When we speak of prosperity, we are not speaking of just natural, tangible blessings, but we are speaking of spiritual blessings as well. And to be able to live in the full abundant and overflowing blessings, one must walk in obedience. This is the key to living a blessed life. 

We all have heard the passage of scripture that says, 


"For obedience is better than sacrifices," ~1 Samuel 15:22

Why is obedience so much better than sacrifice? In the passage of scripture Saul had heard the word of the Lord, but thought he had a better idea. God instructed him to destroy the Amalekites completely, taking no spoils from the war, but instead Saul spared the best of the sheep and cattle “to sacrifice to the Lord.” This might seem like a noble gesture on Saul’s part, wanting to sacrifice to the Lord… so why does Samuel make such a big deal out of this? 

Sacrifice in this sense is actually an attempt to gain independence from God. Sometimes we feel like Saul, if we sacrifice for him, than we have put him in our debt. If we sacrifice for God, he owes us something (so we think). Sacrifice is a way of “buying” whatever we want to get from God (protection, deliverance, provision, favor), while at the same time remaining independent from him.

“God, look at all I’ve done for you! You owe me this, it’s only fair!” we say. We demand our goodies from God, but we retain our right to do what we want with our lives. We just need to make sure we throw a few sacrifices God’s way every once in a while to keep him at bay. This is the attitude of sacrifice that Saul personified.

We get so wrapped up in the sacrifice that we forget the purpose of giving and why we are doing it. As we give (sacrifice) we are not looking to God to owe us anything. We are sacrificing to show our obedient love. Obedience, is the response of someone who is in a relationship of trust with God. We trust God, we depend on him, we are interactive with Him, He takes the lead. Obedience is better than sacrifice because we are letting God be God and staying in our proper place with him, the place of dependence and surrender to his goodness. This kind of obedience (as a response to divine love) always leads to intimacy and dependence. Let's pray today that your will be broken so that you can live in obedience to the Almighty as your prosperity, blessings, freedom, and favor is found not in your sacrifice but in your obedience. 

Throughout the Bible, we see that God has a lot to say about finances. God wanted to be involved with Abraham's finances, and He wants to be involved in yours. There are some fundamental principles associated with Abraham's prosperity:

~"And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in   gold." Genesis 13:2
~"He listened to, and obeyed God". Genesis 12:1-4
~"He honored God, who prospered him." Genesis 12:7
~"He was generous, and avoided strife." Genesis 13:5-9
~"He was compassionate toward others." Genesis 18:24-33

As you can see Abraham was prosperous, generous, compassionate, peaceful and obedient. And because he possessed these attributes God blessed him and future generations. If you want God to be involved in your finances and prosper you as Abraham, you must honor these basic principles. You cannot be greedy and truly prosper. There is nothing wrong with wanting to have abundance for yourself and your family, but giving to God and being generous to others is part of the spiritual law. 

However, most Christians are defeated in their finances, living paycheck to paycheck, not living in the overflowing abundant blessings and prosperity that we inherited as believers,  looking to the world as the standard and gauge for wealth and prosperity. And we are defeated because we believe and confess the words of the enemy that we will never have anything, that we will never amount to anything, and that we will always have just enough. These words have us in bondage, shackled and chained. God has given us His Word so that we can understand these spiritual laws. When you speak negatively about your financial situation, you have what you say and believe. Words are powerful, but God word is full of creative POWER. When you agree with what God has said about you and your prosperity, speaking His Word, your circumstances will begin to change and the chains will be broken over finances! You can have what you say and believe. With your words you speak life or death, poverty or riches, sickness or health. You may tithe 10%, work hard, and pray for prosperity every day, but if your words are negative and contrary to God's Word, you could stay in debt, struggling to make ends meet.  When you work with these laws, they work for you. When you work against God's spiritual laws, they work against you. Let's pray today that you begin to work with these spiritual laws so that you can live in prosperity. Speak PROSPERITY!