Good & Bad Effects Of Material Prosperity

God desires that every man be saved. When a person walks in the way of sin, or falls into problems and suffers from poverty, it is against the will of God. The original divine plan is not for us to be entangled in problems, lack or poverty, but that we may be blessed in all areas and live an honourable life, having the necessary means and resources for the same. Our God has all of this and with Him there is no shortage.

Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Even if our present situation is different from what the Word of God says, let us not speak what we see but what we wish to see and God will change our situation. 

Joel 3:10
Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”

You may not be strong as of now or rich, but when you keep declaring the future rather than the present, little by little, step by step, what you speak will start manifesting. Before coming out of poverty, we need to come out of the poverty mentality. Even if you are hungry and empty, declare that the Lord is my shepherd. There is no shortage with the Lord.

Speak what you wish to see, not what you see right now. What you see is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. All that you see now, shortage, lack, poverty, all of it will change, the Lord will change it all. He will take you into unseen riches. As the Bible says, the first will be last and the last will be first.

Proverbs 10:22
The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.

3 John 1
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

The Lord wishes to bless everyone. The Apostle John wrote, may you be well in everything. If this is an Apostle’s prayer it is because it is God’s will.

This does not mean that there will be no difficulties in life, but we can choose whether to live how God has called us to or not.

In Psalm 23, we see God’s provision, protection, refreshment, guidance, comfort, victory, overflow, anointing, goodness, mercy, and eternal life.

Today I am going to focus on material prosperity.

There are things we need in this physical world, like food, water, clothes, shelter, job, vehicle, money etc. There are merits and demerits to this. Let us take a look.

1. Material prosperity is good because money is a shelter

Ecclesiastes 7:12
Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter

Money is a shelter. If you have money, you can do many things. A lot of things get restricted due to the lack of money. We are spirit beings but when we live in a physical body, we have physical needs.

2) It is the rich that rule

Proverbs 22:7
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.

In every country, the rich rule. Even the state is controlled, sponsored, and funded by the rich. The poor don't have a voice but the rich do. Money has a voice. Also, many of the problems people face are often due to their mismanagement of funds. Spend less than what you earn, keep a record, make a decision to stop taking debts.

3. Material prosperity can never satisfy you

Ecclesiastes 5:10
Whoever loves money never has enough;  whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.

We need money, but do not run behind it. It should not be your focus in life.

4. Material prosperity can be problematic

Ecclesiastes 5:12
The sleep of a labourer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.

If not managed the right way, material prosperity can take away your sleep.

5. It can even block your way to heaven

Matthew 19:23-24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

1 Timothy 6:9-10
Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

When we look at the above verses we can understand that while we do need money for our earthly needs, it is wrong to chase money or to love it. When we love something, we dedicate our time and attention to it. This shifts our focus from God to His gifts instead. God provides for our needs and blesses us with prosperity but if we become enamoured with the riches of the world, we block ourselves from God and eternal life thereof. Let us love the Lord our God and Him alone with all our heart and accept His blessings in humility, keeping our eyes fixed on Him at all times.

About The Author:

Dr. Damien Antony
Born and brought up in a Christian family, Dr. Damien Antony possessed an unquenching quest for truth right from his boyhood days and eventually his relentless search led him to the Bible. He is a Revival Preacher, Bible Teacher, Leadership Trainer, Author and a Life Coach. He moves under the anointing for Prophetic, Healing, Deliverance, Inner Healing and Financial Breakthrough. God has also blessed him with an Apostolic Mandate to take the Universal Body of Christ to the next level of revelation and anointing.