By Augustus Henry (PhD)
A well-dilapidated one-dollar bill and a similarly distressed twenty-dollar bill arrived at the Federal Reserve Bank to be retired. As they moved along the conveyor belt to be burned, they struck up a conversation. The twenty-dollar bill reminisced about its travels all over the country. “I’ve had a pretty good life,” the twenty proclaimed. “Why? I’ve been to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, the finest restaurants in New York, performances on Broadway, and even a cruise to the Caribbean.”
“Wow!” said the one-dollar bill. “You’ve really had an exciting life!”
“So, tell me,” Says the twenty, “where have you been throughout your lifetime?”
The one-dollar bill replies, “Oh, I’ve been to the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, the Lutheran Church, the Adventist Church ….
The twenty-dollar bill interrupts, “What’s a church, (http://jokes.christiansunite.com/)?
This goes to show how hard it is for ‘real money’ to come by. That said, as the years roll from old to new, many of us start assessing our needs for the new year. But I can almost guarantee that out of the 10 most important things on your list, the top 3 have something to do with money. That is an issue that comes up every time January approaches. There is always that need for money. And for Christians, we have to think, at least, sometimes, where is God in my need of money?
After all, he says the cattle on a thousand hills belong to him. He says the earth is mine and the fullness thereof. If he has all the wealth of heaven and earth, why are his children suffering from a lack of money?
The insatiable need for money
Heavyweight boxing champ, Joe Louis: “I don’t like money, actually, but it quiets my nerves.
I know some people who need a nerve-quieter right now!
Abba:
I work all night; I work all day to pay the bills I have to pay
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me
In my dreams I have a plan, If I got me a wealthy man
I wouldn’t have to work at all, I’d fool around and have a ball
All the things I could do, If I had a little money.
Even though we have this insatiable yearn for money, it does have its limits.
On his deathbed, Bob Marley said to his son, Money can buy fame, but it can’t buy life.
Money, the allrounder.
Let’s be clear, money may not be the most important, but it touches everything that is important (The Stewardship Coach). Ecclesiastes 10:19 states about money, “A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.”
How to ask God for money
So, if you are looking for a money blessing from God in 2025, this is what you do; here is the right approach to Christian prosperity:
The first step to receiving money from heaven is to check your motives. What is driving your need for money?
The money warning – check your motives:
James 4:3: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Translation: If your only reason for asking is to fund your own lifestyle, then don’t be surprised if heaven stays silent (The Stewardship Coach). So, check your motives.
Honor God before the money comes
The second step is to tell God how you will honour him with your blessing before he blesses you. Check out Hannah in 1Sam. 1: she was struggling to bear a child. But she said if you bless me with a son, I will drive him back to you all the days of his life. Hannah honoured God by committing her blessing back to Him.
You may say, God I need money for this house, but how will that house serve God beyond your own needs?
Lord, I need a new Job, but how will that Job serve God when you are not even supporting his work with the money you make now?
Lord, I need a husband. Your projected spouse: is he or she currently serving God?
Lord, I want my child to attend this or that college, but are you prepping that child to serve God before and beyond education and career?
I have said it before and will say it again: everything that pertains to our children academically, socially and physically is more important to us than their spiritual lives.
How is it that you expect blessing for them from God’s kingdom, when you are only growing them for this world?
Hannah vowed to honour God even before she saw the blessing. Plan ahead of time how you are going to be a blessing before you receive God’s blessings.
The third step is to ask for big money things
If you operate on the foundation of the first two principles, there is nothing that is too big for God to do for you. If your motives for prosperity include honoring God’s kingdom, no mountain is too big for God to move for you to prosper.
He says if you seek him first, the Lexus is not out of bounds; if you seek him first, living in affluence is not out of reach; if you seek him first, an impressive bank account is yours to have.
In fact, he says to his disciples all the big material things can be yours if God’s kingdom is the priority. So, when you put him first, don’t be afraid, be bold, be daring and go big and broad when you ask.
A ninety-year-old lady who was childless, was wishing for a child. She thought that that wish could only exist in her dreams. So, when an angel appeared and announced to her that she would conceive and that she had a date of delivery, and told her that her ovaries had been restored, that her birth canal was refurbished, and that now she has the womb of a 25-year-old woman, she laughed – thinking that God could not bring her old body to produce a child. But the angel responded: “Is anything too hard for the Lord” (Genesis 18:12-15)?
Jabez understood that concept when he sought prosperity from the Lord.
1 Chron. 4:10: Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!
So, stop praying timid prayers, come boldly before the throne of grace and let your desires be known!
Faithfulness with little, generates more money
Last, be faithful with what you have now. No level-headed parents give new money to a wasteful child. Jesus said in his word that if you are faithful over a few little things, I will put you in charge of many things. The Word said, “Well, be worthy of your calling.” Faithfulness, therefore, is a requirement for God’s blessings.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story of a rich man who was going away for a while. So, he gave responsibility of his wealth to three men. To the first, he gave one portion, to the second, two portions and the third, five portions. However, the guy who got the least was the least faithful. Upon his return, not only did the rich man double the portions to the faithful servants, but he also took the one portion from the unfaithful and gave it to one who had five portions.
Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much”.
How will God trust you with one million dollars if you cannot be trusted with 1000?
If you want God to bless you with money, use the cash you already have wisely.
Sacrifice can make you prosperous
Mark 10: 28-31, Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
If you sacrifice for God, the returns on your investment are infinite!
Brothers and sisters. The formular we Christians are using for prosperity in this economy – earth’s economy, is flawed in the kingdom of God.
We can be wealthy, we can be prosperous, but we have to do it the kingdom way!