake. Christians have notoriously cursed Wall Street with their words for years. They love to hate people with money. Pray His perfect will. Bless and do not curse. We wrestle not with flesh and blood. We are victorious. We will be victorious once again. What the devil meant for harm, Yahweh Yahshua will turn around for good. Love never fails. We were here at His command before 93, 9-11 and before this time. I suggest that you look for the inside story from the ones that are doing the work. We are not turning to God now. We knew that there would be trials and challenges and we moved in long ago, for such a time as this.

Gary Sweeten

Posted: September 23, 2008 7:09 AM


We do not know what will work to make us happy or spiritual. I tried poverty and that didn't work because I was not able to thank God when I was poor. I tried wealth but that did not work because I was taking credit for my blessings and did not thank God. I wonder who is being tested; God or me.

Anonymous

Posted: September 22, 2008 11:45 PM


I am living in South East Asia, in a country which 'developed' coutnries like USA call a 'developing' country. We experienced quite a similar thing back in late 90's . At that time we thought it could only happen in a country like ours wherethe goverment was corrupt and so nobody was watching out for the

Paul	Posted: September 22, 2008 11:13 PM

I was in financial service for approximately 25 years, having spent time at Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and AIG. My career was a disaster, although I repeatedly prayed for God's blessings of that career. By that I don't mean reaping enormous riches, I mean going to work with an attitude to serve Him, and run an ethical business where my clients would see me as someone who would not be as secular as those they were used to dealing with. All around me, I watched cheats and liars prosper, while I often faced unemployment. I finally came to the conclusion that God cares little about our careers, so for those Wall Street Christians who have seen their fortunes and careers fade from mismanagement of their firms, and are now wondering how they will re-build a career, welcome to my world. You're on your own folks. Gosh, that makes me sound bitter.

Chris

Posted: September 22, 2008 9:37 PM


(Ecclesiastes 5:19-20) "As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor - this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart." I pray your labor shall not be in vain ... in Christ.

Mark	Posted: September 22, 2008 8:50 PM


Why should we pray. Thats why we elected all those Christians to office. They know what their doing.

wesh	Posted: September 22, 2008 6:53 PM


Pride and Greed. Predators feeding on the old, poor and helpless. This is no accident, it is a choice of will by men. I with honesty and ethics were easier to find. Rarely do I ask God for anything but "knowledge of his will for me, and the courage to carry it out." I wish I was stronger and had more faith.

Dave	Posted: September 22, 2008 5:31 PM


It's for love of Money. It's all pathetic.

Leroy

Posted: September 22, 2008 5:29 PM

It's simply mind boggling why anyone would try to turn this financial crisis into a rally cry for McCain/Plain. It's equally mind boggling that evangelicals have fallen in line for McCain after he threw them Plain like a piece of red meat, when he really wanted to choose Liberman. But what is most mind boggling is that Evangelicals seems so untroubled by Palin's proclivity towards and seeming ease with bending, twisting and exaggerating the truth. After 8 years of a incurious President, who claims to be an Evangelical, but considers innocent victims (also made in the image of God) of an unprovoked war mere "collateral damage", you'd think that Evangelicals would not be so easily duped, particularly by someone who called two of their leaders back in 2000 "agents of intolerance", who dumped his disabled and disfigured wife for a beer heiress, 20 years his junior (family values?), simply because he threw them a horribly unqualified and equally incurious Pentecostal running mate!

Isaiah Tor

Posted: September 22, 2008 5:28 PM

The Lord Jesus clearly said that we cannot serve both God and mammon. Whilst one cannot sweep aside the genuine hardships caused upon innocent individuals due to this speculative financial travesty on Wall Street, one must ask the question, do we "pray over the books" so that we are freed into some kind of financial security, and dare we say prosperity, or do we pray over every aspect of our lives in consecration to the Lord and unto the fulfillment of His pupose, so that God's heart's desire in and through the ascended Christ by the Spirit would be executed on this earth. It is pointless to turn to the Lord in times like these, and when things actually get better we become gradually, if not quickly forgetfully of our Lord Jesus who so delivered us in the first place. This is not the resolution of a conundrum, a crisis of faith so to speak. This financial crisis shows us where our hearts has really been-on money and not on the Lord. May we so pray for salvation from the hold of money!

Doug	Posted: September 22, 2008 5:04 PM

I fully understand the need to pray, but we should not pray for is not prosperity. Trials like these come to help us realize that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his wealth. We are reaping what we have sown. We always do. Some will be more negatively affected than others. We need to pray that people get their priorities right, and not that businesses are saved. People are going to learn the hard way that wealth isn't what life is all about.

tony	Posted: September 22, 2008 4:37 PM


(-) This is one of the stupidest CT articles I have ever read. I would like to propose a new reating system: when comments are preceded by a (-), the star rating system is to be multiplied by -1, meaning that on a scale of 1-5, my rating for this piece is -5

Matt	Posted: September 22, 2008 4:26 PM

Three words: prepare for depression. This nation will absolutely crumble under the weight of it's wickedness, godlessness, and foolishness. Buy an axe, make sure your woodstove works, make sure you have tools to cultivate the land, buy a couple gold coins (for when the American dollar becomes worthless, you won't be able to use to good ol' green back to buy squat). I'm not saying you should worry, but I'm saying that a little prudence goes a long way. All the wealth of this nation will disappear.

SteveB

Posted: September 22, 2008 3:58 PM

I have mixed emotions here. Many of the "real players" are so insulated from the potential job loss and ensuing disaster that it won't matter to them. The "little people" on Wall Street are not typically the policymakers--they are workers, who expected to get up Monday and go to work. This is a major tragedy for them. On the other hand, there are people who acted recklessly with their companies, and destroyed both them and their shareholders with their wrongdoing. There are ethical issues here, so those have to be addressed in counseling and ministry; however, a person who just lost his job through no fault of his own needs prayer and encouragement, and maybe a shot at something new. My prayers are with all...that the wicked will repent, and that the innocent will seek God for His help. I also pray that the country will get through this, and learn all the lessons it (we) need to. BTW: I'm in California, Not Wall Street.

psalm 33

Posted: September 22, 2008 3:53 PM


God will keep us alive in a famine (Psalm 33) but how many of the financial wizards and money-makers want to keep their fortunes as well as their lives? God promises nothing more than to keep us alive and let us survive, for which we should be rightfully grateful.

Linda

Posted: September 22, 2008 3:43 PM

YES, Evangelicals enjoy your FRUIT: Senator John McCain and Gov. Sara Palin are the Maverick and Barracuda. Senator John McCain saved MORE OF TAXPAYER'S MONEY THAN OBAMA ever did as he fought PORK BARREL SPENDING IN CONGRESS. The Croonies transgressions begin back during Clinton's operation when he transformed the highest nat'l office to a "sexual romper room" and our elementary grade children had gone home and talked about the "rumored" gossip.."sexual orientation" they were too young to know about and they were confused as they approached their parent's with the news. Now with Sara Palin special needs children have a HEROE thank GOD.

DNADEB

Posted: September 22, 2008 3:31 PM

dfb	Posted: September 22, 2008 2:08 PM


Hopefully, in addition to prayer, that many of the Christians involved in the financial markets will start to follow Biblical principles in their business practices, especially concerning debt.

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