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.

Solomon, the wisest man to walk the earth before Jesus Christ came, wrote these words in Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

Ecclesiastes 3:6-7  A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.

As others have written, there are different seasons in life — planting in the spring, watering and weeding in the summer, and harvesting in the fall. There is also a time to put away a great deal of goods into our storehouses/bank accounts and a time to put in less. There is a time to give out of our storehouses and a time to save. One lesson here is that if you do not plant in the spring when the times are prosperous, there will be nothing to harvest in the fall, and the winter can be a time of mourning.

Winters in life can be any number of things such as a loss of a job, an accident, slowing of the economy or another emergency.

These lessons are taught in the Bible. Remember Joseph? He saved diligently 20% of the crops for seven years. At first, what he saved may have seemed like a pittance in the bottom of the vast granaries. It is the same with us. At first, the money saved may seem insignificant, but over time it will become much greater if we are faithful.

Most people spend and consume a lot during times of plenty, but when the cycle turns, they have nothing to fall back on. God teaches us to save during those times of plenty. The record of Joseph is in the Bible for a reason. Then in Proverbs, God gives us the example of the ant. Ants fill their storehouses all summer during times of plenty so that when the winters of life come, they have an abundance to sustain them.

We, too, can smooth out the rough patches in the economic cycles we live in by diligently filling our storehouses in the good years. This is a lesson that the wealthy have learned. Then when the lean times come, and come they will, they have the funds to do what Joseph did. Joseph used what he had stored to accomplish two things:

1. He fed the people by selling the stored grain.
2. The people gave him their cattle, their jewels, and their land in payment for the food.

They had not saved during the times of plenty. Eventually, they even sold themselves as slaves to Pharoah so that they could have something to eat and stay alive.

We can learn a similar lesson from the wealthy. They save diligently during times of great prosperity while others are spending, and when the dark days come, they have the funds to buy the bankrupt businesses, houses, etc. for pennies on the dollar. This is one way fortunes are built.

Luke 19:24-26“Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds. ‘But, master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten pounds!’ ‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

If we use well what God has given us by giving, saving, and staying out of debt, He can trust us with even more. God may show you at times how to help people. In the church, there is always a need for finances to run the church. At times, there may be a need to build hospitals, youth camps, retirement centers, and a need to support missionaries. George Muller gave thousands of dollars for Bibles to send to other countries.

Our great desire should be to walk with our Father, believe His Word, and see His promises come to pass in our lives. Faithfulness with our finances is a wonderful place to start this adventure with our Father into The Prosperous Life He desires for us.

Isaiah 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

There are two records in the Bible that, although they do not relate directly to financial prosperity, they have some important points from which we could learn. Jesus Christ, in his ministry, referred to these two records in Luke.

Luke 4:25-27 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

The first of these records refers to Elijah the prophet. To feed and hide the prophet during the famine, God sent Elijah to a widow woman of Sidon. This woman was not of Israel, but God knew that when she heard the saying of the man of God, Elijah, she would believe and obey.

1 Kings 17:12-15 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

She was willing and obedient, and she ate for many days.

You could have looked from the outside on her life and said, “Well, isn’t she lucky!”  Or she could have felt of herself that she was lucky. But was it really luck? The truth was that she obeyed what God had told her by way of the prophet Elijah.

Why did God not do this for all the widows in Israel? If you read the context in the record of Luke, you will understand that Jesus was teaching about believing. There are not many that believe what God has said – at times, very few. Those who do believe and obey have great results. She ate for many days.

The other record that Jesus referred to was the healing of Naaman the Syrian. Once again, Naaman was not of Israel. Jesus said there were many lepers in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha, but none were healed except Naaman. There is no record of any other leper even approaching God and asking for healing.

2 Kings 5:14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Naaman was willing to ask. He believed and obeyed what God had told him by way of the prophet Elisha. Therefore, he was healed of his leprosy. This miracle was instant.

Looking from the outside, it could appear that Naaman was lucky. He could have felt lucky. But was it luck? The truth is that Naaman obeyed what God had said by way of the prophet Elisha, and he received the results.

Both Naaman and the widow ate of the good of the land. They were both willing and obedient. They were both not of Israel. Interesting. God is not a respecter of persons. He is only a respecter of conditions. Both met the conditions. They were willing and obedient, and so they ate.

After a few years of giving/tithing, saving, and staying out of debt, you could radically change your financial position. All three of these God has told us to do. Are you willing and obedient?

Some have found that as they diligently pursued saving more of their income, that there was even more they could save. It began to stack up quite nicely after a few years. They could feel lucky especially if they grew up poor and have lived paycheck to paycheck for years. Others could observe this change, and it might appear like luck. But is it luck? No! It is being willing and obedient, and God has said that if you are willing and obedient you will eat of the good of the land.

Here are a couple of additional promises that show God’s great desire for His children:

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

Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

The prospering of our souls in part is to study God’s Word, believe it and obey it. Make God’s Word the standard of our lives.

Not many are willing to rise up and be obedient to tithe, to save and get out of debt, but to those that do are the blessings of God in their pursuit of The Prosperous Life.