Have you ever lost everything? Your income? Your home? Your business? This could put you into serious want mode. But God has promises in His Word to deal with the losses we experience. In most of these records, people did not lose what they had because of stupidity or laziness. The god of this world orchestrates situations around us, as we will read, that tend toward loss, yet your Father is bigger than the circumstances we face in this life.

2 Kings 8:1 Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.

This woman had her husband build an apartment on the roof of their home for the man of God when he traveled by their home. Elisha also raised her son from the dead. Now, God knew there was going to be a famine on the land and told her, by way of Elisha, how to prepare.

We know God does not cause famines. Though, the devil, the god of this world, does. Our Father has said He makes it rain and makes the sun shine on the just and the unjust. If you work in an office or have a factory job, it makes no difference to you if it is cloudy or if you are in a drought. In Bible times, the people were mainly agricultural. They depended on the rain and the sun for their crops to grow, or they would starve to death. They were very subject to the ups and downs of the weather cycles. We, on the other hand, are subject to the ups and downs of our economies.

2 Kings 8:2-6  And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.  And it came to pass at the seven years’ end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land. And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done. And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

Remember these verses from Psalms?

Psalm 23:1  A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 34:10  The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

We shall not want even in times of drought or economic downturns.  Here is another promise God made to His people in the Old Testament. At times, we, as they, could lose it all, but He promises to restore what was lost. The situation in Joel was a time of war.

Joel 2:20-26  But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.  And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

What a wonderful promise. God said He would restore what was taken from them, just like He restored the land and the harvests to the woman in 2 Kings.

The record in Job shows that the loss he experienced was caused by the god of this world afflicting Job.

Job 1:9-12  Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

 So Job lost everything he had in this life — all his prosperity, and Satan killed all his children.  All he had left was his life and his wife. But in the end, God restored all he had to Job and doubled his earthly prosperity. And at the resurrection, he will have double the children.

 Job 42:12-13  So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters.

Our adversary can steal away our prosperity through the wrong doctrines taught in the church, our being influenced by our culture, and perhaps a multitude of other ways. But our Father’s will is that we prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers because we are His children. Just as He promised to restore prosperity to His people in the Old Testament, He will do the same for His sons and daughters today in the church.

It starts by learning the fundamental principles of prosperity our Father has laid out in His Word and practicing them.  It may not happen overnight. Nothing much happens that way.  But looking to Him and His Word and putting the principles into action, along with your trust in what He has promised, will lead your life in a totally different direction. Just as you would wish prosperity and health for your children, our Father wishes that we might live The Prosperous Life and not be in want as we wait for that glorious day.

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Romans 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

In my mind, a “want” is more than what is really needed.  And anything more than a “need” would come close to being “greed.”  (see Need vs Greed Revisited) Yet God’s will is that we shall not “want” any good thing.

Psalm 34:10  The young lions do lack and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

There are a couple of words that God uses in this manner of “want.”  The word “want” can mean – need – poverty – lack – to be without.  In the verses we are looking at here, there is a negative in front of them.  NOT want! Or not be in poverty or not lack any good things.  This is similar to Romans that he will freely give us all things.

Judges 18:10  When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.

When Israel was to go into the Promised Land, God told them that there would be no want of anything that is in the earth.  God’s wish for His children is that they are prosperous and healthy.

Psalm 34:9  O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

So, you could ask yourself, “What do you want?” Your Father wants you to have your wants met.

Psalm 23:1  A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 84:11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

The world’s attitude, and many times the church’s attitude, is that the poor are the truly pious and the poor are the ones who walk with God.  We are not striving here to be greatly rich but to rise up to the standard of life God has set out for us to live.

There is another record that is interesting on the topic that a person should only have what is “needed.”  When Nathan, the prophet, confronted King David about Bathsheba and Uriah, God said this:

2 Samuel 12:7-8  And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. (NLT)…I would have given you much, much more.

One of the biggest problems we have when it comes to prosperity is our attitude. We may feel that we don’t deserve certain things.  Or we may say to ourselves, “I don’t need that,” or we would feel guilty about owning certain things.  Sometimes, we have low self-esteem or a hangdog attitude about ourselves.  However, none of these attitudes come from what God says in His Word.

We can rise up and claim the promises God has laid out before us. Then we can manifest the truth that our Father has greatly provided for us not only in the life to come but in this life we have to live here on the earth while we wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.  I will leave you with this great record.

1Timothy 6:17  Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;

Here is a radical idea:  start a prosperity plan. You could start a health plan, a college plan, a renewed mind plan, etc. But here we are talking about prosperity. You can see how well your plan is progressing because money is easy to count. The first part of that plan might be to start a journal where you write down what you learn about prosperity. God’s Word would be a great place to start. Write in your new journal verses about prosperity that inspire you or ones you recently learned.

Then to develop your prosperity plan, read some books or listen to audio CDs of the books. Learn from others what their journey was like and how they rose up. You could put lines in your journal that come from songs, poems, conversations with your banker, or conversations you overhear.

The problem with our minds is that we don’t remember well what we learn. In the wilderness, did Israel remember all the times God delivered them in the past? NO! We want to do better than that. A journal is a great place to record what you don’t want to forget and to be able to review periodically what you have learned. Bring those things back up to the top of your thinking.

In the 70’s and 80’s, positive affirmations were very popular. But God says in His Word that His instructions need more than confessing His promises. For instance, James says that faith without works is dead. It is not enough to hear the words of prosperity, we actually have to do as instructed.

Even God talks about those who hear and then walk away. In some places, God talks about some who heard, and He said they mocked and laughed at the messengers. It says some were perplexed, and some did not know what was going on. And then it says some believed. The Bible was written for those who want to believe. When this subject of money comes up, some want to argue about everything. They argue because they don’t believe, and since they don’t believe, they don’t do. Just let them be.

But not you. You are a giver, a saver, and an investor. Some promoters of prosperity advocate giving 10%, saving 10% and investing 10%. In other words, learning to live on 70% of your take-home income and taking that 30% off the top to accomplish your goals. This is a change of mindset. This is a new philosophy. This is a turning point in your prosperous life.

I have heard people say that it is amazing how quickly the funds stack up once they are saving.

The same things happen to everybody. We all have 24 hours a day, we live in the same economy and maybe live in the same country. Yet some prosper and become wealthy, and others struggle all their lives.

God tells us in His Word to consider, to ponder, to think. Think:  why are some so prosperous, and I struggle? Why do I tithe/give, and yet I am always behind on my bills and broke?

Many times, changing our outcomes takes just small adjustments in our course. If you have never been one that saves money, perhaps 10% seems unattainable, or to give 10% seems a lot more than you could do. Start with what you can believe to do. I started by putting change in a quart jar. Now, we have money deducted from our account and put into a money market fund every week. As you carry out what God has said, your believing should grow along with the saved funds.

Every person has a philosophy on how they run their life, what they believe and how they act upon it. Some people don’t give, save, or invest. It is just not part of their inner philosophy. Perhaps no one ever showed them a better way.

I remember talking to a young man, about 35, who was a roofer a few years ago. We were talking about money and how business expenses had a great effect on how jobs were priced. This young man told me he had an older gentleman that worked for him that said one day “I make more money working for you than I did when I ran my own roofing business.” The young man asked the old man how much he used to charge to fix leaks in a roof. The older man said, “About $25.00.” “ How long did they usually take?” “About 2 hours.”  He was making about $12.50 per hour. The younger man told him, “I don’t even start my trucks for anything less than $150.00.”

The younger man went on to explain all the expenses involved in running a business. For example, trucks, insurance on the truck, fuel, maintenance, computer for billing, software, office supplies, and all the insurance required, like contractor’s liability and workmen’s comp. That was just for starters. After you have paid for all that, then you hand your wife what’s left and ask her to pay the household bills.

The older man said, “I never THOUGHT about all that.”

When it comes to prosperity, thinking is extremely important. Ask God why, how does this work, and what do I need to know? Then expect Him to teach you. You must start looking for the answers. Seek and ye shall find! Many times, you will learn through books or talking to people. God can teach you by being in the right place to overhear a conversation. Write what you learn in a journal because you won’t remember most of it. A journal is a great way to capture the important stuff.

This radical idea can help you begin to write out your prosperity plan for The Prosperous Life.

One of the readers of The Prosperous Life wrote to me several years ago and said they learned in the first blog they read what they had been missing in their understanding all their life. That we are not only to be givers/tithers, but we are also to SAVE our money. Others have said knowing this one truth would have changed their life.

Tithing benefits the church, and it is of the greatest benefit to the believer as they save part of their income.

Another person wrote, “I wish I had known this years ago when my husband was alive.”

Another wrote, “We had put giving into our believing years ago even when we had no money, and God always provided. When we read the blogs about saving money, we put that into our believing also, and even though it seemed like we did not have enough to be able to save we were able to save every month.  God always provides.”

It is like the promise that says to those that have more shall be given.

When it comes to finances, it works the best to read what God has written in His Word and use the path for wealth that He has laid out rather than listen to the world’s suggestions. God’s ways are usually quite simple.

1. Be a giver. And remember he that soweth (gives) sparingly will also reap sparingly.
2. Be a saver. And remember there is oil and wine in the house of the wise, but the fools spend it all.
3. Be an investor, a lender. Remember the virtuous woman that considered a field and bought it? It does not say she went to the bank and signed a mortgage. She had to have saved the money to have some to invest.

Sometimes we would like prosperity to be almost instantaneous — like winning the lottery, or we may say we will be all right when our ship comes in or when our rich relative dies and we inherit. These things may never happen. But like most things in life, wealth and prosperity are a slow growth process.

Practicing the principles of God always works.

So, there is more to The Prosperous Life than giving. There is saving and investing also along with many other principles.

An interesting question to ponder is “Where did all the wealth of the world come from?” If you ask people, they are likely to tell you “I made this money, I should be able to do with it whatever I want.” The truth is:  God is the creator and owner of all the wealth of the world.

Consider this:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Here are a few places where God explains that He is the owner of the world’s wealth:

Haggai 2:8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.

Psalm 50:10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

Leviticus 25:23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

So, we have read that God created everything, and He retains ownership of the gold and silver, all the animals and all the land.

When the great King David dedicated much of his wealth to the construction of the temple, he was praying with the people who also came to dedicate some of their wealth to the project. The following is part of David’s prayer:

1 Chronicles 29:14-17 But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. ¹⁵ We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. ¹⁶ Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. ¹⁷ I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.

David rightly recognized that everything he had came from God, who created it, and that, ultimately, it all belonged to Him.  So, he held that wealth with a loose hand.  If God needed it for His work, David was ready to give. Generally, God does not ask us to give it all away.  In David’s case, some estimate that what he gave towards the building of the temple was $200 – $800 billion.  He was an extremely wealthy man, and yet he is not remembered for his wealth.  He is remembered as a man after God’s own heart. David did not subscribe to the philosophy of “I made this money, I ought to be able to do with it whatever I want.”

God warns us against this type of thinking,

Deuteronomy 8:17  And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

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

If all we have comes from God and belongs to Him, then we are stewards or managers of what He has trusted us with. Since He has trusted us with His wealth, then it would behoove us to find out how he expects us to handle what He gives us. To come to this conclusion is right according to God in His Word and can be a major shift in our thinking when it comes to finances.  This shift of seeing ourselves as managers of what God has trusted us with is all part of learning about and living The Prosperous Life.

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.