Faith and the Prosperity Gospel

I’ve always been suspicious of the “Prosperity Gospel,”- the belief that God wants every believer to prosper and all a believer has to do to prosper is trust God properly. There are two initial problems with that thinking: (1) It’s extremely difficult to consistently trust God properly and (2) if God’s blessings are delivered solely by our trust, it deletes God’s ability to determine how and when to bless. Faith is believing that God can, not that God will. God can bless above and beyond our requests. However, God will bless as He chooses, as He sees and knows the big picture. So relax in faith. If God blesses to your expectations, so be it. If God blesses according to His plan, stop worrying about it. Many years ago, Henry Ward Beecher said, “Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.” That is close to the definition offered by the writer of Hebrews, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). And even closer to a paraphrase in “The Message,” “Faith is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see” (Hebrews 11:1, MSG). Even closer to this truth is a statement made by Max Lucado, “Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.” So, don’t place your faith in the Prosperity Gospel. Place your faith in God and live with what He gives you.

Join me in remembering in prayer the following global concerns:
• Larry and Sarah return from Macau in July for six month. Pray that they will be able to buy a good used car to drive in the USA for the time they are stateside.
• Pray for the many mission teams who are serving around the world during spring break times and for the follow-up after they return home.
• Pray for the person who will coordinate the prayer focus for an annual meeting of secure country missionaries next week.