In the movie Hell or High water, towards the end, one of the actors makes the statement, “My parents were poor, my grandparents were poor — poverty is a disease that is passed generation to generation.”

Poverty is a relative term. According to some sources, 90% of the world’s population live on less than $10.00/day. According to that estimation of poverty, our welfare class live like kings with their food stamps, paid rent, air-conditioned houses, TV’s, cars and Obama phones.

However, poverty is not determined by how much money you have, but by how you think. Professional ball players making millions still think the same way they did while growing up and many go bankrupt within a few years of retirement.

Poverty mindsets — Here are some common ones:

1. Won’t go into certain stores because they don’t feel good enough to go in.
2. Can’t save money or make more than they need.
3. Always jealous of what others have.
4. No matter how hard I work, I can never make ends meet.
5. Struggling is the story of my life.
6. Might say: I’m short on cash, I’m hard up or I’m broke.
7. Spends most all of the income every month.
8. We are just scraping by …. On and On.

Our culture, our politicians and many times our religion are our enablers by the attitudes they expound. All the following quotes have one thing in common. Poverty is something a person is born into or has thrust upon them, and it is not the fault of the individual, nor can the individual do anything about it. It takes some greater power than themselves to extract them from the poverty.

“There is enough in the world for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed.” Frank Buchman, protestant evangelist.

What he is saying is to meet the needs of all the people, we will have to take from the have’s and give to the have not’s. This is only accomplished by force — taxation or at the point of a gun. Clearly, a socialist mentality.

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”   Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32^nd President of the United States.

Here we see that the poor can do nothing about their situation unless a power like the government provides for them. The poor are victims.

By these attitudes, we have developed a permanent underclass that is dependent on the government for assistance. We need a better understanding on how poverty and prosperity really work. Each has its own mindset.

P.J. O’Rourke — You can’t get rid of poverty by giving money to the poor.

Prosperity mindsets — come from God’s Word, the Bible

1. Genesis 32:12 I will surely make you prosper.
2. Genesis 39:2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered.
3. Deuteronomy 28:11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity ….
4. Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips, meditate on it day and night, then you will be prosperous and successful.

Here is a self-talk positive mindset that you can alter or use if you wish.

•  I am a son of God, creator of the heavens and earth.
• The One who parted the Red Sea and the Jordon River at flood stage.
• The One who caused the sun to go backwards and caused it to stand still.
• I am a son of God, who set the stars in their courses,
• The One who forgave all my sin and seated me at his own right hand in Christ.
• The One who loves me so much he gives his angels charge over me.
• My Father owns the cattle on a thousand hill. (Psalm 50:10).
• His hand is with me in everything I do. (1 Chronicles 4:10)
• It is His wish above all things that I prosper and be in health even as my soul prospers. (1John 1:2)

Whatever you focus on expands. If you have the poverty mindset, it will manifest in your life.

If you have a prosperity mindset, it will expand and become the way of your life.

Put another way: whatever you confess, you will receive. So confess you are a child of God, with His blessing on your life and expect to see His hand at work in your life every day.

Decide today that for your family “the buck stops here.” You are starting a new tradition of Godly prosperity to pass on to the generations that follow us.

Learning how to do proper self-talk in the area of prosperity is all part of The Prosperous Life.

(For more on this topic read our book Poverty vs Wealth available on Amazon.)