FINANCIAL AND MATERIAL PROSPERITY

I spent several years trying to unravel the mystery behind financial and material prosperity. I asked myself why a lot of people are still poor despite the prayers for wealth, declarations of faith, business and financial summits, nights of prophetic declarations for wealth and several other strategies and means used in church to increase wealth and make more money.

Recently I received an understanding of a key principle in the scripture. A lot of people want to make more money, increase wealth and operate in abundance yet their hearts are far away from the one who gives power to get wealth. God is so loving yet just. He relates with our hearts and not our declarations.

If the heart and motive is wrong, answers to prayers might be delayed. It is true that God desires that we should work in spiritual and financial blessing but the question is whether our hearts are rightly aligned to God or not. The little resources many people are presently blessed with, do they use it to honor God? The way to honor God in your finances is to see and be very conscious that your money doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to God. If it is a burden to bless God and his people with your money, then you don’t need God’s intervention.

So many believers find it so difficult to honor God with their money yet they covet God’s blessing. It won’t work out that way. Your motive for desiring financial blessing is very important. Is it primarily to meet personal needs or to meet kingdom needs. If your heart is towards God, financial blessing will flow towards and upon you by default. I’ve observed that majority of those who struggle earnestly to increase wealth do not have their desires met. The people who are genuinely blessed by God are those who have a right heart for God.

John 6:27  Stop toiling and doing and producing for the food that perishes and decomposes [in the using], but strive and work and produce rather for the [lasting] food which endures [continually] unto life eternal; the Son of Man will give (furnish) you that, for God the Father has authorized and certified Him and put His seal of endorsement upon Him. 28  They then said, What are we to do, that we may [habitually] be working the works of God? [What are we to do to carry out what God requires?] 29  Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger].

What the passage above is actually saying in essence is that our priority should be fixed God, a heart for him is what guarantees unending blessings, not your toil or labour. Of course it’s good to labour, but with a right heart.

Most men of God are greatly blessed financially not because they sought after money, but because of their committed hearts towards God. Financial blessing is a product of a right heart towards God, a heart that loves God beyond money, a heart that’s ready to give all to God, a heart that’s willing to honor God with all possessions. A heart that sees God as the source of the wealth and always ready to serve God with the wealth. Not a heart that’s so desperate to receive from God but very reluctant to give back to God and has no passion for kingdom business and needs.

Acts 2: 44  And all who believed (who adhered to and trusted in and relied on Jesus Christ) were united and [together] they had everything in common; 45  And they sold their possessions (both their landed property and their movable goods) and distributed the price among all, according as any had need.

The apostles were not committed to increasing wealth but committed to meeting Kingdom needs and God blessed them. Acts 4: 34 Nor was there a destitute or needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses proceeded to sell them, and one by one they brought (gave back) the amount received from thesales.

God is passionately committed to blessing a man whose heart is perfectly aligned to Kingdom business, a man who has a right heart for God. The way to increase in wealth is to have a right heart towards God. Kingdom minded hearts and not personal needs driven hearts.

Check your heart beloved, if God makes you the wealthiest man on earth, will u serve him wholeheartedly with that money? Cast down the idol of self centeredness in your heart before asking for financial blessing, if the idol still exists in your heart, you won’t receive the blessings you clamour for. A heart for God is what guarantees unending financial blessing. Shalom!!

I call you Blessed

Samson Obaloluwa OJO

ojoobaloluwa@gmail.com || 08139285397