Spiritual Pride Rejects Prosperity

Dear friends,

This is to encourage you to keep on believing in the goodness of God. "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" said Jesus (Matt. 21:22).  Believing comes before praying.  So many times, we stop praying because we lose faith.  We lose faith because we doubt God’s Word.  We doubt God’s Word because the answer to our prayer does not come in our timing and according to our wishes.  It is for this reason Jesus said “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 25:35). 

If you feel you have lost faith and have no desire to pray, the best decision you can make in this situation is to turn to God’s Word again.  If not, your heart will continue to be hardened and the Devil will have a free reign over your life.  When you stop hearing God’s voice, the Devil will fill your head with all kinds of voices that will totally ruin your life.  For a time, it may feel as if your life is better off without prayer than with prayer.  But that is just the deception of the spiritual enemy who is waiting to see whom to devour.  When a person stops listening God’s voice, they become the proverbial ‘sitting duck’ for the enemy to shoot.  That is why the best and safest decision one make at this time is to turn to God’s Word because “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the words of Christ” (Rom. 10:17).  When you start reading the Bible and hearing God’s voice, faith will arise in your heart.  When faith arises in your heart, you will start praying.  Your praying becomes the evidence of your believing. 

When we pray, the Bible says “God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20).  In another place the Bible says “You have not because you ask not” (James 4:2).  That is why Jesus repeatedly encouraged us to ask.  He said “ask and it shall be given” (Matt. 7:7).  The reason we fail to ask is because we lose faith in a God who promised to give us all that we ask or imagine.

Other times we stop asking God because we don’t want to bother him with what we need.  We want to be very spiritual so that we can spare God from the headache he would have in supplying our needs.  This is because of our spiritual pride.  We want to show to the world and to God that we can live without God’s help.  When we are poor, sick, destitute, and still believe God, then we think we are better than those who are rich, healthy and well off.  These are the people who oppose the idea of God blessing his people with material things.  If this is you, then there is nothing much God can do.  He can only give to those who want.  Jesus said “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then ask whatever you desire and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).  If you want to spare God the headache by not expressing your desires, go for it.  But as for me, I want God “to supply all my needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil.4:19).  I want God to “satisfy the desires of my heart with good things” so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Ps. 103:5).

Faith is the foundation for such a Christian life. We are saved by grace through faith. We please God by faith. We overcome sin, Satan and the world by faith. We receive our miracles by faith.  Therefore, let us keep praying for God to demonstrate his goodness in our lives. Hebrews writer says "without faith it is impossible to please God", and Jesus says "everything is possible for him who believes." If we believe, we can move the mountain before us. That's what Jesus said.  If Jesus said it, then you can bank on his words because heaven and earth will pass away, but his words will never pass away!  Ask whatever you need, and God will never disappoint you.