Serving the God of Too Much: Prosperity Is God's Will for You

Sermon outline

It is God's will for His children to prosper so they can be a blessing, and when God, His Word and you line up, through faith, humility, freedom from debt and a hunger for the Word, you will not settle for less.

1. Firmly grasp the will of God

   Religious people say 'if God would, then God will', but we do not have to guess, because we know God's will by His Word. In the context of prosperity, it is God's will for you to prosper while you are on this earth.

   “We know God's will by His Word.”

   • Ephesians 5:17

2. Thy will be done on earth

   Whatever God wills in heaven He wants duplicated on earth, so believers depend on God's economy, not the world's Babylonian system that takes from you and impoverishes you. God wants you to have more than enough so you can meet needs around you and be kingdom-minded. He will not drop a cheque from heaven; He uses people, saved and unsaved, to bless you.

   Illustration: God used a raven to feed the prophet at the brook Cherith and gave a donkey a voice to speak to a prophet, so He can use any means to bless you.

   “If you just about meet your needs, how can you be a blessing to anybody?”

   • Matthew 6:10
   • 1 Kings 17:4-6
   • Numbers 22:28

3. God takes pleasure in your prosperity

   The Lord is magnified who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant, not in His servant who is barely making it. Whatever level you are on, there is another level higher. The Babylonian system wants you in debt, because debt owns you: a mortgage is a death grip. Write down your debts, sow a seed and trust God to help you pay them off, and live within your means instead of opening store cards to keep up with others.

   Illustration: Store assistants are quick to offer a card with a small discount on goods already heavily marked up, and banks are just as quick to send reminders before a long weekend that your account will be debited.

   “It is God's will for me to prosper.”

   • Psalm 35:27
   • Romans 13:8
   • Malachi 3:9

4. God's will for you is abundant life

   There is God's permissive will, which He tolerates but is not happy with, and His perfect will, which is His Word and the leading of the Spirit. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give life to the full until it overflows. Teach your children this, so they think bigger and better and won't settle for less.

   Illustration: While his car was being repaired he drove a small hired car, and one of his grandsons told him he didn't like it and asked where his other car was: even the children are learning to want an abundant life.

   “We are indirectly planting vision in our children.”

   • John 10:10

5. You are serving the God of too much

   In Christ we are more than conquerors, and God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the silver and the gold, so don't limit yourself: He can override any government or company policy. God told him to pray for Israel and sow into the evangelism of Israel, and he resolved that the church's first cheque each month would go there. Remember those who have done good to you, and go ahead and count your stars like Abraham, because your dreams will come to pass.

   Illustration: On Father's Day he sowed a gift to the pastor who first taught him and his wife the foundations of the faith at a blackboard in their sparsely furnished home, and soon afterwards someone in the church, knowing nothing of it, sowed double that back to him.

   “Say, I have a God of too much.”

   • Romans 8:37
   • Psalm 50:10-12
   • Haggai 2:8
   • Genesis 15:5

6. Three ingredients: God, the Word and you

   God's name is not 'El Cheapo' but El Shaddai, the God who is more than enough, and His eyes search the earth for a receiver. His Word says He wishes above all things that you prosper, so if you are still struggling, the missing ingredient may be you: increase your faith level, stretch your vision and don't put a low price tag on yourself. Humility is an attitude of the heart, not shabby clothes, and it shows in how you treat people, such as the petrol attendant you greet by name and thank.

   Illustration: In the old church he laminated a picture of a large church building and stuck it on the wooden pulpit, saying one day their church would look like that. As a new Christian he went looking for 'humble shoes', bought a plain pair he never wore, and learned that humility is an act of the heart, not an outward act.

   “Don't have a world's perspective of yourself. Have a Word perspective of yourself.”

   • 2 Chronicles 16:9
   • 3 John 2
   • Proverbs 10:22
   • Romans 8:32
   • 1 Peter 5:5
   • Matthew 6:4

7. Hunger for God's Word

   Life will give you exactly what you settle for: God prepares a table before you, but how big is your table? The answer to sickness, depression, poverty and worry is found in the Word, the manual for life, so don't let your Bible gather dust. God watches over His Word to perform it and has magnified His Word above His name, so read the Word, not your stars.

   Illustration: When people point to the Bible on their shelf after he prays for them, he notices it is brown with dust: the Bible on the shelf will not chase out devils; the revelation of the Word you open and study will.

   “Life will deliver to you exactly what you settle for.”

   • Psalm 23:5
   • Jeremiah 1:12
   • Psalm 119:89
   • Psalm 138:2
   • 2 Peter 1:19