What you are doing today with your time
and your resources will determine where you will be this time next year.
It will determine whether or not you are prospering in your finances,
in your family, in your health.
After 35 years of walking with God on a
daily basis and putting Him first place in my life, I have found what it
takes to experience continual growth and increase, and you can too.
To put it simply, if you do what I do, you can have what I have: life and peace—God’s prosperous life.
But this is where many people are
falling short in their expectation for a prosperous life. To experience
the prosperous life, we have definite responsibilities that are laid out
in Scripture.
After all these years, Ken and I can say
that our prosperity (which is another way to say blessing) is due to
applying all of God’s principles on a continual basis and putting His
Word first. Those are the things that bring increase. There is no
shortcut.
This is not a lazy man’s gospel. You
don’t become prosperous by being lazy, sleeping late, not reading your
Bible, not going to church, not tithing. Proverbs 13:4 in The Amplified Bible
says, “The appetite of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the
appetite of the diligent is abundantly supplied.” Proverbs 28:20
declares, “A faithful man shall abound with blessings….” Over and over,
the Bible talks about faithfulness and diligence as key factors in
prosperity.
The number one law of receiving is simply this: obey God’s Word and don’t quit. Below are four habits you can begin today to help you receive all God has for you.
#1 – Be Faithful…Regardless
Faithfulness and faith are translated
from the same word which means “to be trusted, firmly persuaded,
assurance, a conviction based on hearing.” Faithfulness includes being
loyal and constant in the performance of duties. Faith is being faithful
to God and His Word regardless of circumstances, obstacles or people.
Be faithful to do what God has told you
to do—when it’s easy and when it’s hard. Be faithful even when you don’t
feel like it. In the natural it’s easy to get discouraged and quit. In
the natural it’s hard to walk by faith. But believers are not supposed
to walk in the natural. Turn the situation over to God and He will
empower you. You’re not some little mickey-mouse wimp just trying to get
by. You are born of God.
You can’t be a quitter or a coward. God
repeatedly charged Joshua to be very courageous. He said, “Only be thou
strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to
all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to
the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever
thou goest” (Joshua 1:7).
You need courage to stand in the face of problems and hang on to the Word until things change. That’s what it takes to prosper.
You give God something to work with when
you’re faithful and you stand. A faithful servant is in position to be
blessed and promoted (Matthew 25:21).
But when lack is staring you in the
face, it’s easy to become weak-kneed. Maybe you have tithed and sown,
but you can’t tell anything is happening. Even so, you can’t quit. Why?
Because you’re a believer. And what do believers do? They believe—they
walk by faith and not by sight.
Many times Ken and I have been faced
with situations that looked impossible, and we were tempted to give up.
But we didn’t quit. If we had let go of our faith, we would have missed
God. In all those times, there was no source for us to depend on but
God. And no matter how bad things looked, He never failed us. Psalm
31:23 says the Lord preserves the faithful, and that certainly has been
true in our lives.
When things seemed the bleakest, we
always got something from the Word of God that went off in our hearts
and pushed us over the top. Maybe we heard a sermon or found a scripture
that became a revelation to us. We discovered that when revelation of
the Word goes off on the inside, it’s done on the outside.
#2 – Expect Miracles
There have been times when we
desperately needed $100 or even $20 in the early days. But there have
also been times when we had to have millions of dollars. A few years ago
we fell behind $6 million on our television bill.
As I was driving to the office one day
with the pressure of that hanging over my head, the Lord reminded me of
some things. Oral Roberts had attended our Ministers’ Conference and
brought his new book Still Doing the Impossible. Brother
Roberts has had tremendous healings and miracles, but he also has had
mighty financial miracles. In one chapter of his book he talks about
“How I Learned to Look to God as My Source.” Another chapter is “How God
Taught Me to Expect a Miracle.”
That day the Lord put those two thoughts together inside me: God is my source so I expect miracles. As
soon as that realization hit me, I couldn’t help but exclaim, “That’s
right. God is my source—I don’t have to look to the natural anymore! The
natural realm does not determine my future! Thank you, Oral Roberts,
for reminding me.”
Now suddenly all things were possible to
me. I wasn’t under the weight of those bills anymore. The revelation
that God is my source took me up and over the circumstances. Now I was
expecting miracles. Now it was settled. I was looking to God to meet my
need. My eyes were no longer on the problems. Now my eyes were on the
“Big One” Himself.
I tell you, I got set free! After that, I
would not consider being concerned about it. If a concerned thought
tried to rise up, I would turn my attention to this: God is my source and I’m expecting a miracle! Within a very short time everything turned around and the television bill was paid.
The same thing can happen for you. When
you get under pressure, hang on to the fact that God is your source.
Don’t look at your paycheck, your bank account or what people are
willing to do for you. Those things aren’t your source. Do what I do
every day now. Make it a habit to say in your prayers, “Lord, You are my
source and I expect miracles today.” Start living in a state of
expectancy. When you’re expecting miracles, you won’t quit.
# 3 – Be Diligent
Diligence is another key to your
prosperity. It means “steady application to business of any kind;
constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken; perseverance.” It
takes constant effort to walk in God’s prosperity. Proverbs 10:4 says,
“He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the
diligent maketh rich.” Diligence will cause you to increase.
Realize that being a child of God
doesn’t excuse you from being diligent. To increase yourself, be
diligent in both natural and spiritual things. It comes back to the law
of sowing and reaping. You can go to church every Sunday and listen to
the Believer’s Voice of Victory broadcast every day, but if you don’t dowhat
you hear preached, you won’t live in victory. The Word has to be
diligently applied in your own life for it to do you any good.
Be diligent in your job, whatever it is.
It may not be the job you would like to have, but it’s the job you have
today. So give it your best and God will promote you. Proverbs 12:24
says, “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule….” Diligent people get
ahead. Just look at Proverbs 22:29: “Seest thou a man diligent in his
business? he shall stand before kings….”
God expects us to work and not be lazy.
But what does the Word say we should be
diligently seeking first? According to Matthew 6:31-33, we’re not to be
seeking the things unbelievers do.
Therefore do not worry and be anxious,
saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have
to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles
(heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and
your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But seek (aim at
and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His
way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together
will be given you besides (The Amplified Bible).
God’s desire is to see you prosper as
your soul prospers (3 John 2). Your soul will prosper when you go after
God and His Word with every fiber of your being. That’s what’s really
valuable.
Wait and listen, everyone who is
thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and
without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing].
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your
earnings for what does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat
what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness… (Isaiah
55:1-2, The Amplified Bible).
This is talking about the Word of God.
God’s priceless wisdom can’t be bought with money. To get it, you have
to spend time and fill your heart full of the Word. When you eat the
good spiritual food of the Word, it will make your faith strong. When
you diligently hearken to God’s Word like this scripture says, it makes
your soul prosperous, and a prosperous soul is destined for blessing.
#4 – Give A Tithe of Your Time
In 1982, Kenneth Hagin gave a prophecy
that changed my life. I believe the peace and prosperity my family and I
walk in today has everything to do with that prophecy and the decision I
made as a result of it. It has so impacted our lives that I would like
to share it with you. Here’s what it said:
And the year of 1982 will be a year of
exploration in the realm of the spirit. Yea, men and women too, shall
move into the spirit world. Into an area that they have not been before.
And so they shall see and they shall know, and they shall minister. And
great shall be the results thereof. And many hearts shall be blessed.
Some shall turn away and shake their
head in dismay! And shall say, “Aw!, the very idea of that.” But you see
those who are earthly will grow more earthly. And those who are
spiritual will grow more spiritual still. And those who are heavenly
minded will grow more heavenly minded still. And those who walk with
God, for God is a Spirit, will walk in the realm of the spirit, will
commune in the realm of the spirit, will see in the realm of the spirit,
will minister in the realm of the spirit. And great shall be the
results thereof…
Some have walked out only far enough to
get their feet wet. They said, “Isn’t this wonderful?” And like children
wading in the water they said, “This is it! This is the ultimate! This
is the finality!”
But, “Oh!” saith the Lord of Hosts,
“That is barely the beginning. You’ve only touched the realm of the
Spirit. Wade on out! Wade on out into the realm of the water of the
Spirit, until it is not only knee deep, and loin deep, until there is no
way that you could possibly touch the bottom. But swim on out and enjoy
the fulness of that which I have for thee,” saith the Lord of hosts.
But these things will not always come
easy. For you see the flesh will hold you back. That’s the reason that
the Word of God teaches you to crucify the flesh. And the mind will hold
you back and hold you into the realm of things seen. And hold you into
the realm of the physical senses.
That’s the reason the Bible tells you to
“Get your mind renewed.” And then you will move into the realm of the
spirit. And then there shall be great manifestations that your heart has
longed for. And the church has prayed for. And the intercessors have
interceded for. And the manifestation and demonstration of the Spirit of
God shall come into manifestation and into demonstration. And it shall
be as common, everyday, and just as real as everyday natural things are.
For you see the realm of the spirit is the natural realm for the
Christian who is born of the Spirit…
But you see you cannot walk in the
natural all the time. Oh yes it’s necessary that you walk in the natural
to a certain extent. Because your body is natural. And your body has
natural functions and you must live in that realm.
But yet right on the other hand let your
spirit, let your spirit have the privilege of communicating with the
Father of spirits. And let your spirit move out beyond the natural.
Don’t take up all your time with natural things. Some of those things
are legitimate and it’s all right to take a certain period of time
there, but see to it that you give heed unto your spirit. And you give
your spirit opportunity to feed upon the Word of God. And you give your
spirit opportunity to commune with the Father above. And build yourself
up on your most holy faith.
It doesn’t take a lot of time just an
hour or two out of twenty four. Just pay a tithe of your time unto Me,
saith the Lord, and all will be well. Your life will be changed. It will
be empowered. And you’ll be a mighty force for God.
Others will just look at thee and say,
“He and she are just simply not a good example as a Christian.” Because,
you see there is so much carnality. There is so much of the flesh.
There is so much of the natural. But, yea, they’ll see the power of the
Spirit. They’ll feel the love of God flowing out from you. They’ll feel
the rivers of the Spirit of life flowing out from you. And it’ll bring
life. And it’ll bring blessing unto your own life. And healing unto your
own body. And you’ll be able to minister it unto those around about you
and you’ll be glad, you’ll be glad. And you’ll have cause for
rejoicing, saith the Lord of hosts.
So let him that hath an ear to hear,
hear what the Spirit is saying unto the Church and move on. For this is
the year. Yea, this is the year.
When I heard that prophecy, it got down
into my spirit. God said that just by giving a tithe of my time, all
would be well in my life. At the time, I was concerned about my son,
John, so I thought that was really saying a lot. Of course, I loved the
Lord and I already spent time in prayer. But I made the decision to get
up an hour earlier and pray in the spirit an hour each day because I
needed all to be well.
When I started doing this it was
wintertime. It was cold and dark and my flesh would have rather stayed
in bed. But I got up and prayed anyway. My whole life changed as a
result. Over the years, all became well with my family. Today I still
spend that time in prayer every day.
You can change your circumstances the
same way I did because God is no respecter of persons. Start today by
being faithful to diligently seek God and His Word and put Him first
place in your life every day. This time next year things can be
different for you. If you faithfully give God an hour or two a day, He
will be faithful to manifest Himself in your life. So don’t quit. Don’t
give up. Double up!
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