Kenneth Copeland - The laws of prosperity

The Laws of Prosperity

Contents

Introduction

The Laws of Prosperity

The Established Covenant and

the Established Heart

Your Heavenly Account

Walking in Prosperity

Introduction

God first began dealing with me about the laws that govern prosperity in 1967. I was conducting a series of meetings in a very small church in a very small town in the Texas panhandle.

For years I had entertained the idea that success was not an accident, that luck has nothing to do with it. I had read books of different kinds on this idea but had not found any answers that satisfied me. It didnt occur to me that the Bible was written by the most successful individual aliveGod!

In those early days of following the Lords teaching, it seemed that He was very hard on me. I could see no reason for Him to be so strict. Of course, I had no idea then that, in less than 10 years, prime interest rates would soar to heights as never before. Who could dream that the fuel shortage, food shortage, paper shortage, etc., would come storming their way into our lives.

When Gloria and I first began to put the things we were learning into practice, we had nothing around us but problems.

I had returned to college at the age of 30 and from there God called us into a full-time ministry in His service. We were deeply in debt and lived in surroundings that were very poor. The job God called me to do required that I travel extensively preaching and teaching His Word, but our car was completely worn out.

We had no clothes. I had lost 75 pounds and, obviously, none of my clothes fit. The trousers on some of my suits had been altered so many times that, instead of two back pockets, it looked like one big pocket! I could go on and on about our situation, but its easy to see that we had less than nothing. We were thousands of dollars in debt.

God used His Word to set the standards by which we would operate. It had to be by faith or not at all. We made commitments that seemed so hard. We declared that we would never ask any man for anything including money and places to minister. We pledged ourselves and this ministry to Romans 13:8, that we would never borrow one cent. We would tell our needs only to God and expect what He was teaching us to produce.

Little did we know then what a blessing these standards would be. We learned, many times the hard way. We prayed. We confessed our faith. We stood on Gods Word when every circumstance spelled absolute doom. Gods Word worked! Things began to happen for us instead of to us. We began to grow. In 11 months, we were free from debt. Unless you have experienced the freedom of being debt-free, you cannot imagine how great it is not to have any man putting pressure on you. We know what Hebrews 4:11 means when it says, labour therefore to enter into that rest. There is peace and rest when you know how to operate in Gods laws instead of being forced to seek help from mens sources.

God always has more than enough. The rise in interest rates has not affected our ministry. The rise in medical costs has not affected us. We have learned to receive our healing from God.

The worlds shortages have no effect on someone who has already gone to heaven. Therefore, they should have no effect on us here who have made Jesus the Lord of our lives.

Philippians 4:19 says that our needs are to be met according to His riches in glory, not our shortages in earth. Our problem has been in not knowing heavens ways of doing things. We have tried to live in Gods blessings with the worlds laws. It wont work. We receive from God by using His laws and ways.

In the book you are about to read, I have shared these laws of prosperity the way they were given to me from Gods Word. They are not theories; they are facts. We have tried and proven each one in our lives! We live this way. My invitation to you is from Malachi 3:10. God Himself says, Prove me now herewithif 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. Determine now to act on Gods Word and start looking for more room!

Chapter One

The Laws of Prosperity

As we begin this study of prosperity and how it functions according to the Word of God, lets read the basic scriptures on which our whole study is founded. Let me mention here that we are putting the Word of God first and foremost throughout this study, not what we think it says, but what it actually says!

When we see it in the Word, believe it, and begin to act on it, faith is created. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

As you read our basic scripture text, remember Jesus said in John 17:17, Thy word is truth. For a clearer meaning substitute the Word for truth as follows: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testi-fied of the truth [the Word] that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth [the Word]. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth [the Word] (3 John 2-4).

It would be good to point out that when the Apostle John wrote this Epistle, he was an old man and had been in the Christian walk for a long, long timein fact, from the time of his youth. He had walked with Jesus and watched Him closely throughout His earthly ministry. John was a wise old man, strong in the Lord, and he said, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health.

Through our traditional ideas, we have been lead to believe that prosperity is bad or ungodly. However, John writes that we should prosper and be healthy and then it says in verse 11, Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good.

He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. If prosperity is evil, why would He want us to prosper? You see, there is nothing wrong with prosperity in itself.

Money is not the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil (see 1 Timothy 6:10), and there are people committing this sin who dont have a dime! I want you to realize, however, that prosperity covers much more than finances.

When John said we should prosper and be in health, he added the phrase, Even as thy soul prospereth. Man is a spirit; he has a soul consisting of the mind, the will and the emotions; and he lives in a body. Thus, there is spiritual prosperity; there is mental prosperity; and there is physical prosperity.

To prosper spiritually, you must be born again. When you accept Jesus as your Savior and make Him the Lord of your life, your spirit is reborn and brought into fellowship with the Father, the Almighty God. This then puts you in a position to receive from Him all the things promised in His Word.

To prosper in your soul, you must be able to control your mind, your will and your emotions. Just because you have accumulated large amounts of knowledge does not mean that your mind is prosperous. Prosperity of the mind comes when you use the knowledge that has been accumulatedwhen you are controlling your mind instead of your mind controlling you.

Second Corinthians 10:5 says we are to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (or against the Word of God), bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. The person who does this has control of his mind and is in position to prosper mentally.

You cannot control your mind completely without the Word of God being alive and operating inside you.

You must control your will in the same way. Some people say, Lord, help my will to crumble. God doesnt want a broken will that He can dominate. He wants your will whole and in submission to His will so that the two of you can work together in unity. When God made man, He gave him a will that has power. It is actually a godlike will because man has the right to choose his own eternal destiny. Only a god has that kind of choice! Man was made in Gods image and given the will to make up his own mind. You can go to hell if you want to and God will protect your rightyou dont have to, but you can. On the other hand, you can choose Jesus Christ and the Word of God. In Deuteronomy 30:19, God said, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. What a privilege! The choice is yours!