When most people read about prosperity in the Bible they think it is talking about God making people rich. Being prosperous and being rich are very different things.

Biblically speaking a rich person is someone who has more than enough, and a poor person is someone with either no food, water, shelter or clothes.

Statistically speaking, over half the world lives on less then $2 a day. If you make over 40k a year you are in the top 80% of world income earners, and 80k puts you in the top 90%. If you have running water, electricity, A/C, heat and buy your food from a grocery store, you live better than most kings throughout history. If you live in America you are rich. Even our homeless have a decent quality of life compares to others nations poor. They have access to free soup kitchens, shelters and health care. We pity people who live in tents, but forget Abraham who was very wealthy, lived in one because our standard of living is so high.

We don’t need to teach American Christians how to become rich, because you already are. Period. If you don’t feel it, it’s not because what I write isn’t true, but because you are unable to see reality as it is, and have become self-deceived by comparing yourself to those who have more than you, rather than contemplating the fact that 5 billion people on this planet have less.

However, we desperately need to learn the difference between prosperity and poverty, because most rich Christians I meet are impoverished. As the saying goes, “Some people are so poor all they have is money.”

Prosperity is thinking, speaking, acting and relating to others in a way that causes things to grow. Poverty is thinking, speaking, acting and relating to others in a way that is destructive. God want to teach you how to prosper, and the devil wants you to be impoverished.

Why? It’s because prosperous thinking begins with your perspective on God, and how you relate to him, and his world. So what do you think that God thinks about prospering you? Is He for it or against it? Does God see your prosperity as something bad for you that might take you way from him? Does God want to get involved? Has he set a limit on how much you can grow yourself? What about your wealth?

Now compare your thoughts with the Bible.

“The Lord be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant (PS 35:27).”

“Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart (Ps. 37:4).”

“For the Lord is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good things does He withhold from those who walk uprightly (Ps. 84:11).”

God wants to be involved in teaching you to prosper. He loves to give those who love Him the desires of their heart. I am not teaching the give to get gospel here. I don’t believe it, and I want to offer a better alternative. However, it’s equally foolish to ignore the powerful things the Bible has to say about prosperity. There’s a lot I’ll flush out in up coming weeks. Don't push back from this topic because you have heard it taught in an unhealthy way.

For now, we need to gain the heart of God on this matter, less we miss out, and so I
encourage you to read the scriptures for yourself.

Below, I put a link to a word search for the word “prosper” in at Bible Gateway.com. Read all the verses related to it. It will take about 10 min. If you want God's opinion on the matter, then let Him speak for Himself. As you do, ask yourself questions like “Who does God prosper? Why? What’s is Biblical prosperity? What is the link between money and prosperity? How are they different? What can I do to prosper? What can I fail to do? “

http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=prosper&version1=NIV&searchtype=all&resultspp=500