Yes, God Wants You to Prosper! Spiritually, Relationally, AND Materially!

Yes, God Wants You to Prosper! Spiritually, Relationally, AND Materially!

Let’s be absolutely clear: the notion that God desires His children to live in lack, struggle, or constant want is a misunderstanding of His heart and His Word. When we talk about “prosperity,” we’re embracing God’s comprehensive vision for our well-being – a vision that absolutely includes spiritual richness, healthy relationships, AND material abundance. To believe otherwise is to limit the expansive goodness of our Creator.

The Abundant Life IS a Prosperous Life!

Jesus Himself made a groundbreaking declaration in John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (more abundantly)!” What does “abundant life” truly mean if it doesn’t encompass every area of our existence?

This “abundant life” – zoe in the Greek, meaning life in its absolute sense, life as God has it – isn’t just about a spiritual “pie in the sky when you die.” It’s about experiencing the fullness of God’s blessings now. This fullness naturally includes:

• Spiritual Prosperity: A deep, vibrant, and growing relationship with God, filled with His peace, joy, wisdom, and power.
• Relational Prosperity: Loving, supportive, and healthy relationships with family, friends, and our community.
• And YES, Material Prosperity: Having more than enough to meet our needs, to live comfortably, to be generous, and to fund the work of His Kingdom. Why would a loving Father want His children to be perpetually worried about their next meal or unable to provide for their families? Such a picture contradicts the very nature of a giving, providing God!

To suggest that God doesn’t want us to prosper materially implies He delights in our struggle or that poverty is somehow more “holy.” This is a dangerous misconception! The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy – and that includes stealing our financial peace, killing our dreams due to lack, and destroying our ability to be a significant blessing to others through our resources. Jesus came to reverse the curse, to bring life in its overflowing abundance!

“Believe His Prophets and You WILL Prosper!”

The Word of God is unequivocal. Consider 2 Chronicles 20:20: “And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, ‘Hear me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe His prophets, and you will prosper!'”

The context here was a dire threat, but God’s promise through His prophet wasn’t just for spiritual encouragement; it led to a tangible, material victory where they gathered “exceeding much spoil” (2 Chronicles 20:25). Their faith in God and His prophetic word directly resulted in material prosperity. This isn’t an isolated incident; it’s a divine principle.

Why Would You Settle for Less Than God’s Best?

The question isn’t whether God wants you to prosper materially, but whether you are willing to believe and align with His principles to receive it. To argue against godly prosperity by suggesting one should then quit their job and live in abject poverty is a straw man argument. God is not a God of poverty; He is the God of more than enough!

• Deuteronomy 28: The blessings for obedience outlined here are overwhelmingly material and tangible – blessings in the city, in the field, the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground, the increase of your herds, your basket, and your kneading bowl. God clearly associates obedience and covenant with material thriving.
• Malachi 3:10: “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” This is a direct challenge from God to trust Him with our finances, promising an overflow of blessing.
• 3 John 2 (NKJV): “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” The apostle John’s³ desire for believers was holistic prosperity – in “all things,” which includes our material well-being, alongside our physical and spiritual health.
• Proverbs 10:22: “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” God’s blessing leads to riches, and it’s a sorrow-free blessing, unlike the stressful pursuit of wealth apart from Him.

Poverty is Not a Badge of Honor, It’s a Problem to Be Solved!

Nowhere does the Bible glorify poverty as God’s ideal for His children under the New Covenant. While there are warnings against the love of money (which is idolatry) and the deceitfulness of riches if they draw us away from God, there’s no condemnation of wealth itself when it’s acquired righteously and used for God’s glory. In fact, material prosperity in the hands of godly people becomes a powerful tool:

• To provide for our families: 1 Timothy 5:8 says that if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
• To be generous: Ephesians 4:28 encourages us to work, “that he may have something to give him who has need.” You cannot give what you do not have.
• To fund the Gospel: Resources are needed to spread the Good News, support ministries, and build the church.
• To be a blessing: Abraham was blessed to BE a blessing (Genesis 12:2). Our prosperity enables us to impact the world for good.

Living in enforced poverty or just barely scraping by is not God’s best. He is a God of abundance, of overflow, of multiplication. He takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servants (Psalm 35:27).

Embrace God’s Will for Your Total Prosperity!

It’s time to renew our minds to what the Word of God truly says about prosperity. God absolutely desires your spiritual growth. He longs for you to have thriving, healthy relationships. And yes, He unequivocally wants you to prosper materially. It’s part of the “abundant life” Jesus purchased for you.

Don’t let a poverty mindset, religious tradition, or misinterpretations of scripture rob you of the fullness of God’s blessings. Believe His Word, trust His promises, apply His principles of stewardship, diligence, and generosity, and expect to prosper in every area of your life, including your finances. This is not greed; it’s aligning with the generous heart of your Heavenly Father who “gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).