Author: gzidevelopment

Over the course of the next few days, I want to focus on some portions of the book A Time to Prosper that my Dad (Chuck Pierce) and Robert Heidler wrote.  This book gives you a great understanding into not only what prosperity is, but also how to move into the prosperity that God has destined for each and every one of us.  If you don’t have this book, I would like to urge you to get your hands on it so that you can gain a better understanding of how God desires us to prosper and how we can move into the prosperity we are promised.  In the first chapter of this book Dad writes:

Prosperity occurs when we enter into the fullness of God’s plan for our lives.  Just as He promised Abraham, God begins to bring us to our land.  When we submit to His plan of prosperity for our lives, He cleanses us from all idolatry and unfaithful ways.  This submission causes hearts of stone to be replaced with hearts of flesh (tender hearts to hear God).  He places His Spirit within us.

God then opens doors that are linked to abundance – not just worldly abundance, but abundance of revelation to understand who God our Creator is through His Son as well as who we are.  He blesses the works of our hands.  He fills us with revelation.  He gives us boundaries and says, “Take dominion!  Prosper on every front.  Be like Nehemiah.”  In his day, Nehemiah saw Jerusalem in ruins and began to rebuild walls, restore gates, hang doors and ready the place for a new move of worship.  We have to submit ourselves as Nehemiah did.

Read Nehemiah 1-3.  Prosperity doesn’t only mean that you will become rich or famous or anything like that.  Yes, that is definitely one aspect that comes along with prosperity, but that is not at all the main focus for being prosperous.  God wants to make us prosperous so that we gain more revelation into His Kingdom, that we take dominion over the things we have let the devil steal from us, and yes, that we have all the supply and wealth that we need.  To do any of this though, we must first submit to the full plan that God has for our lives.  Tell the Lord that you are ready to submit to the fullness of His promise and prosperity for your life and let Him show you how you are meant to prosper!

How do we get to the full prosperity that God is calling us into?  The prosperity that God calls us to achieve is never intended to be easy to come by.  While that might seem frustrating, God wants to see our desire to prosper in order to make us prosperous.  For instance, take a professional golfer.  He works, and he practices, and he plays in tournaments in order to make a living for himself and his family.  If he, or she, truly wants to be prosperous as a professional golfer than they need to put the work in.  That means hours upon hours of work practicing and preparing in order to just try to make the cut to the weekend of a tournament so they even get a check to support their family.  So how can we relate this to our everyday lives?  We need to be diligent in what we desire in order to see God make us prosperous.  Yes, God desires for us to be prosperous, but He doesn’t give it out freely without seeing us put forth the effort.

Consider the life of Solomon.  1 Kings 3:7-9 says, “Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.  And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted.  Therefore, give to your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil.  For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”  Not only is Solomon asking for the wisdom to judge God’s people, but he is also asking for God to be patient with him while he learns the proper way to judge and rule them.  What does that take for him to learn that?  It takes practice.  He is asking God to give him wisdom to practice and not to be judged WHILE he is practicing.  Solomon desires to succeed above anything else, but he wants to please God while he is doing it.  That is why God blessed him so much with all of the riches he eventually had.

Read 1 Kings 1-4.  See how Solomon practiced the wisdom that he was given in order to become one of the greatest rulers that the world had ever seen.  Understand the practice that he put into perfecting the wisdom that was granted to him and let’s all put that practice into our own lives in order to prosper in the way that God has intended for us!

We are all destined to prosper!  That is part of the covenant that God established with Abraham (and that we are all still connected to)!  Many times, when we believe our destiny has been delayed, we tend to shrink back.  To me, it seems that Christians have more of an issue with “delayed destinies” than we do with dealing with demonic structures.  What are we scared of?  Is God just delaying us to see how we react?  If so, how are we going to deal with the test that He is putting us through to bring us into a place of prosperity?  Honestly, there is no better place to answer these questions than the story of David.

1 Samuel 16:12 says, “And the Lord said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!’”  Now, keep in mind that David was just a young boy at this time.  He didn’t know what he was being destined for.  He didn’t know the legacy that God was planning to build through him.  He didn’t know any of that.  He did his job as a son for his father and he loved the Lord and that was enough for him, at that time.  But God had much more planned for him.  God had a reason for all of the trials and hardships that He sent David through.  He wanted His Son to come from someone from his family line.  If that isn’t prosperity then I don’t know what is!  Yes, he eventually became king and brought all the nation together, but in God’s eyes, that wasn’t His uptimate goal.  He planned to have His Son come from David’s lineage in order to restore what was lost from Adam and Eve after the fall.  We are all tied into the prosperity that God had planned for David because we are all tied into the restoration that Jesus brought when He sacrificed Himself on the cross to restore our lives.

Read 1 Samuel 16-18.  See how God orchestrated David’s life, in order to bring him into what He has planned for him.  David was not perfect by any means, but he had a heart for the Lord, unlike few others in the Word and was faithful and repentant and honored anything the Lord asked him to do.  Because of that, God established His lineage for Jesus to come from him.  That is an incredible story of prosperity!

What can we do to make prosperity come to us?  What happens when we feel that we have lost our inheritance, and how do we gain it back?  All I can say is that God never gives up on us!  That’s a pretty amazing thing to think about really.  He has every opportunity to give up on us, but yet He doesn’t.  God WANTS to see us prosper and He WANTS to see us come into the inheritance, destiny, and prosperity that He has destined for us.

Ruth 1:16-17 says, “But Ruth said: ‘Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.  Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.  The Lord do so to me, and more so also, if anything but death parts you and me.’”  What does this passage about Ruth tell us?  First off, she KNEW that the Lord had destined her for something great.  She was not going to be complacent and go back to just “living a life” and going through the motions in order to only exist and “get by”.  So many times, we feel that if we are “getting by” we are succeeding and doing what God has planned for us.  Absolutely not!  God has no desire for us to just make it through.  He desires for us to thrive in our lives!  Ruth desired to thrive.  Verse 18 of the first chapter says she was “determined” and she was determined because she knew that God had great plans for her life.

Read the book of Ruth.  Tell the Lord that you are “determined” to walk in the prosperity that He has planned for your life.  There will always be hard times that you must go through, but choose to be determined to walk them out, just like Ruth did.  Then, your destiny and prosperity will unfold in front of you! Ruth went from desolation, to gleaning, to reaping, to owning!

How do we continue into the prosperity that the previous generation tapped into?  Many times, prosperity passes over a generation because people become complacent and don’t follow the model that God has put in place for them to become prosperous.  I can personally relate to this.  I have had every opportunity to step into what God has called me to, but I was scared of what it would require, and that has caused me to run.  I am telling you that today is the day to stop running from what God is calling you into and continue into the promise that He has in store for you!

 

Joshua 1:7-8 says, “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

 

When the Israelites were meant to go into the Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones that were willing to step into the prosperity that God had planned for His people.  The rest of the Israelites were whining and complaining about how God had treated them wrong (even though He had just delivered them from slavery).  Yes, God made Joshua and Caleb wait to move into their prosperity, but they are wonderful examples of how God makes the next generation wait to become prosperous.

 

Read Joshua 1-5.  Ask God to give you the patience to understand when it is time to take your next step.  Ask Him to “encourage” you to meditate on His word day and night, and that it does not depart from you.  Have faith that following His word and His will for your life will lead your way to be prosperous.

God has different methods He uses to make us understand prosperity.  He wants us to prosper all the days of our life, but sometimes we are stubborn and get content being in our present state and place.  God never desires for us to live settled in complacency and familiarity leading to comfort and leanness of soul. He desires for us to always be moving forward in what He has called and destined to accomplish.   In Egypt the children of Israel had become content being in captivity which led to them becoming complacent and ultimately being ruled over by the Egyptians.  God doesn’t call for us to be complacent.  The complacency and contentment that the Israelites lived in led them into a place of poverty.  God has no desire for us to live in poverty.  He wants us to break any spirits of contentment, complacency, and poverty that are on our lives, in order for us to move into the prosperity that He has destined for us.

 

Exodus 3:21-22 says, “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed.  But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters.  So, you shall plunder the Egyptians.”  The Israelites had let themselves live in a place of poverty and be ruled over and mistreated for hundreds of years, until they finally decided it was time to cry out to God for their deliverance.  When they finally cried out, the Lord promised them that they would plunder those who had been oppressing them and would become prosperous!

 

Read Exodus 1-6.  Pray for the Lord to deliver you from the oppression you have been under and CRY OUT for the prosperity and promise that is waiting for you and yours!

Convincing ourselves that God wants us to be prosperous in every situation is difficult to do.  Many times we want to prosper at what we are doing, but feel selfish expecting to prosper.  That isn’t how God wants us to think.  The covenant that He made with Abraham calls for us to be prosperous.  There is no harm in thinking that everything that your hands touch should prosper, and, as a matter of fact, God wants us to think that way.

The story of Joseph is a perfect picture of how the Lord wants us to prosper and what He desires for us to become.  Genesis 39:3-4 says, “And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.  So, Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him.  The he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority.”  Joseph was a prisoner.  He had been betrayed by his brothers.  He was left to die because his brothers were jealous of what he was capable of.  However, Joseph didn’t lose hope in the Lord.  He knew that God had favored him, and he continued pressing into the purpose, expectations, and desires that God wanted for him until he was entrusted to oversee all that his master owned.  That is a perfect picture of prosperity.  Was Joseph rich at that time in his life?  No, he wasn’t, but by trusting in the purpose and plan that God had for him he ended up ruling and becoming one of the wealthiest men in Egypt.  That is what God wants us to understand about prosperity.  My desire for these 21 days is to see each and every one of us understand prosperity and how God has designed us to prosper.

Read Genesis 39-45.  This gives us one of the best examples of how God wants us to prosper.  No, we may not always be faced with the easiest of situations (I know Joseph wasn’t), but God created us in such a way that we are capable of persevering through anything we are going through in order to be prosperous, no matter where we are.  Choose to hope in the Lord as you wait for your mantle of favor to manifest.

Prosperity comes in many different ways.  So many times, people only associate being prosperous with being wealthy.  Wealth is only one aspect of prosperity.  Prosperity can easily be related to getting what you desire, as well.  Desire, again, is a strong feeling, worthy or unworthy, that impels us toward the attainment or possession of something within reach.  A great example of that is with Jacob desiring to have Rachel as his wife.  When Jacob is asked by Laban, “What should your wages be?” Genesis 29:18 says, “Now Jacob loved Rachel; so, he said, ‘I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.’”  That, to me, seems like some pretty serious dedication just to get someone or something that you desire.  Jacob’s desire for Rachel led him to become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel.  That in itself is something that he could be very proud of.  Family is another form of prosperity and one that is often overlooked.

Jacob’s desire to prosper was challenged even after he left Laban.  Genesis 32:26-29 says, “So He said to him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Jacob.’ And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked, saying, ‘Tell me Your name, I pray.’ And He said, ‘Why is it that you ask about My name?’ And He blessed him there.”  The persistency that Jacob showed that night is how God wants us to approach every situation — whether it be with our family, at our job, while we are praying, or whatever we are doing.  Jacob was persistent in his desire to gain his blessing, which he knew was promised to him, and was not going to give up until he got it.

Read Genesis 27-32.  See how Jacob gets blessed by his father, works night and day for the woman that he desires, becomes a very prosperous farmer, is blessed with a large family, and perseveres through his fight to step into the blessing that he knows God has for him.  Ask God to align and focus your desires so that you persist on your path to new levels of prosperity.

If we are called to prosper (which we all are) then how do we prosper in the place we exist or live?  Acts 17 talks about God predetermining our time and place.  Knowing that God can meet you at the place that you have been positioned is very key to understanding prosperity.  The promise and covenant that God established with Abraham says that we are all, who are part of that covenant, meant to be prosperous.  Again, what is prosperity?  Prosperity is a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition.  Does that only mean money or material things?  Absolutely not.  There are many ways that God calls us to be prosperous.  In Genesis 26:12-14 it says, “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him.  The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants.  So, the Philistines envied him.”  

There was a famine in the land where Isaac was living.  In the midst of any famine, there might be a requirement to move to gain your next level of prosperity. You must hear the Lord on where to go.  Instead of Egypt, God chose the Philistine portion of that world.  Now, of course, this doesn’t mean that Isaac did everything right.  He repeated the same mistakes that his father Abraham did in that same land.  Out of fear, Abraham had given Isaac’s mother, Sarah, to the Philistine king.  Isaac did the same thing with Rebekah.  He told the king that she was his sister instead of his wife.  Regardless of that, what he did do was heed the Word of the Lord when it came to where he was supposed to be and the word of God says he “Began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous.”  Your mistakes do not stop your prosperity. If you will listen carefully, God has a plan.

Read Genesis 26!  Verse 12 says, “Then Isaac sowed in the land and reaped 100-fold!”  The Lord blessed him.  I think you should stop and pray this.  See how God reestablishes His covenant with Isaac to see him prosper and become very prosperous. Ask the Lord how you are supposed to heed His Word in order to be in the proper place (even having to confront your enemies) to become prosperous. Isaac had to redig wells and let go of past levels of prosperity to enter into future levels of prosperity. He had to get past the well of anger, the well of contention, and the well of quarreling.  Isaac had to come into a new, broad space where he could prosper in a new way.  Isaac had to dig a new well!  He then had to find his place of worship.

Part of the covenant that God established with Abraham was to make us successful and thrive in whatever situation that He places us in.  We don’t need to be ashamed of being prosperous.  Too many times it seems like the church frowns upon prosperity.  Prosperity is a necessity in all of our lives, and it is our right, through the covenant that God made with Abraham, to be prosperous. Keep pressing into prosperity.