God wants you to prosper

Text: Psalm 35:27; 3 John 2
Introduction

Why God is interested in your prosperity
• Your prosperity is important in building His kingdom. (Matthew 6:33)
• Poverty is a curse. (Deuteronomy 28:15-20)
• Our God is rich God – the gold and silver is His. (Haggai 2:8)
• God is delighted when we prosper. (Psalm 35:27b)
• He wants you to prosper and be in good health. (3 John 2)

Hindrances to prosperity
In my book “7 Laws of Money” I outlined the fact that money is spiritual and flows toward those who follow the principles that attract money. I stated that if you follow these seven Laws money will be attracted to you. However, one of the major hindrances I observed is the wrong attitude towards handling money.

It is not how much you earn that makes you wealthy but how you are able to manage what you earn. We know of a renowned heavy weight boxer who earned over 400 million US dollars in prize money at the peak of his career but today he is barely able to keep afloat.

The challenge
• Many work very hard for years and have nothing to show for the hard work. “Wake up in the morning and stay up late to eat the bread of sorrow. (Psalm 127:2)
• Indebtedness: many are living on borrowed time because they are spending their future today. Furthermore, debt enslaves you.
• Failure to see opportunities around you – opportunities to prosper often come in form of a challenge or problem, and your ability to solve problems will enhance your prosperity.
• Many fail to take the bull by the horn, ending up giving excuses or trading blame. Your life is in your hand so take full control of it.
• If you are poor, you are not likely to live long or make impact in the world. You’re not the poor trying to be rich, you are prosperous trying to locate your prosperity.
Three examples of animals of labour in the Bible – Most people’s lives fit into one of these categories.

The donkey:
Characteristic
• Full of strength
• Can bear burdens
• Useful for farming but usually cannot eat from the same farm it assisted in planting/cultivating.
• It is flogged for trying to eat from the harvest/fruits of the farm where it is a beast of burden
• It is only allowed to eat the chaffs.

Life application:
• There are people who are full of strength and can do a lot of hard work but when it comes to remuneration they receive the least e.g. labourers in the trenches, gatemen, artisans and general labourers. They are like the donkey, which exerts so much strength but get very little for his efforts.
• In the story of Esau and Jacob, Esau was the one who was stronger but who got the blessings? It was Jacob.
• It is not so much as who spends the most time, or works harder or took more risk.
• To prosper goes beyond hard work alone.

More next week.
Dr. James O. James
For enquiries contact: Elshaddai Covenant Church, 7, Social Club Road, Off Charity Road, Abule-Egba. Tel: 08080929292; 08182281184 (Whatsapp messages only).