The path to Prosperity – Step two ABILITY

What is prosperity? A secular view is; financial power, political power, social favour and power, and military might. However, true biblical prosperity is; the ability to use God’s ability in you to meet the needs of others, regardless of what those needs might be. It’s the capacity to draw on God’s supernatural abundance. Divine prosperity involves Spirit, Soul and Body. And it is the will of God for all of us. The Apostle John declared it was God’s will for us to prosper in all matters of life. To prosper implies “to excel in something desirable.”

There are three major areas of prosperity:

1. Spiritual Prosperity

For us this is when we are born again and filled with the Spirit of God. This enables us to operate in the power of God and will also make us effective witnesses – bringing spiritual prosperity to others.

2. Mental / Emotional Prosperity

You can only prosper to the level that you allow God’s Word to control your soul, (mind, will and emotions). You cannot prosper beyond your soul’s prosperity. And the soul cannot truly prosper without the Word of God. It is the standard that controls how we think, feel and decide. You only prosper according to how much your soul is prospering – in line with the God’s Word.

3. Physical Prosperity

Physical prosperity is twofold, covering both health and wealth. (a) Divine Health: Divine health is available to the believer through Christ’s work on the cross. (b) Wealth: Material prosperity, in the secular sense, is limited to what man can do without God. However, because we are able to operate ‘in the Word’ we take the world’s limitations off, so we prosper according to the limitless ability of God. The standard of living that God wants us to enjoy is beyond anything that the natural mind could imagine.

Deuteronomy 8:18, “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.” God has given you the ability to obtain wealth – He has gifted you to get money. The subject of money is rarely addressed in church circles. Yet, I do not know anyone who can have a secure life without it.

One of your primary goals should be financial independence. God wants you to be free (liberated) and He desires that you become exceedingly happy through financial independence. Proverbs 10:22 says, “The blessings of the Lord makes one rich (financially independent), and He adds no sorrow with it.” Hence when God makes you financially independent, the by-product of such favour is true happiness. Psalm 144:15 declares, ”Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.” God knows very well that financial pressures do not bring about happiness. For that reason, through His Son Jesus, He made provision for us to all live an “abundant life.”

After seeking first God’s Kingdom, one of your primary aims in life should be the achievement of your own happiness. But note happiness is something that exists naturally in the absence of fears, doubts, and negative emotions. One of the factors that most deprives you of happiness is worry about money. So remember the Reality Principle, as it especially applies to matters of money. This principle says, “You must deal with financial matters as they are, not as you wish they were, or could be.”

Here are six misconceptions or misunderstandings Christians have concerning money:

(1) Too much money is not good for you. The Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Wisdom promises in Proverbs 8:21, “That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.” Today, your treasury is your bank account. Therefore, the Spirit of Wisdom promises to cause you to come into lots of money so that He may fill your bank account. Would He do this if it were bad for you?

Note, it is the preoccupation with money to the exclusion of the really important things in life that is the problem, not money itself. Money is essentially neutral. It is neither good nor bad. It is only the way that it is acquired and then used that determines whether it is helpful or hurtful.

(2) Not everyone deserves to be rich. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “And you shall remember the Lord you God, for it is He who gives you power [ability, capacity] to obtain wealth [material blessings], that He may establish His covenant.” People become wealthy because they believe God’s Word, and as a result they decide to become wealthy.

People accumulate wealth because they truly believe that God has given them the ability and capacity to obtain it. And because they believe this completely, they act accordingly. They consistently take the necessary actions that turn their beliefs into realities. Faith without works is dead! You can always tell what your beliefs really are by looking at your actions!

(3) Pray to God and He will give you all the money you need. God is not a counterfeiter, He cannot print up Pound notes is heaven and give them to you! You need to be doing something. Psalm 128:2 says, “For you shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands, and you shall be happy and it shall be well [prosperous] with you.” God can provide super-naturally by releasing finances through the hands of other believers, however, He prefers to prosper you through your own efforts. This way it is directly a win / win situation. You get the benefits and He gets the glory!

(4) It is hard for God to use rich people. A know a story of a man worth more than $500 million dollars who went to one of his employee’s wedding ceremony. Most of the people present had been led to believe that poverty was a virtue and, by extension, financial success was somehow unclean or evil. But to their surprise, this man, who was the richest man they had ever met, was devoutly religious, a solid family man, very low-keyed, polite, courteous and charming. Guess who had to adjust their thinking?

Many of you are probably thinking, “What about Jesus and the rich young ruler in Matthew 19?” Well, if you were to read on, this is what you’d find… “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Note some of the main supporters of Jesus’ ministry here on earth were the wealthy women that followed him.

(5) Money can’t buy happiness. A recent scientific study proved without doubt that people who had over a million pounds in the bank were in fact much happier than those with less. Remember, Proverbs 10:22? “The Lord makes one rich and with it he adds no sorrow.” A reverse meaning simply states, “When the Lord makes you rich, He will also make you truly happy.” What’s more, God Himself is happy because He delights in your prosperity!

(6) Poverty and lack is more spiritual. Poverty is a curse – just read Deuteronomy 28! Jesus came that we might have life and life superabundantly. Abundant life is a life where God lavishes His blessings upon you. Psalm 36:8 says, “They feast on the superabundance of Your house, You give them drink from Your river of delights.” I know from which river I would like to drink!

These six misconceptions hinder your ability (or capability) to prosper. Abundant living is the result of choosing to become prosperous. Many people are convinced that the prosperity of God translates to money and stuff raining down out of heaven. However that is not the prosperity of God, nor the prosperity from God. What's the difference between the prosperity of God and the prosperity from God – the empowerment (or ability) to prosper? In Proverbs 10:22, it says, “The blessing of the Lord, it makes you rich.” Notice it does not say the “blessings” make you rich; it is the “blessing of God.” That is the key here. What this means is that you must want the empowerment (ability) to prosper and not just the prosperity itself. In other words, you don't just want the fish; you want to learn how to fish.

When Abraham prospered, it wasn't because God dropped down a camel or a son out of the sky. No, he was blessed because God “empowered” him (gave him the ability) to prosper. For example, he and his wife were given the ability to parent a child at a very old age. And the good news is that God has given you the ability to gain wealth and prosper also!

Power comes when believers put the principles of God's Word to work in their lives. It is your faith that will manifest results. Wisdom is also needed for you to understand and apply the Word of God in order to receive prosperity. Wisdom will help you realise the power available to you through your faith. In order to experience prosperity, we must apply God's principles by faith. He is the one that does the multiplying and gives us the desires and ideas. He is the divine instructor that tells us what to do and when to do it. If we apply, over and over, the principles of the Word concerning prosperity, and make them part of our daily life, that's when we start getting results.

Remember, prosperity doesn't just drop into your lap. Re-enforcing the Word through daily meditation on prosperity principles should become a lifestyle. If you want to be a prosperous person tomorrow, you have to apply God's principles of sowing and reaping in the difficult times of lack today. Start with the faith you have right now and then gain knowledge and wisdom concerning what the Word really says about finances. Act on that knowledge! Wrap your faith around everything you are believing God for and you'll soon start getting desirable results.

Keep in constant touch with God so you can be empowered to live an abundant life. Place yourself in ‘position’ for God to empower you to prosper in everything you set your hands to do. Then if the economy takes a downturn, or the storms of life arise, you can say, “so what” because you are empowered to prosper. You know in your heart that God will take care of you and honour His Word by prospering the work of your hands.

Believe it or not: God wants you blessed and empowered to prosper. In fact, right now, He's looking for ways to bless you. He wants to help you get out of that negative circumstance and give you good success. Go ahead and believe it, because that is a key factor in what it takes to obtain it. This is the path to true prosperity – so take another step down that path!

Remember to make the following your confession: “Today, I live in the blessings of God and I am empowered to prosper in every way! God has placed in me the ability to obtain wealth!”

Chris Demetriou, 06/06/2010