It is important to mention here that wealth is not evil. Rather, it provides answers to your social needs. There is a natural demand for money in daily life. In Matthew 6, Jesus spoke about housing and feeding. These things require money, and God knows this too. So money is not evil, it is living for money that ends a man in the pit. It is the love of money that brings a man into frustration.
From the Scriptures, it is clear that wisdom is what begets wealth. Wealth will come as a result of your acquisition and utilization of covenant sense. When I say wisdom, I am not talking about trickery or subtlity. I am not talking about craftiness or dirty business games. By wisdom I mean insight, illumination and application of facts. I am referring to covenant access to a world of financial fortune.
In the book of Proverbs, wisdom announces her products, one of which is riches (Prov. 3:13,16; 8:12,18,21). Wisdom causes men to inherit substance and to fill their treasures with financial fortune.
Job's financial fortune was traceable to his wisdom ( Job 29:4-18). With the secret of God upon his tabernacle, Job washed his feet with butter and the rock poured out rivers of water for him. That is fortune! And Job traces it to his knowledge of the secret of God.
You will live a sweatless life, as God opens your covenant sense into the realm of financial fortune. That is where I am living in, and I will show you how to get there. The proven Bible way to fortune is packaged in the following pages.
What exactly is covenant riches’
It's A Function Of Favour
Financial fortune or riches is a direct function of divine favour. Thank God for hard work, but if it were equal to wealth, a lot of men will be billionaires today. Wealth is not a direct product of hard work; rather, it is a product of divine favour.
The first most inexplicable wealth recorded in Scriptures was that of Israel, as they left Egypt. God gave them favour and they carried gold and silver as luggage.
And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.
Exodus 12:36
For 15 years, the children of Israel laboured hard in Egypt. They worked and worked, yet they died in penury. But when they turned on the key of favour, they earned all their wages in a single day!
How did they provoke God's favour’ In their trouble they changed their ways and turned to God. Remember, God says in Malachi 3:7, "...Return unto me, and I will return unto you..." When they turned to Him, His favour located them and brought them into great financial fortunes.
No doubt, God is set to enrich the end-time Church, but each man's turning to God determines their portion in financial fortune. Until Israel turned, God could not help them. When they returned to Him, He returned to them with favour and terminated their emptiness.
Let us see how divine favour is attracted.
How To Attract Divine Favour
Be Kingdom-Minded
The Psalmist said in Psalm 102:13-14:
Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
Why will they enjoy favour’ Because they favour her dust; that is, they have a hearty interest in the kingdom of God. God will only favour you when whatever matters to Him matters to you. When you are passionate about God and His kingdom, it means that the set time to favour you has come.
No matter how hard you preach, if you do not love God's kingdom and favour the dust thereof, you will never see financial fortune. Divine favour does not answer to prayer or fasting. It answers only to the seed of favour, and you harvest favour when you favour the kingdom of God.
I am not in any trade, neither have I ever invested any dime into any business; yet I will never beg till my time on earth is over. Why’ Because I favour His kingdom, I enjoy His special favour that forbids that I lack any good thing. Moreover, when I have favour with God, I am bound to have favour with men (Prov. 16:7). You can't have favour with men except you first have favour with God.
When you sow a seed of favour, you are set for a harvest of favour. Don't scorn kingdom projects. Rather, develop a new perspective towards the kingdom. Whenever you attend a church service and you hear an announcement for a need in the kingdom, be moved by such announcements. Consider it a privilege to be involved with your little money. God is watching from heaven.
It Is Intreated
And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour.
Psalm 45:12
Favour can also be intreated; and gift is the instrument with which you intreat it.
A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
Proverbs 18:16
The gift of a man will command favour in his direction, that will establish a change of position for him. And God said in Malachi 3:10,
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
You can intreat God's favour with your gifts. A brother testified in church recently, how that when the offering was being taken he had no money to give. He said he was, however, led to give the shirt he was wearing. He did this reluctantly in September, and in November, he was blessed with the sum of 150,000 naira! He provoked God's favour with his gift.
I gave God something one day, and He said to me, "My son David, even if you don't want to be rich, it's too late." Today, the summary of my story is that I am highly favoured.
Be determined to retain God's favour by constantly provoking it. Whenever you see toughness and hardship around you, organise your way out of it by giving a favour-provoking seed as the people did in Psalm 126.
When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 126:1-6
You might ask, "Are we buying God's favour’" No! We are simply obeying the laws that govern the provoking and enjoyment of God's favour. Just as you must obey the law of salvation by repenting of your sins before you can be saved, so also must you obey the law of favour by intreating it with your gift.
Favour is not to be prayed or fasted for, it is to be intreated; and God enlarges your room in proportion to your gift. Favour is the pathway to fortune. It does not happen by chance, nor is it luck. It is taking conscious steps towards a conscious end.
Love-motivated Giving
I said earlier that wealth does not answer to hard labour. I want to say now that kingdom wealth does not answer to giving alone. Your giving has to be acceptable to God.
First Corinthians 13:3 puts it clearly:
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Only love-motivated giving stimulates financial fortune. King Solomon, the wealthiest man in his time, loved his way into financial fortune.
And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father... And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
1 Kings 3:3
Paul reveals to us that God has prepared wonderful and strange things for those who love Him:
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1 Corinthians 2:9
The love of God is what qualifies one for financial fortune. Inexplicable and unequalled fortune is the heritage of those that love Him.
The larger your heart for God, the greater your financial fortunes. Solomon loved the Lord, and that led to his financial fortune. He loved the Lord, not in word or in tongue only, but in truth and indeed. He brought to God what He had never seen before, so God decided to surprise him with riches and honour which he never asked for.
Also, God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus (Jn. 3:16). So, giving is the authentic proof of your love. It is not your giving that qualifies you for wealth. Your loving God, which you express by your giving, is what qualifies you for financial fortune.
Consider David. It was in his heart to build a house for God, but God said Solomon was the one to build it (1 Kgs. 8:17-19). But because of his love for God, David still went ahead to provide materials for the building of the temple.
Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal:
1 Chronicles 29:2-4
It was in his heart to build God a house, so he entered into great fortune.
Don't let money determine your heart for God. Let love be your motive, and God will naturally surprise you. You can determine how much financial enlargement you will experience by enlarging your heart for God. David and Solomon had large hearts for God, and they entered into financial fortunes.
David once said:
...Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing...
2 Samuel 24:24
The quality of your love determines the quality of your giving. It's not the quantity or volume that matters. Jesus rated the widow's mite as the highest offering given, yet it was the least in terms of quantity. It was rated highest be cause of what it cost the widow to give it.
Instead of wasting time in fruitless prayers, settle down and invest in the covenant. A heart for God is the key for making a financial mark on the earth.
When I began to give to God and His kingdom, I had not read any book on prosperity. We were not taught then that when you give, you receive. I was just delighted in God, Who gave His only Son for me.
Over 25 years ago, I got to a village where I was to stay for 72 days. When I asked for a church to fellowship and was told there was none, I told myself, "I mustn't leave this place the way I met it." By the following Sunday, there was a gathering in my house.
I began cutting palm fronds with some of the village boys, and we built a house for God and handed it over to the UMCA before I left. The shoes and clothes I went to that village with reduced in number, because I gave them to the boys who helped me to construct the church. When I was leaving the village, I was presented with a lantern (a gift I treasure so much), and the village chief said to me, "The light you have brought to us, may it shine across the world."
I didn't have any calling into ministry then, I just loved the Lord. You can't love Him and not know it.
I assure you of endless financial fortune when you get to the point where you can say, "Lord, You know I love You." I don't love money. God knows money has no hold over my life. Money does not command my attention; rather, I command its flow by the covenant.
When Is my Due Season’
We need a good understanding of God's due season for rewards. For everything under the sun, there is a time and a season. Fortune does not come in a day, it has its time. Knowing this will help you stay on course, so you won't miss your reward. Paul gives this advice:
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Galatians 6:9
I was considering the expression "Due Season" and realized that reaping time is not when you are in need, but when you are actually due. Furthermore, if you are not in the covenant, you can never be due for financial fortune.
Until you give God what is due to Him, you are never due for His blessings. It is your covenant walk that determines your due season, hence you don't have any due season in view except you're walking in the covenant.
For instance, you must be a farmer of corn to have a harvest of corn. If you are not in the habit of giving, it will be stupid to expect a due season of blessing. So, let God have what is due to Him, and you won't miss your due season in your giving life.
Your due season is not determined by how many years you have been giving or how much you give. According to Ecclesiates 11:1-6, you are due when your cloud is full.
If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth...
Ecclesiates 11:3
Therefore, stop observing the wind, stop regarding the cloud; when your cloud is full, your rain will surely fall. When you are due, you won't be denied (Gal. 6:7).
What comes down as rain in the natural is what evaporated from here as moisture. As it goes up into the atmosphere, it becomes cooler and then condenses. When it becomes too heavy for the cloud to hold, it descends as rainfall.
The reason there is no rain in the desert is because there is no evaporation there. Nothing is going up from the ground, so no rain comes down upon it.
This illustrates what takes place in the giving covenant. Your love-motivated giving ascends to the spiritual heaven as moisture and settles there, drawing up more as you keep giving. When the atmosphere can no longer sustain its weight, it then falls down as rainfall of blessings, what you can call financial fortune.
If your financial rain is not falling, therefore, it is because your cloud is not yet full. So wisdom demands that you keep giving, for you shall reap in due season, if you faint not.
Continue in the covenant of giving, for seed-time and harvest shall not cease. God is not a man that He should lie. When you are due, you will not be deprived. When you are due, you won't need to beg for financial fortune; the rain will fall on its own.
This is my secret. I have continued giving, and with delight and heartfelt affection too. People may mock you, discourage you, and even insult you; but keep at it, because you shall surely reap in due season, if you faint not.
This is an important aspect of Bible sense for financial fortune. Everyone who got to the realm of financial fortune kept at it. They didn't arrive there overnight; they kept at it despite all odds. If you faint before your cloud is full, it will scatter, and you will have to begin filling it up afresh.
Keep at it! Keep at your tithing, and kingdom investments. Do it delightfully, and when you are due, you'll not be deprived. No matter how angry the devil is, when your cloud is full, your rainfall is sure.
I worked my way into my due season. I started many years ago, and stayed on there. The journey is not as short as you think. Don't just be a giver; be a consistent and persistent giver. All those who will not mind the wind and will not regard the clouds, but will keep working the covenant, will end up in financial fortune.
If anything is trying to discourage you, tell that thing, "I have got the secret when my cloud is full, my rain will fall. When I am due, I will not be deprived."
One way to hasten your due season is by increasing the quality of your giving. It is your responsibility to determine the speed at which you get there.
Also know that the due season for your reaping is in phases. When you enter phase one of harvest, continue giving with delight and love, and in no time, you'll enter into phase two. As you continue doing what you did before, you will move on to phase three, until you get to a point when your nation will require your financial support to operate.
Financial Security
If you must enjoy financial security in its various phases, you need to know and understand what I refer to as Bible sense for financial security. This is getting to a place where every devil knows God has blessed you.
Let's examine Psalm 112:1-10, for God's formula for financial security.
Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man showeth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.
The summary of it is this financial security demands:
A heart for God
An untiring grace for distribution.
Heart For God
The love for God is what commands the flow of gold in the kingdom, whereas the love for gold leads to the grave. Many who come to church because of money end up mourning.
David had a great passion for God. He had such unparalleled affection for God, that he enjoyed much blessings of gold. He was a God- addict, so he became a commander of wealth. The love of God is the highway into abundance.
Solomon also loved the Lord (1 Kgs. 3:3), and the best of God came his way. However, Solomon didn't understand that love does not only qualify you for fortune, but also helps to sustain it. Hence, as soon as Solomon's heart shifted from God to strange women (1 Kgs. 11:1), he became a victim of life. You will not become a victim of life, in Jesus' name.
Readiness To Distribute
David said in Psalm 112:5 and 9, "A good man showeth favour, and lendeth (i.e he gives)...He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour."
This man enjoys financial security and is also a successful distributor. When you are a covenant distributor, you remain in abundance, and will never beg.
Job was the wealthiest man in all the east. He was successful because of the secrets of God he had access to. One of such secrets was his readiness to distribute.
...I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy... I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
Job 29:12-16
A man that expects financial security must ask God for the grace for distribution. This is important, because the level to which you're ready to distribute determines the level to which God will be ready to bless you. When you are a successful distributor, you enjoy financial security. However, if you stop distributing, you no longer qualify to receive God's blessings.
When you see a widow in problem, be willing to help her with your God-given resources. Don't wait to be asked or thanked, because you're only securing your financial future. Be always excited to see a needy person. Be ready to distribute and let it flow naturally from within you.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
The rich are not to trust in their wealth, but in God. They should be ready to distribute and willing to communicate, laying a solid foundation for the future. This is the mystery behind financial security.
It was in David's heart to build a house for God; that was why he had so much to put down for the building. What is in your heart today determines what will be in your hand tomorrow. The greater your kingdom dream, the greater your access to financial security.
Let it be your heart desire to sponsor one thousand children to school in the future. See yourself putting smiles on people's faces with your resources. Desire to be a blessing to those in the motherless babies' homes, by meeting their feeding needs for one year.
When such desires are in your heart, the means will soon be in your hands. A lack of desire to be a blessing to others is what has caused the emptiness in your hand.
Paul tells us of the liberality of the Macedonia Church, in spite of their limited resources (2 Cor. 8:1-7). Their giving life was very strange, which Paul attributes to the grace of God at work in them.
The giving grace is the gateway to financial security. When this grace is upon you, giving time becomes your happiest time. It is so with me. I am very excited when I am privileged to distribute. And before I know it, what I gave has been replenished again. Paul advises us to "see that ye abound in this grace also." (2 Cor. 8:7). I see that grace multiplying over your life, in Jesus' name.
Financial Integrity
Many Christians are paupers because they lack the covenant integrity required for financial security. Money turns them on. It makes them walk on their heads and tell all manner of lies, just to get more money. They can dupe anybody, including God.
When you lack financial integrity, you are eternally disqualified from financial fortune. There is, therefore, no point in wasting your money in giving, because it won't be credited to your account in heaven.
Job is described as "perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." (Job 1:1). He was a man of integrity. Even his wife knew it and told him, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity’ curse God, and die" (Job 2:9).
Jesus said if you have not been faithful with the unrighteous mammon, who shall commit to your trust the true riches
(Lk. 16:11).
Psalm 112:3,6 and 9 talks about "righteousness", implying that the man who desires financial security must be a man of integrity. That is why every foul financial player ends up in frustration.
Your security is tied to what you do with your finances now. The seed you are sowing now will answer in your children's lives in future (Ps. 112:2,6). All our covenant forefathers were blessed people because of what their fathers did. Abraham left wealth for Isaac, and Jacob also benefitted from Abraham's wealth.
When others fall, you shall rise. When darkness shall cover theearth, you shall shine. The fortune God will bring your way will flow down to your children's children. It will be so much that generations yet unborn will keep celebrating you, in Jesus' name. God is on your side!
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