The subject of material prosperity and poverty is something that interests everybody. I am speaking only to believers! As children of God we must have the mind of Christ. We must view everything thru the eyes of Christ, as it is revealed in the Word of God. Concerning the doctrine of material prosperity there is a danger. We must avoid and reject the worldly way of preaching prosperity. We must also avoid and reject the preaching of poverty as it is done in some cults. We do not love or hate money! We love God and hate the devil! The Holy Spirit shall lead us safely into the whole truth. “We need You Holy Spirit!”

There are more ‘poor people’ in this world than the ones called ‘wealthy’. But poverty is relative. A hut in your village may be a palace in my village. Let me be more practical… There is something called ‘poverty mentality’. It is a spiritual evil stronghold in your mind. If you are ignorant about it, it will stay there in you for a lifetime. It will affect your thinking in general and the ability to make money in particular. It may have been planted in your youth. It is the devil’s seed. As a child of God, you need to discover this evil plantation, uproot it and destroy it. The Word of God has greater authority than any idea, imagination or theory in your mind! This stronghold affects the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate. It is a spiritual structure that forms a hindrance in your mind when you want to think about material prosperity in life.

These are some of the characteristics of poverty mentality type of stronghold in the mind:
*You think that money should not be spent; money should be kept in ‘fix deposit’; you hate spending money; you feel bad and guilty after spending money
*You think that the opportunities to make money are limited
*You think that taking risk to start a business is dangerous
*You think that material success is temporary and non-replicable
*Generally, you choose to stay at ‘the back of the pack’; when it comes to finances you choose to follow than to lead others into a greater level of prosperity;
*You fear that you’ll never be able to save money; that you will never make more money than you need
*You are silently jealous on others who have more money than you;
*You love being on a form of welfare plan and you do not plan to stop it; you love receiving ‘free money’ from others
*You daydream, you fantasize being rich ‘one day’, like wining the lottery; that one day ‘you hammer’ (as we say in Nigeria)
*Your mind set concerning prosperity: you are a consumer and not a creator!
*You have inferiority complex (feeling apologetic, anxious or guilty) when it comes to your finances.
*You see the world through the lenses of the poor people who hate the rich!
*You see wealth as a mysterious stranger who is mocking you from afar! For you to stay poor is easier than making money!

This is the Word of God: “A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest… then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber” (PV 6:10, 11)
In the Bible, Poverty is described as an armed robber that attacks you in the night, when you sleep! Do you love sleep? Pray about that toxic love, that you may have the courage to confront it and reject it! Sleep is a good servant but a bad, selfish master. Do not take sleeping pills! Too much sleep is a sign of sickness, depression or laziness and it will end in poverty. Do you fear armed men coming to attack you at night? The attack of poverty is worse than an EK47. Poverty is a spiritual bandit. It attacks when you sleep, when you relax too much, when you are not watchful and prayerful (ask Samson, he will tell you..) Once poverty pounces on you, it will chain your feet, your hands, your eyes and your mind. It will make you it’s prisoner, it’s servant. It will carry you to it’s smelly dungeon and steal all your dreams. It will kill the wonder of worship. It will destroy the romance of worship. You will not be able to move on in life, to make progress. Your hands will be too weak to do any work. You become easily tired, bored or restless. You will be blind to many opportunities to invest and make money. You will be foolish, fearful and confused when it comes to financial decisions. God forbid! I pray for you…

Let’s pray: “Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word of life. We thank You for the revelation of the root of this poverty mentality and bondage. We take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and we destroy every chain or stronghold binding our minds concerning God’s material blessings. Holy Spirit please take control! Open our eyes to see the freedom and the blessings (spiritual and natural) we have in Christ! We declare that the anointing of the Spirit destroys all yokes of bondage, all wrong ways of thinking! We declare that from this moment on, by the grace of God, we shall make spiritual and natural (visible) progress in life! Our testimony is to the glory of God! The waited season of change has come! We arise and shine for the glory of God is risen upon us! Thank You Father God! In Jesus’ name we pray, amen!”