Prepare to Prosper: Moving From the Land of Lack to the Land of Plenty, Page 2

We have seen we need to stay positive, even in the challenging times that test us. You and I must resist the temptation to speak negatively even when we feel negative. But we also need to go the extra mile to speak positive things on purpose and confess Scriptures pertaining to giving over our seed.

  This is what God showed me to do: Every day—perhaps even several times a day—quote Bible verses aloud that pertain to prosperity. Remember, it is the Word that waters the seed.

  I made a list of these Scriptures. Many I already knew; others I committed to memory or read from either a note pad or the Bible.

  In looking up the Scriptures and writing them down, I had to do a little homework. I have done your homework for you and provided you with a list of good “watering Scriptures” to use in watering your seed. You will find them at the back of this book.

  Soon after I began to practice what God had spoken to me, I saw results. I was confessing an increased harvest for both the ministry and our personal finances. Within two weeks I saw both areas increase in blessings.

  Several large offerings came into the ministry, and I noticed over a period of several weeks the general finances of the ministry increased overall.

  I was personally blessed with some money and even experienced an increase in gifts being given to me. I was careful to remember to give more also. I urge you to always remember to be a blessing. Don’t ever be foolish enough to eat your seed. Anytime your harvest comes in or increases, set aside seed to sow. The idea is to plant and water until you see harvest, then keep planting and watering during harvest.

  As one harvest runs out, another will be coming in. You will eventually move into an area of living in harvest. You will be living in the “land of plenty,” the equivalent of the Promised Land, referred to in the Bible!

  The principle of confessing the Word of God is simple—so simple, in fact, it could be overlooked. I learned the power of confession many years ago. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words defines the word “confess” in the Greek as homologeo which means “to speak the same thing”; “to assent, accord, agree with”; “to confess, declare, admit”; “to declare openly by way of speaking out freely, such confession being the effect of deep conviction of facts.”1

  We must be in agreement with God if we desire for His will to manifest in our lives. Being in agreement with Him includes speaking in agreement with Him. God wants to bless us even more than we can imagine.

  Joshua 1:8 says: This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.

  I sincerely believe if you will plant your seed and diligently water it with the Word, you will see a greater harvest manifested in your life. James 5:7 reminds us, So be patient, brethren, [as you wait] till the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits expectantly for the precious harvest from the land. [See how] he keeps up his patient [vigil] over it until it receives the early and late rains.

  The farmer maintains a specific routine in caring for the seed he has planted until his harvest comes. He is patient about it. He does not expect to plant the seed and have it produce a harvest the next day. Nor does he plant it, walk away from it, and expect to do nothing else to provide for its care. He continues to water it, pulls weeds and makes sure it gets plenty of sunshine.

  First Corinthians 3:6 says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was making it grow and [He] gave the increase.

  Paul was talking about the seed of God’s Word planted in the hearts of the people, but the principle is the same. Paul planted the Word in them, Apollos watered it and God gave increase. We can never have increase without planting seed, and neither can we have increase without watering the seed that has been planted.

  SCRIPTURES THAT WILL WATER YOUR SEED

  I believe confessing these Scriptures aloud, mixed with faith, will increase your harvest. Meditate on them as Joshua 1:8 teaches. They will become part of your life, and you will prosper and have good success.

  Then Isaac sowed seed in that land and received in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted, and the Lord favored him with blessings.

  And the man became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and distinguished … and the Philistines envied him.

  GENESIS 26:12–14

  And I will make My covenant (solemn pledge) between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.

  GENESIS 17:2

  See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.

  DEUTERONOMY 30:15,16 NKJV

  For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

  PSALM 84:11 KJV

  Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out.

  The Lord shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouse and in all that you undertake. And He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

  And the Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity, through the fruit of your body, of your livestock, and of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.

  The Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

  And the Lord shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day and are watchful to do them.

  DEUTERONOMY 28:6,8,11–13

  Trust in the Lord instead. Be kind and good to others; then you will live safely here in the land and prosper, feeding in safety.

  PSALM 37:3 TLB

  The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered.

  PROVERBS 11:25 NASB

  The merciful, kind, and generous man benefits himself [for his deeds return to bless him], but he who is cruel and callous [to the wants of others] brings on himself retribution.

  PROVERBS 11:17

  He who gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes [from their want] will have many a curse.

  PROVERBS 28:27

  Note: I would say now, “I have given to the poor. I care about them. Therefore I am blessed.”

  To the reader: You, of course, may turn these Scriptures into very personal confessions based upon your individual giving.

  Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.

  ECCLESIASTES 11:1 NIV

  Save now, we beseech You, O Lord; send now prosperity, O Lord, we beseech You, and give to us success!

  PSALM 118:25

  Let those who favor my righteous cause and have pleasure in my uprightness shout for joy and be glad and say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, Who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.

  PSALM 35:27

  The wicked borrow and pay not again [for they may be unable], but the [uncompromisingly] righteous deal kindly and give [for they are able].

  PSALM 37:21

  I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the [uncompromisingly] righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread.

  All day long they are merciful and deal graciously; they lend, and their offspring are blessed.

  PSALM 37:25,26

  My confession is, “I AM ABLE TO GIVE!”

  May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children.

  May you be blessed of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth!

  PSALM 115:14,15 />
  The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

  PROVERBS 10:22 NIV

  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 KJV

  Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

  PSALM 1:1–3 NIV

  Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the first fruits of all your increase;

  So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

  PROVERBS 3:9,10 NKJV

  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.

  ISAIAH 1:19

  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

  JOSHUA 1:8 NKJV

  No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this,

  Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—

  What God has arranged for those who love him.

  1 CORINTHIANS 2:9 MESSAGE

  Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do super-abundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams].

  EPHESIANS 3:20

  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

  LUKE 6:38 KJV

  Note: I turn these Scriptures into first person confessions when I quote them aloud over my seed. For example, I would say this one like this:

  I have given, and it is given unto me, good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into my bosom. For with the same measure that I have meted out to others, it shall be measured to me again.

  And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

  PHILIPPIANS 4:19

  Now as you abound and excel and are at the front in everything—in faith, in expressing yourselves, in knowledge, in all zeal, and in your love for us—[see to it that you come to the front now and] abound and excel in this gracious work [of almsgiving] also.

  2 CORINTHIANS 8:7

  My confession is, “I EXCEL IN ALMSGIVING!”

  [Remember] this: he who sows sparingly and grudgingly will also reap sparingly and grudgingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to someone] will also reap generously and with blessings.

  Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving].

  And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation].

  As it is written, He [the benevolent person] scatters abroad; He gives to the poor; His deeds of justice and goodness and kindness and benevolence will go on and endure forever!

  2 CORINTHIANS 9:6–11

  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.

  2 CORINTHIANS 9:8 NASB

  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

  MATTHEW 6:33 NKJV

  Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.

  3 JOHN 1:2

  … I pray for good fortune in everything you do, and for your good health—that your everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul!

  3 JOHN 1:2 MESSAGE

  I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous …

  Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

  ISAIAH 48:15,17 KJV

  Behold, My Servant shall deal wisely and shall prosper; He shall be exalted and extolled and shall stand very high. (This Scripture is referring to Jesus, but remember we are joint-heirs with Him.)

  ISAIAH 52:13

  He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the things of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, yearned for) the Lord, God made him prosper.

  2 CHRONICLES 26:5

  For you are becoming progressively acquainted with and recognizing more strongly and clearly the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (His kindness, His gracious generosity, His undeserved favor and spiritual blessing), [in] that though He was [so very] rich, yet for your sakes He became [so very] poor, in order that by His poverty you might become enriched (abundantly supplied).

  2 CORINTHIANS 8:9

  The earth has yielded its harvest [in evidence of God’s approval]; God, even our own God, will bless us.

  PSALM 67:6

  Let them shout for joy and be glad,

  Who favor my righteous cause;

  And let them say continually,

  “Let the Lord be magnified,

  Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”

  PSALM 35:27 NKJV

  But you shall [earnestly] remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

  DEUTERONOMY 8:18

  Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

  DEUTERONOMY 29:9 NKJV

  … my cup runneth over.

  PSALM 23:5 KJV

  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.

  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

  And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.

  MALACHI 3:10–12 KJV

  And the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, of your cattle, of your land, for good; for the Lord will again delight in prospering you, as He took delight in your fathers.

  DEUTERONOMY 30:9

  The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

  JOHN 10:10

  The eyes of the Lord are toward the [uncompromisingly] righteous and His ears are open to their cry.

  PSALM 34:15

  They spend their days in prosperity. …

  JOB 21:13

  Prosperity and welfare are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.