I Was Made to Prosper

Positioned to Prosper – Part 1

Let me ask you a quick question: Do you want your kids to advance in life? Do you want your kids to improve in life? Do you want your kids to be blessed? Do you want your kids to be favored? Then you want your children to prosper.

Don't allow yourself to get tricked into speaking what's against God's will for people.

What Does It Mean to Prosper?

The word "prosper" in the Greek literally means "to help on the road" or "succeed in reaching." It means to advance, make progress, succeed, or be profitable. Prosperity is more than money and the accumulation of wealth, but rather an ongoing state of success that touches every area of our lives. It means to have nothing missing and nothing lacking.

2 Chronicles 26:5 (AMP)

He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, longing for) the Lord, God caused him to prosper.

Psalm 35:27 (AMP)

Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication and want what is right for me; Let them say continually, "Let the Lord be magnified, who delights and takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."

You will see in this verse that joy, rejoice, and magnifying Him leads to prosperity. What does God delight in? The prosperity of His people.

Matthew 6:33 (AMP)

But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.

What's left out of "all"?

Solomon's Request for Wisdom

1 Kings 3:1-15 (AMP)

Now Solomon became a son-in-law to Pharaoh king of Egypt and formed an alliance by taking Pharaoh's daughter in marriage. He brought her to the City of David where she remained temporarily until he had finished building his own house, the house of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. But in the meantime, the people were still sacrificing to God on the high places as the pagans did to their idols, for there was no permanent house yet built for the Name of the Lord.

Solomon loved the Lord, walking at first in the statutes of David his father, except for the fact that he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places, ignoring the law that required all sacrifices to be offered at the tabernacle. The king went to Gibeon near Jerusalem, where the tabernacle and the bronze altar stood, to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night, and God said, "Ask Me what I shall give you."

Solomon's Prayer

Then Solomon said, "You have shown Your servant David my father great lovingkindness, because he walked before You in faithfulness and righteousness and with uprightness of heart toward You; and You have kept for him this great lovingkindness, in that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. So now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of David my father; and as for me, I am but a little boy in wisdom and experience; I do not know how to go out or come in—that is, how to conduct business as a king. Your servant is among Your people whom You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart with which to judge Your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge and rule this great people of Yours?"

God's Answer

Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. God said to him, "Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself a long life nor for wealth, nor for the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to recognize justice, behold, I have done as you asked. I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that no one before you was your equal, nor shall anyone equal to you arise after you. I have also given you what you have not asked, both wealth and honor, so that there will not be anyone equal to you among the kings, for all your days. If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments, as your father David did, then I will lengthen your days."

Proverbs 8:17-21 (AMP)

I love those who love me; and those who seek me early and diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my yield is better than choicest silver. I, Wisdom, continuously walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice, that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth and true riches, and that I may fill their treasuries.

Hosea 4:6 (AMP)

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge of My law, where I reveal My will. Because you the priestly nation have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

Three Wisdom Keys to Prosperity

Wisdom Key #1: It's a Part of God's Plan

Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)

For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

God will prosper you to the level of your call. You will prosper to the level of your purpose. If the things you desire will help you fulfill the purpose of God for your life, you will have it.

Wisdom Key #2: It's According to Your Purpose

Matthew 25:14-15 (AMP) – Parable of the Talents

For it is just like a man who was about to take a journey, and he called his servants together and entrusted them with his possessions. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and then he went on his journey.

Wisdom Key #3: It's According to the Development of Your Soul

3 John 2 (AMP)

Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health physically, just as I know your soul prospers spiritually.

The Prayer Life of George Muller

How does one man care for ten thousand orphans and raise millions of dollars in today's currency without asking for a single donation or ever going into debt? By taking God seriously on His word in Matthew 7:7—ask and it will be given to you.

George Muller built five orphan houses and cared for 10,024 orphans during his lifetime. When children became old enough to be independent, Muller prayed with each individually, placing a Bible in their right hand and money in their left. He explained to children that if they held onto what was in their right hand, God would always make sure something was in their left.

But before Muller ever called upon God to care for others, he had to learn to trust God with his own life. When Muller first told his father he wanted to become a missionary, his father cut off funding for his college tuition. Though he felt a bit "silly," Muller fell onto his knees and asked God to support him. A professor knocked on his door within an hour, offering Muller a paid tutoring job.

This stranger convinced Muller that he no longer needed to be anxious about any of his temporal needs. "As long as I really sought to serve the Lord," Muller professed, "as long as I sought the kingdom of God and His righteousness, these my temporal wants would be added unto me."

Muller memorized and clung to Scripture:

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:13-14)

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:25-26)

After Muller graduated from missionary school, he was devastated by the orphans he encountered on the streets of England. At the time, thousands of homeless orphans either starved and froze to death or were forced into abusive labor in workhouses. Muller felt God calling him to open an orphanage. Though Muller only had two shillings (fifty cents) in his pocket, he was sure that God would provide for each specific need. And over the years, England witnessed God provide buildings, people to oversee them, furniture, food, clothing, and money.

One morning, Muller awoke to the news that the orphanage, which housed 300 children, had no food. Muller instructed the housemother to seat all the children in the dining room. He thanked God for food, and they waited for God to provide, as He always did. Within minutes, a baker knocked at the door.

"Mr. Muller," he confessed, "last night, I could not sleep. Somehow, I knew that you would need bread this morning. I got up and baked three batches for you. I will bring it in."

The next knock revealed a milkman whose cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. The milk would spoil by the time the cart was fixed, the milkman explained, so would the children like some free milk?

As the orphanages grew, God provided heat, medicine, warm clothes, and always more bread for over one hundred thousand children. One could say George Muller had a landline to Heaven. While Muller's life may seem extraordinary, the same God who showed up every day at Muller's door invites us to boldly go to Him with our daily needs.

Discussion Questions

1. Redefining Prosperity: How does the biblical definition of prosperity—"nothing missing and nothing lacking"—challenge or expand your current understanding of what it means to be blessed? What areas of your life need this kind of wholeness beyond just financial provision?
2. Solomon's Priority: Solomon asked for wisdom to lead God's people rather than wealth, long life, or victory over enemies. What does this teach us about the relationship between seeking God's purposes and receiving His provision? What would change in your life if you prioritized wisdom over wealth?
3. Prosperity and Purpose: The sermon teaches that "God will prosper you to the level of your call" and that you'll prosper according to your purpose. How does understanding your God-given purpose change the way you think about success and provision? What purpose has God revealed to you that requires His supernatural provision?
4. Soul Prosperity: According to 3 John 2, our physical and material prosperity is connected to the prosperity of our soul. What practical steps can you take this week to invest in your spiritual development? How might neglecting your soul's growth be limiting other areas of prosperity in your life?
5. George Muller's Faith: George Muller trusted God so completely that he prayed with empty plates on the table, confident that provision would come. What specific need in your life requires this level of faith right now? What's preventing you from bringing that need to God with the same bold confidence that Muller demonstrated?