Prosperity is not a frivolous thing with no eternal consequences. It is a serious issue. If you want to know how serious, consider this: right now, in areas such as Eastern Europe, there are people who have never heard the gospel. For years, the doors of their nations have been locked to it. But at this moment, the Body of Christ has the opportunity to preach the Word of God from one end of that area to the other.

What will we need to take full advantage of that opportunity? Money. That's right. Money, or the lack of it, can determine whether someone in an area like that hears the gospel...or not. In my eyes, that makes our prosperity as born-again believers an important issue. If we prosper, we'll have enough not just to meet our own little needs, but to send the Word of God around the world. If we don't, we won't. It's that simple.

Prosperity is not an accident. It's not a function of circumstances or the economy. According to God's Word, prosperity is a choice. It is a personal decision and a spiritual process. Most people don't know that. Ken and I didn't either years ago when we first began walking with God. Back then, we were sick some of the time and broke all the time. Our life was one financial disaster after another. It felt like we were living under some kind of curse. Do you know why we felt that way? Because we were living under a curse! We just didn't realize it.

Failing to prosper is part of the curse that came upon the earth when Adam sold out to Satan in the Garden of Eden. The curse is described in detail in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 and it includes every kind of sickness, sin, tragedy and lack. That passage says that when you're living under the curse "You shall be only oppressed and robbed continually...you shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in." (Verses 29, 38, AMP) Do you ever feel like that? Like every time you try to get ahead, something happens to steal away everything you thought you were going to gain? I know the feeling. I had it for years.

But then, one day Ken and I discovered we had been redeemed from the curse. We found out that according to the Word of God, we didn't have to put up with any of those things listed in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 because: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Gal. 3:13-14)

Overtaken - For Better or Worse
There's no question about it, that promise caused Abraham to be extremely prosperous in every way and it will do the same for you, if you're a born-again child of God. What is it like to be blessed in every way? (Remember blessed means empowered to prosper.) Deuteronomy 28:1-9 tells us:

"And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kin, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goes out. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself."

Does all that sound too good to be true? Well, it's not. That's the blessing Jesus bought for you on the cross. And it will begin to operate in your life if you'll "hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God."

Then we began to believe God's Word about prosperity - to be willing and obedient, good things started to happen. The longer we obeyed God and walked in faith about finances, the more those good things increased. Just like the curse once overtook us, now the blessings of God overtake us.

You must realize, however, that faith for finances doesn't come automatically. It doesn't come just because you're a good person and you love God. It comes when you spend time, day after day, listening to and acting on what God's Word says about prosperity.

When we saw in God's Word that prosperity belonged to us, we were so deep in debt it looked like we would never get out. But we applied our will anyway. We said, "We will prosper in the Name of Jesus. God says He has provided abundance, so abundance belongs to us!" That's the kind of aggressive faith you need to believe for prosperity. I determined to make a change. I began to actively, aggressively resist lack and to cultivate my faith for prosperity as diligently as I had cultivated my faith for healing. And I can tell you, it made a big difference in our lives.

I must warn you though, it wasn't easy. It takes effort and perseverance in the Word of God to develop that kind of faith. If you want to believe for divine prosperity, you'll need to keep a constant dose of the Word of God in your heart. You'll need to meditate on it all the time. You can't just grab a verse once in a while and then run out and prosper. You have to let the Word of God renew your mind and teach you how to think differently and you'll have to let that Word take root in your heart. That doesn't happen overnight. I've heard people say, "Well, we've been tithing and obeying God and we're not out of debt yet. Is there any way to hurry this thing up?" Yes. You can double up on the Word, spend more time with God, and be sure to give every time God tells you. That's in addition, of course, to tithing ten percent of your income that belongs to God - offerings come after that. But even so, you still have to start where you are.

What's important is to start now. Don't wait until next month. Start believing God for the things you need today. Start thanking Him for them. Tell the devil you're out from under his curse. Grab hold of the Word of God and don't let go. If you'll do that and stay with it, and continue to do what God tells you, you'll eventually have a surplus of prosperity so that you can not only pay your bills, but also have the capacity to give into every good work! (2 Cor. 9:6-11)

So get out the Word and get busy. There's no time to waste. We're rapidly coming to the end of this age. We have opportunities today we've never had before. Nations are allowing us to preach the gospel on television that never allowed it before. But it takes money to do that. Who's going to provide that money?

You and I and every other member of the Body of Christ who will dare to rise up and reject lack as a lifestyle. Every believer who will be bold enough to say, "Prosperity belongs to me. I will believe it and I will receive it in Jesus' Name! I will stand up to the devil and fight the fight of faith for it!" It's time we realized it's not just our own personal needs that are hanging in the balance. It's more than that. It's the eternal destiny of other people. It's the work of the kingdom of God.

Prosperity is not a frivolous matter. It's serious. More hinges on it than you have realized. So get aggressive. Take a stand on the Word of God and take what belongs to you as His child. I won't kid you, you'll have to fight some battles. But I can tell you in advance, if you'll do it in faith, you'll win. It will be well worth the fight.

Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka:  Kenneth Copeland Ministries