Abundance and increase in life are the natural results of walking in the promise and plan of God. Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

Progress in the kingdom of God - or in any other area - is not accidental. It is those who diligently apply God's principles for success who are rewarded with God's open hand of plenty. So many really do want God's abundance in their lives, and yet they never do what God has said will activate that abundance.

A man in the Bible names Jabez respected increase enough to ask for it. "Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and thou woudest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested" (1 Chron. 4:10).

For many, the measure of success is not how much you can get but rather how much you can give and release to others. The simple truth is that you must be blessed before you can be a blessing. You must be up before you can lift another.

You can create abundance from God in your future, if you are willing to make changes today. Here are ten important secrets for activating abundance.

1. Put God First
Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). Priorities are so vital to success in God's kingdom. He must have first place in your life for the laws of His kingdom to bring a maximum effect.

God will not tolerate anything becoming more important in your life than Him. Notice the Barclay translation of Matthew 6:33, "Make the kingdom of God, and life in loyalty to him, the object of all your endeavor, and you will get all these other things as well."

The way to obtain the things the world seeks is not to seek them. God is not opposed to your having things. He has said here that "things would be yours." But when God comes first in your life, the "things" remain in proper perspective.

2. Consider Your Need
To have a need in your life does not mean you are a failure. But it does reveal that a change is necessary. When the prophet Elijah was being fed by the ravens, he had no needs. But the day came when the creek dried up and the ravens were not there. Then, God directed him in the change that was necessary, and his needs were supplied.

The widow God led him to was also in desperate circumstances. Through Elijah, God told her to reach beyond her own situation in faith and to trust that God would provide for her. She needed to change.

You, too, may simply need to make a God-directed change in your thinking, your giving or you believing! When you recognize God's guidance and obey it, you will prosper. All your needs will be met if you will let Him order your steps.

3. Let Go of Traditions
Tradition will stop the flow of God's abundance. Every Sunday, people carry into church something that is more powerful in their lives than God's Word - their traditions!

Jesus said, "So you have rendered useless the Word of God for the sake of your tradition" (Matt. 15:6). Many Christians have difficulty realizing that God wants wealth to come into the hands of His people. If only they really understood Him as a loving Heavenly Father, they could easily grasp His attitude toward abundance.

Tradition, however, has taught us not to seek or expect abundance - even though Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Throw away the religious lie that lack is "God's will." God is a God of abundance - He will share it with you.

4. Focus on a Specific Target
In Genesis 13:14-15, God revealed a powerful principle to Abraham. "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever." Notice He said what Abraham could see, God would give him.

It is not what you see with your natural eyes, but what you see with your spiritual eyes that determines what you will receive. Unless you see God's desire for you with spiritual eyes, you will not obtain what He has promised. Hope is the goal setter. Without a clear and specific hope of what God's promise will accomplish in your life, you will not have direction for your faith.

The Bible says, "Faith is the substance of things hope for..." (Heb. 11:1). Without hope, faith cannot give substance. God's promise of abundance and advancement must become a target on which you focus your hope. Decide specifically what you want to see accomplished, on the basis of God's Word. Abraham could see a land. He could see the son that God had promised. He then moved toward that objective.

5. Remove Reasons for Lack
Proverbs 26:2 says, "...the curse causeless shall not come." There are always reasons why God's people are not living in the promise of abundance He has given them. Here are a few:

• Laziness. Proverbs 19:15 says, "Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry."
• Unteachableness. Proverbs 13:18 says, "Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction."
• Lack of Knowledge Hosea 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
• Failure to Give. Proverbs 11:24 says, "One man gives freely, yet gain even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty."
• Temporary Setback. Psalm 37:23-24 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand." He may fall and have a time of misfortune, but he will recover.

6. Possess Your Harvest Now
The principle of seedtime and harvest is one of the most important things you can grasp from God's Word. His kingdom operates by this system. Jesus said of His own life, "...unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest."

Today, you have something that is a seed toward a future harvest. You have something to give. If you keep it, it will never grow. But if you plant it into His kingdom by faith, it can multiply. God will bless what you have, but He will multiply what you give. Once you plant a seed, it leaves your present and enters your future. You have the seeds of abundance today.

You determine your harvest by the seed you sow. That principle reaches into every area of life. You can sow seeds of love, kindness, money, peace and harmony. Or seeds of fear, hate, doubt and poverty. The power to decide your future is in your hands.

7. Expect to Receive
Jesus told His own disciples what to expect when they gave. He said, "Give, and it shall be given unto you..." (Luke 6:38). He went on to describe that what would be returned would be beyond what they gave. God told Abraham what to expect. In Genesis 22:17-18, He described the blessings to come on Abraham because of his obedience and faith.

The prophet Elijah painted a clear picture of what the widow would receive if she would use her faith and give to the prophet out of her need. She gave with an expectation to receive.

It is the responsibility of the ministers of God to make a demand upon God's people and create in them an expectation to receive. God sent Elijah to the widow for her deliverance, not his. When she gave in expectation of what God promised, she set in motion her own miracle.

8. Think Thoughts of God
God's Word puts His thoughts in your hands. When you find what He really thinks about abundance, it is vital to think in harmony with those thoughts. Your thoughts become seeds into your own life. What you allow to become a dominant thought will begin to be attracted to your life. Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he."

When your thoughts are controlled and governed by His thoughts, the result is plenty and abundance. Let your thoughts grasp afresh Philipians 4:19: "And my God will liberally supply your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Rekindle 3 John 2: "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and (that your body) may keep well, even as your soul keeps well and prospers." Your thoughts are in the realm of the soul. If you will prosper in your thoughts, you will bring His prosperity into every area of life.

9. Plan Consistently to Harvest Consistently
Giving is to be a lifestyle. A giver is really being like God, Who is the Great Giver. You can set in motion God's laws for increase by your consistent giving of tithes and offerings.

Proverbs 11:24-25 says, "It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the liberal man shall be rich!

By watering others, he waters himself." Learn the art of consistency, in your attitudes, in your giving, in your faith. It will become a great cornerstone for growth in any area.

10. Be Faithful With What You Have
Possibly the greatest principle of increase is found in the parable of the servants who were responsible for their master's money in his absence. By this story, Jesus taught that when you are faithful over little, God will make you ruler over much.

There are always some who say, "Oh, when I'm wealthy, I will give great sums of money to the work of the kingdom." But if they do not give faithfully now, they will never give. God will not bless the unfaithful. He will increase those who give to Him from where they are now. If you start with what you have, He will begin to bring His increase into your life.

Through Jesus Christ, God has offered abundant living to all people. Life is intended to be more than struggling and laboring just to pay your bills. You may never become a millionaire, but God wants you able to go beyond paying the bills, having some left over to bless with and to be blessed.

Begin today to let a life of giving and receiving be a reality. Settle in your heart to activate His abundance in your life.

Dennis Burke Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.