With so many asking for prayer for prosperity these days, I feel led to write on the subject. Many ministries do nothing but preach about prosperity, and yes, God’s people need it. But it’s easy to miss God and get in the ditch with nothing but prosperity teaching. Prosperity involves so much more than just money, although money seems to be the focus of most people these days. True prosperity is never lacking what you need when you need it. Many ask for prayer to be debt free. Well, you can look at someone who is homeless wandering the streets, and chances are, they are debt-free. But they are still homeless and broke, so even though debt-free is important, it isn’t the most important, apparently. It should be our goal to be debt-free, though, so we can serve God without encumbrances. 
The Bible says in Isaiah 1:19, If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. That is the heritage of the children of God. You might be willing to prosper and be blessed, but if you aren’t doing what God tells you to do, forget it. The next verse says, But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. You’re just trying to get prosperity, or whatever it is you are seeking, on your own. And that won’t get you very far. We are here on this earth to be stewards of God’s creation, plain and simple. We are all stewards. Some are just better than others. Stewardship is not an inherited trait. It is developed over time, whether it is good or bad. Some people get their paycheck and go blow it on lottery tickets, hoping to hit the “big one”. Odds are, they won’t. Others drink their paycheck or gamble it away in a casino. Some spend and don’t even realize where their money goes, a little here, a little there, and it’s gone before they know it. You need a written budget to track your expenditures, period. If you don’t write down your goals, how will you know when you get there? Bad habits are hard to break, but if you’re going to ever see a change for the better in your finances, you’re going to have to take charge of things and get on track according to God’s word. Dad told me something once, “Wish and hope never plowed a field. It takes work.” Good intentions are not enough. They need to be backed up with action!
Two things you must consider if you want to prosper financially; first being, just as a farmer keeps back some of his harvest for seed to sow for the next harvest, you should also do the same. Secondly, if you are seeking the favor of God in your job or business, then make sure you are doing business just as if Jesus is standing right there beside you doing business with you, because He is. Listen, just because you can’t see God there, doesn’t mean He isn’t there. If you are a born-again Christian, the Bible says the Spirit of God dwells inside you, so yes, He is right there, doing what you do, seeing what you see, hearing what you hear, speaking what you speak. Be careful where you are taking God, don’t defile Him, for He is Holy.

God is not amused by your stopping by a bar for just one beer on the way home after work, I don’t care how hot it is outside. You think it’s hot here?? It is written in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy: for the temple of God is Holy, which temple ye are. See why some people’s business or job doesn’t prosper? They are not properly discerning the presence of God in it! Do you bellyache and complain about your job or your boss? God won’t bless that. Do you gossip about others? God calls that an abomination. Do you use the phone at work to make personal phone calls on work time? C’mon, give me a break. How do you expect God to bless you for that? Do business in a godly manner, and associate yourself with godly partners, if you are in partnership. If you are a sole proprietor, be an example of doing more than is required of you, going the extra mile to supply an excellent product or labor. As for the prices for your services, a laborer is worthy of his hire, the Lord says. Never have to apologize for the quality and quantity of your work, and you will never have to be ashamed to ask for good wages for it.

 I ran a furniture repair business for over 30 years before going full time in this ministry. I always went far above and beyond what was required of me, and my work was the best available at any price. I even fixed things I ran into later after my estimate was given without extra charge, just so I could be satisfied I did the best job possible, as unto the Lord. For that I prospered greatly and though my prices were somewhat high compared to what others in the same business charged, I always had people waiting for me to do their work because of the reputation of the excellence of my work. If you do that, and ask God to guide you in your business transactions, you will always be blessed.

 
Ask yourself, why are you in business? Is it to make yourself money? Or is it to provide a needed service to others. If you are in business to serve others and fill a need they have, you will always prosper. Your business worth is always determined by what problems you are willing to solve for others. Financial prosperity is a by-product of solving problems for others. Serving up an order of french fries at a fast food restaurant doesn’t pay much because it doesn’t solve much of a problem. However, if you can observe a business and show it where it’s shortcomings are, and how to maximize it’s efficiency, and how to cut costs while offering a better product, you’re worth a lot more. Learn what your strong points are, then learn how to use them to become valuable to others. And in the process, you’ll enjoy your work. That, my friend, is a big plus. For me, it’s the ability to fix anything. If you can break it, I can fix it, and have a good time doing it at the same time. And you have your area of excellence, too. That’s one of God’s gifts to you! You just have to identify it and put it to work for you.
For those of you who are married, are you doing your best to love and serve your mate? OOOH, I think I hit a nerve…...I can tell you for a fact, my wife scores high on that one. Me? There’s room for improvement but I’m always working on it, because she’s precious to me. I’m motivated, and have two good examples to imitate: Jesus, and my wife. Prosperity in marriage is probably near the top of the list for many. You can survive financial or health hardships if your marriage is alive and strong. Love carries you through, every time. Everything works by love.
How good and merciful and compassionate God is to us. We don’t have to look very far to see that if not for His love, we would have nothing. Yet, so many seek “things”, cars, homes, money, or worse yet, seek to use God to get those things. I get really agitated, at seeing people look at God like some super genie in a bottle that exists only to serve their every whim. Look at God. Whether or not you realize it, God exists to love His creation, to do His best for it. He has your best interests in mind, every minute of every day. I think it safe to say, many try to take advantage of God’s benevolent nature to have a relationship with Him to get what they can out of Him. And that’s sad, because they’re missing out on all the good stuff. You don’t have to pry God’s hand open to get His blessings. Besides, you can’t fool God. He knows who really loves Him and who is trying to take Him for a ride. God is easy, but He isn’t dumb. Set your heart to know God, I mean really know God.
You will soon learn He doesn’t do the minimum it takes for you to just get by. He will heap it on for you! Jesus did His best……for YOU! Shouldn’t you be doing your best for Him?