You can deduce how poor and broke a nation or her people are with their type of prayer petitions;
By Onyii Njoku
Money is good and very important as well, It’s used to solve problems. According to the bible, money answered all things-Ecclesiastes 10:19. Material riches are enjoyable; There is sincerely no dignity in poverty.
The prosperity doctrine became a trend after Pentecostal denomination brought it to limelight. Contrarily, this has massively promoted materialism which encourages consumerism and now we have extreme secularism on our hands as a generation. See below what I think about this doctrine;
(1) You can deduce how poor and broke a nation or her people are with their type of prayer petitions; visa, jobs, house, car, money, food and then let my enemies be killed.
So one day I was enjoying this recorded live performance of a worship song by a popular Nigerian gospel artist until he asked the audience to bring out their ATM cards and wave in the air so they will receive strange bank alerts.
Since that day I find it difficult to listen to his songs again, that’s sheer extremism and preposterous. I consider this is a ploy to mislead a generation and an attempt to promote laziness or get rich quick ideology.
(2) Prosperity evangelism is a product of poverty or a history of it. Any generation that experiences poverty never recovers from it till they exit the earth; this is pretty much the cause of our primitive acquisitive tendencies especially our elites, politicians, people in positions of power or influence. Poverty makes a god out of money; It has made everyone a predator and even illicit wealth brandished as blessing from God.
(3) This brand of gospel has equally “transactionalized” our relationship with God and the true message of Christianity which is love and salvation relegated.
Folks basically go to worship centers or give in church because of what they will get from God or the promise of the divinatory heaven isn’t it?
(4) Don’t let anyone cajole you to always donate as an investment to become rich, the richest people in the world are not even Christians while the most prosperous nations are largely irreligious. If you must donate, give cheerfully instead for God loves a cheerful giver-2 Corinthians 9:6-8.
Recollect that in October of 2021, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission (NIDC) feedback from available data reported that 99.4% of Nigerians have less than N500,000 in their account. So where is the prosperity?
(5) It is a no brainer that there are only 3 ways to make money and maybe become rich over time; Job, selling of goods, offering a service, then managing the income to grow into wealth. In other words there is a process in this whole matrix right?
Before you get emotional remember that Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world and is home to one of the worst infrastructure on earth with all our prosperity propagation.
If you like stay in church and shout “I receive it” from year to year without these things mentioned, money will elude you. Only one person will be on the receiving side and you know who; the business owner.
Learn a skill or vacation, create a product or service and let the prayer be a surplus age. He is a God of principles which is why He makes the sun shine and rain to fall on both the just and unjust, the good and the evil- Mathew 5;45. If you have ever wondered why supposed unbelievers make the most money on earth, here is your answer. Our posterity conjectures in the real sense of it sabotages God’s theory because the Nigerian outcome is an experience that clearly signifies a null hypothesis in the relationship between prosperity teachings and actual prosperity.
(6) Very few People by dint of luck or time and chance have actually become rich over night but they usually mismanage and lose the money because they were not prepared or lacked the skill of money management. The flip side however is that those people you call overnight success could just be people you underrated but who were busy cooking something discreetly that just manifested isn’t it? Don’t plan with luck, it’s dangerous, get prepared for time and chance instead.
(7)Wealth/money has its own issues as well and does not guarantee happiness. Ask the wealthy people; so many times they have problems money can’t solve. Prosperity is not just about material wealth but other factors of life that creates joy and fulfillment; Joy, Health, relationships, emotional and mental health, focus, lifestyle regulation etc.
(8)When this money finally comes, your true self will show up and all those escapades, temptations and wild desires of yours can now be easily funded. This is the point in your life where you also become very careful because the money may even destroy you. That your supposed humility will now truly be tested.
There is likely to be massive negative shift in your values, tolerance and this sometimes can be quite unpleasant to the people in your space.
(9)You will never have enough money, greed and uncertainty definitely will creep in while you continue to also shift the goal post of your wants that you will never stop and sometimes you wonder if it’s a curse.
(10) The wealth you have does not belong to you, you are only a custodian while alive and as such will be transferred to others through a natural law of wealth redistribution which sometimes can happen even while you are alive. This point will guide you to remain calm, humble, unassuming and less attached to material wealth.
Conclusion, hustle hard, work smart, live the moment and manage your fulfillment. Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich, be wise enough to know when to quit, Proverbs 23;4
Go to God for salvation and learn how to love your neighbors then let material gains be the derivative you get by networking in the church community, Don’t put the cart before the horse.
Onyii Njoku
02/10/2023
