I once heard a godly man say that he prayed regularly, "Lord, make the best bargains come my way!" It inspired me so much that I began doing the same thing. When I read about the inspirational woman in Proverbs, and discovered that she had a habit of watching for bargains, I felt challenged by the Lord to not only pray for good bargains, but to eagerly search them out.

This was the case when my husband, Joe, and I needed a new dishwasher. Our old one just wasn't doing the job anymore, so we decided to go shopping for a new one. As we shopped, I felt impressed by the Lord to pray that we could also afford to buy a new dishwasher for our son, John, and his wife, Amy. They were expecting their son, William, and I knew in my heart that they could use an updated appliance like this to wash all the bottles and other baby things that they would be using on a regular basis. So I began earnestly praying that God would find us such an amazing deal on dishwashers, that we would be able to buy two at one time.

When Joe and I discovered how expensive these appliances had gotten since the last time we had bought one, we began to feel discouraged. Nevertheless, we continued to hope and pray that the Lord would send an extraordinary bargain our way. One day, Joe was reading one of our local newspapers and saw an advertisement for a fantastic sale on a high quality dishwasher with all kinds of options. The price was half of what we intended on spending on a single appliance, so we were able to buy two of them at an affordable price.

When Joe went to install John and Amy's new dishwasher, he found out why the Lord had enabled us to buy two of them, instead of just one. The kids' appliance had begun leaking water, and had the potential to do serious damage to their brand new kitchen floor.

You can't imagine what blessings you can reap until you begin asking God to send the best bargains your way. It's one of His ways of making your money go further, and of enabling you to be a greater blessing to others. So keep your eyes open, and keep a prayer on your lips. You might be surprised what you might find.

Prayer: Lord, make me an effective and extraordinary bargain hunter. Show me where to look, and where to shop to get the best deals. Teach me to pray for the good buys I know You have for me, and help me to pray with the right motives. Make my money go a long way so that I can be a greater blessing to others. Today, I resolve to keep watching for bargains with eyes of faith!

- J. M. Farro