There are perhaps many reasons why most Christians live from paycheck to paycheck and do not see the prosperity God has promised in his Word.

We don’t think we are worthy of prosperity.

We don’t believe it is God’s will for us to be prosperous and wealthy people.

We don’t want to fall into the category of the filthy rich.

We don’t know the fundamental nature of our Father.

We are ignorant of the promises of God in His Word.

We are ignorant of God’s instructions in His Word on how to handle money.

We as Christians, for far too long, have taken our attitudes about money and finances from the world and from those in the church that, although well-meaning perhaps, have only taught what they were taught.  Much of what has been taught in the secular world and the church has been the opposite of what God has declared in His Word.

What they have said God is like many times — He is not.  What they say God has said, when you look in His word, He did not say at all, or they have taken His words out of their context. We might be well served to do as those in Berea did.

Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so

In these blogs, we want to know what God really said.  To find that out, we need to sit and read His Word for ourselves.  Then we need to compare what we read with what we have been taught by the world and the church.  If we can get back to just what God has said and believe that, it may change our lives.

For instance, I came across this verse many years ago and I never forgot it.  I had never heard this before. The verse was contrary to what I learned growing up.

Deuteronomy 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

That verse alone should arrest our attention when it comes to prosperity and wealth.  He gives us the power to get wealth, and then He tells us why; that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto the fathers.  The Church of born-again believers often needs money, so God gives His people the power to get wealth.  But He needs faithful people to store up the prosperity as it comes in so they can give to every good work. God does not usually ask you to give it all away.  That is important to remember.

In our search to learn what God really said and what He is really like, Hebrews 11 has some insight.

Hebrews 11:5-6  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith (believing-trust) it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him

Believing or trusting God is pleasing to Him AND God says He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.  That is what we are doing here in the area of prosperity. This searching of the scriptures will bleed over into every aspect of our lives.  He also tells us that believing is what is really pleasing to Him as opposed to how we feel about money or what the world finds acceptable.

In diligently seeking God, keeping God first in our lives and hearts is a great key.  How do we keep him first? By obedience to His Word from our heart.

Here are a few verses that can help you get started:

Proverbs 3:8-10  It (the wisdom of God) shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

3 John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Proverbs 8:21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures (storehouses).

As EW Bullinger, the great researcher of God’s Word, said, “Practical Christian Life and walk will be in direct proportion to our knowledge of God.” In our search to understand prosperity from God’s point of view, we need to increase our knowledge of God – increase our knowledge of what God has really said. This is truly the Christian’s greatest need.  The lack of this true knowledge of God is the basic reason so many of us lack the prosperity our Father truly desires for us. In the opening verses of both Ephesians and Colossians, God speaks to our great need for a true knowledge of Him.

Ephesians 1:17-19  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Colossians 1:9-10  For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 

If we would please Him (as we read in Hebrews) in all things, we must know what will please Him. We need to sit down before God’s Word and get to know Him through it.  He has given us His Word and revealed Himself therein so that we may find out what it is that pleases Him, what He loves what He hates.  What it is He does.  We are to get to know His will, His love, and His almighty power. We need to get to know His faithfulness, His truth, His goodness and mercy, His patience, His gentleness, His care for us, and all His other attributes.  As we get to know Him, we cannot help but trust that He will do as He has said. (Some of the above was paraphrased from The Christian’s Greatest Need by EW Bullinger).  Trusting God and believing what He has really said is pleasing to Him, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him!

Deuteronomy 28:8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

As we see His will in His Word is for us to prosper, then we would want to search out how God has said to bring that prosperity to pass in our lives.  The first step is to believe His Word and then to learn about the law of giving and receiving which, Lord willing, we will cover next time.

Always remember “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet…”

It teaches me how to live and how to walk with God in this adventure of walking in The Prosperous Life.