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2 Chronicles 26:16 records that when King Uzziah increased in power, then "his heart was lifted up to his destruction", after he presumed to priestly powers that were not his. Some of the greatest examples in the Bible of Godly men, are those who maintained their faith and spiritual relationship with God in both adversity and abundance, in affliction and affluence, such as Job, Daniel and the [[apostle Paul]], (Phil. 4:12) in addition to [[Jesus Christ]]. (Heb. 4:15)

2 Chronicles 26:16 records that when King Uzziah increased in power, then "his heart was lifted up to his destruction", after he presumed to priestly powers that were not his. Some of the greatest examples in the Bible of Godly men, are those who maintained their faith and spiritual relationship with God in both adversity and abundance, in affliction and affluence, such as Job, Daniel and the [[apostle Paul]], (Phil. 4:12) in addition to [[Jesus Christ]]. (Heb. 4:15)

In America, the tendency to drift away from faith in times of prosperity was observed early by Puritan preacher Cotton Mather (1663-1728) who stated, "Religion begat prosperity, and the daughter devoured the mother".<ref>Magnalia Christi Americana (The Great Achievement of Christ in America, 1702)</ref>

In America, the tendency to drift away from faith in times of prosperity was observed early by Puritan preacher Cotton Mather (1663-1728) who stated, "Religion begat prosperity, and the daughter devoured the mother".<ref>Magnalia Christi Americana (The Great Achievement of Christ in America, 1702)</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=M0_ktxTHhdkC&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=cotton+mather+prosperity+is+the+daughter&source=bl&ots=ASEEaFcVMi&sig=-Vzy9Nnl6UcsbreMrpzRTDIOQzM&hl=en&ei=U7nMSvTjGcitlAf59tzNBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=cotton%20mather%20prosperity%20is%20the%20daughter&f=false Leland Ryken, ''Worldly saints: the Puritans as they really were'', p. 63]</ref> 

A latter acknowledgment of this guilt and the need to place priorities where they should be was eloquently expressed by President Abraham Lincoln in his ''Proclamation for a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer'', issued in the midst (1863) of the [[American Civil War]], which reads (in part),

A latter acknowledgment of this guilt and the need to place priorities where they should be was eloquently expressed by President Abraham Lincoln in his ''Proclamation for a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer'', issued in the midst (1863) of the [[American Civil War]], which reads (in part),