Hindrances to Biblical Prosperity: Fear

The only thing we should fear, is God. This is not a horror-movie fear, nor a fear of a slave-driver or a mean father. This is a holy reverence, a respect, an admiration, and a supernatural love. When our hearts take that posture towards the LORD we are promised to overcome lack- every single time, and in every single way.

Fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no lack of anything.

Psalm 34:9

The law [word] of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of coins of gold and silver. Psalm 119:72

For the past few weeks, we have been learning the truth regarding biblical prosperity and have established the truth based off of God's WORD. Let's do a scriptural review of biblical prosperity.

(You can also click here to scroll down to the main article.)

1. God is Prosperity in Himself because:

   1. Jesus is God (John 14:6-7, 9; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 2:9)

   2. Jesus is the WORD (John 1:1, 14)

   3. The WORD is always prosperous

      1. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

2. We prosper because God is prosperous, and it is our birthright as new creatures in Christ Jesus- born of water and the Holy Spirit- to partake of God's prosperity & blessing because we now belong to His family and live in His household as sons, daughters, and heirs.

   1. giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Colossians 1:12)

   2. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

   3. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

   4. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

   5. Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, (Ephesians 2:19)

   6. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God. (Galatians 4:7)

   7. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you...All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine; and in them I have been glorified. (John 16:15, 17:10)

3. Prosperity starts in the heart

   1. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: (Proverbs 23:7)

   2. Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

   3. As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. (Proverbs 27:19)

   4. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. (Luke 6:45)

   5. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)

4. The definition of Biblical Prosperity is to be blessed to be a blessing; to have bread and seed; to have enough and extra. We walk in this blessing from Old Testament to New because of Jesus Christ, and it results in thanksgiving to God.

   1. Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great,

      so that you will be a blessing." (Genesis 12:1-2)

   2. blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. (Genesis 22:17)

   3. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)

   4. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written:

      “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”

      Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. (2 Corinthians 9:8-11)

5. We are stewards of wealth, while God is the ultimate Owner of all. Money is the least thing in the kingdom of God that God calls us to manage for His purposes.

   1. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts. (Haggai 2:8)

   2. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein. (Psalm 24:1)

   3. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler over all. In Your hands are power and might to exalt and give strength to all. (1 Chronicles 39:11-12)

   4. Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine. (Job 41:11)

   5. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:36)

   6. For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it. (1 Timothy 6:7)

   7. Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches? And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own? (Luke 16:10-12)

   8. Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. (Proverbs 3:9-10)

For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11

Now that the scriptural foundation has been laid for biblical prosperity, we can continue delving into the things that can hinder God's prosperity in our lives. Last week, we addressed the hindrance of spiritual blindness. Today, we are addressing fear.

And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

The greatest fear related to money is the fear of not having enough. The spirit of poverty (the poverty mindset) both fuels, and feeds off of fear. When you constantly believe that you never have enough money, then you constantly fear losing every dollar. This fear then drives you to hold on to money with a tighter and tighter grip, becoming greedier and more covetous over time. This fear of loss makes money the treasure of your heart as you trust in riches instead of trusting in God. A word from God doesn't move you, but the number of 0's in your bank account sure does. You fear that number going down, and this fear further fuels you to hold money closer and closer to your heart. This fear affects all people- rich and poor, educated and uneducated, man and woman. It's a vicious cycle.

The only antidote to this fear, is trust.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

We trust in God when we have the revelation of His love as our Heavenly Father, and then we are delivered from fear.

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

Romans 8:15

It is this perfect love of God, that casts out all fear. We can face lack, we can face uncertainty, we can face circumstances that say, "it isn't enough." But when we understand the perfect love that our Father has for us, then we trust Him, not our circumstances. We trust HIM to bring us through, empowering us to conquer every condition of lack and poverty that we face.

When the doctor's report says, "you're sick, you're not healthy enough";

we trust GOD Who calls us healed.

When depression comes and says, "you're not happy";

we trust GOD who calls us joyful.

When heartbreak and trauma come and say, "you are broken";

we trust GOD who calls us whole.

When lack comes and says, "you don't have enough";

we trust GOD who makes His grace abound towards us at all times so that we have all sufficiency in all things.

When poverty comes and says, "you'll never prosper";

we trust GOD who tells us He has plans to prosper us, not harm us.

Whether you just gave a large sum of money to someone in need, or you are facing lack, or you lost out on a potential investment, or you turned down a job at the LORD's direction, or you had a loved one choose their love of money over their relationship with you... Do Not Fear.

After Abraham tithed about half of his wealth over to Melchizedek and also denied a vast payment from the king of Sodom, he could have been tempted to give in to fear of not having enough. But after all of these things, God came to Abraham and spoke the truth to him.

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, 'Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.'

Genesis 15:1

God told Abraham not to fear because the money and the wealth wasn't his reward, GOD was his Source and His Reward. God was saying, do not fear loss or lack when you obey Me with your finances. What we can glean from Abraham's experience is that holding onto your money with all your heart is not what protects you from loss or lack, but it is when you obey God with your finances- giving, sowing, and receiving as He leads- and trust Him with your wealth that He becomes your Shield and your Reward.

God is our Shield from poverty and lack. When we live in His household and we are abiding by His WORD, then He will keep His WORD and His covenant and be our Provision. Poverty and lack will not overcome us, because they cannot overcome the LORD. He is our Shield.

He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91:4

God is our Reward. He will reward us exceedingly because that is Who He is, and that is what He has spoken. God never goes back on His WORD.

My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.

Psalm 89:34

God never fails, and His WORD never fails! If God said it, and we believe it, then that settles it. There may be a waiting, an enduring, but He will not alter the Word He has spoken. God will not break His covenant! He is our Reward.

Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My Name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him My salvation. Psalm 91:14-16

When we develop an attitude of trust toward God concerning finances, and all areas of life, we overcome fear. If we have the perspective that every time we give or tithe, we are losing, then that trust has not yet been developed in our hearts. As we saw in the last blog, it is completely possible to give and tithe while still not trusting God with your finances. When you give out of obligation or fear, this is also void of trust. God wants our hearts first and foremost, not our money. Our attitude toward money reveals our hearts- follow the money, find the treasure, uncover the posture of the heart.

God knows that He truly has our hearts when He becomes our treasure instead of money, possessions, fame, and people. Your treasure is what you trust, what you depend on in life. Some people depend on their education and degrees, on work and promotions; some depend on relationships in their lives; others depend on money and the number in their bank account; while still others depend on their looks, their body, or their talent. All of those sources will fail. We were made to depend on God.

If your heart is tied to someone or something else that you are depending on more than God, you will find that He will require that of you. Not because He is a taker, but because God wants you to have victory in this life. As we grow in relationship with Jesus and get to know the love and care of our Heavenly Father, we develop trust in Him and Him alone. All that isn't serving Him- and thus isn't serving us- breaks off & the old things pass away, as we grow in the knowledge of God and walk in the fulfillment of His exceeding precious promises.

Trust is our antidote to fear. May your trust in the LORD be strong and complete as you grow in relationship and the knowledge of God, and experience His faithfulness in your life. May His perfect love cast out all fear, so that nothing hinders you from God's prosperity. May you trust God with all your heart, that you may lack no good thing.

Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the LORD will lack no good thing. Psalm 34:10

Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Colossians 3:9-10

Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old. Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

Isaiah 43:18-19

His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:3-4

The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:7