Prepare to Prosper: Moving From the Land of Lack to the Land of Plenty
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Amplified Bible (AMP). Old Testament copyright © 1965, 1987 by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan. New Testament copyright © 1954, 1958, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Warner Books Edition
Copyright © 1997 by Joyce Meyer
All rights reserved.
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First eBook Edition: February 2003
ISBN: 978-0-446-55391-9
Contents
INTRODUCTION
1: SOW YOUR SEED—THEN WHAT?
2: WATER YOUR SEED
3: DON’T CURSE YOUR SEED
4: PLANT MORE SEEDS TO MEET MORE NEEDS
5: THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF WATERING YOUR SEED
SCRIPTURES THAT WILL WATER YOUR SEED
REFERENCES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INTRODUCTION
For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills;
A land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey;
A land in which you shall eat food without shortage and lack nothing in it; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
DEUTERONOMY 8:7,9
Many people believe and act upon the biblical principles of tithing and giving offerings, yet they never seem to be able to leave what I call the “land of even.” Though their basic needs are met, they feel as though they’re living from paycheck to paycheck.
The Word of God clearly teaches that God desires for us to live in the “land of plenty.” God brought the Israelites out of the land of lack, through the land of even and into the land of plenty.
It was God’s will for every one of the Israelites to live in abundance. However, the sad fact is only a handful of those who came out of Egypt actually crossed over the Jordan and lived in the land of promise—the land of plenty.
Precisely the same situation appears in every generation—a few enter into the best God has provided for them through Jesus Christ, while the majority barely get by. They struggle and struggle, seeing a better land but remaining confused as to why they cannot take up residence there.
This book focuses on one of the main reasons for that failure to “enter in.” There are a variety of roadblocks to the abundant life. But in this book, I center in on a major one about which, I believe, we all need to be encouraged.
I pray your prosperity will radically increase as a result of reading this book and applying the principles you have read.
1
SOW YOUR SEED—THEN WHAT?
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest … shall not cease.
GENESIS 8:22
Any person desiring a harvest knows he must first plant seed. Without seedtime, there can never be a harvest. This is a spiritual, as well as a natural, law. Therefore, in ministering we often teach people how to prosper in every realm through this God-established principle of sowing and reaping.
This book, however, does not focus on sowing seed, but on how to water the seed already sown. God has been showing me that many people sow without ever enjoying the harvest He would love to give them because they are not properly caring for seed sown.
Proper seed
planted in proper ground
under proper conditions
produces a prosperous harvest!
The principle I share in this book is simple, but I have sensed an urgency to put it in writing. For many people this principle may be a “missing link” to prosperity.
The Lord spoke to my heart, “Joyce, you need to have a special season of watering the seed you have sown. This is preparation for a new level of prosperity.” He quickly began placing specific Scriptures on my heart which helped me understand what He wanted me to do and why.
We are taught to sow our seed, but what comes after that? The seed requires proper care. It will grow and produce a harvest only under proper conditions.
2
WATER YOUR SEED
For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
ISAIAH 55:10,11
A careful study of the above Scripture verses reveals a biblical principle that operates in both the natural and spiritual realms. Rain and snow (water) come down and water the seeds in the earth to make it bring forth a harvest.
God’s Word operates in the same way. When it is spoken out in faith, the Word does not return void (does not return without accomplishing something), but prospers whatever it is spoken over. The Word of God spoken out in faith waters the seed. Ephesians 5:26 refers to the washing of water with the Word.
Speaking God’s Word over the financial seed we have sown will cause that seed to prosper (grow) and bring forth a harvest. Just as natural seed will not produce a harvest without being regularly watered, neither will spiritual seed.
3
DON’T CURSE YOUR SEED
At times believers may speak in agreement with what they see happening around them instead of speaking in agreement with what God has promised in the Bible. They are cursing their seed without realizing what they are doing! Continuing to speak in line with God’s promises while the seed is growing is important to bringing us out of the “land of even” into the abundant harvest.
Verses 10 and 11 of Malachi chapter 3, a chapter well-known for its teaching on tithing and giving, describe the blessings God tells Israel tithing will bring: God will rebuke the devourer for the tither’s sake! The fruit of their ground will not be destroyed and all nations will call them happy and blessed. (Vv. 11,12.) By obeying God’s directions, rather than following the world’s system, they would be blessed.
Chapter 3 also describes God’s instruction to Israel of how to be cursed! Verse 8 states that withholding tithes and offerings robs God. God addresses Israel in verse 9: You are cursed with the curse, for you are robbing Me, even this whole nation (v. 9). The Lord wanted the people to bring their tithes to the storehouse to prove Him. When they brought tithes in obedience to His system, He would pour them out a blessing so big, there would not be room to contain it.
God was trying to get the people to follow His system so that He could bless them. Instead of expressing their faith in Him through their words, Malachi says the people’s words had been strong and hard against God:
Your words have been strong and hard against Me, says the Lord. Yet you say, What have we spoken against You?
MALACHI 3:13
Malachi 3:14,15 says:
You have said, It is useless to serve God, and what profit is it if we keep His ordinances and walk gloomily and as if in mourning apparel before the Lord of hosts?
And now we consider the proud and arrogant to be happy and favored; evildoers are exalted and prospe
r; yes, and when they test God, they escape [unpunished].
I have heard people say (and I have even said this myself during times of frustration), “What good is it doing me to give all the time? Every time I turn around, we are having financial trouble. Even unbelievers seem to do better financially than I do.”
I remember a woman who worked for me being confused because her unbelieving, stingy brother always had more money than she and her husband, who were believers trying to operate in the principles of giving.
Psalm 37:1 teaches us not to fret over evildoers, nor to be envious of them. Sometimes it looks as if worldly people have more material things than those who are trying to serve God, but we are promised in the end we will inherit the earth. (v. 11.) As it is said, “It isn’t over until it’s over.”
Worldly people sometimes obtain things through means that are unacceptable according to God’s Word by compromising, cheating, people-pleasing and doing all sorts of other things that displease God.
These methods, however, produce no peace or joy. They may temporarily produce things, but the effectiveness of these methods usually does not last forever.
The child of God seems to go through a testing period—a period of doing what is right even though he doesn’t seem to be getting the right results. As he persists in faith, breakthroughs start happening. He eventually ends up with a harvest, only his harvest is accompanied by peace and joy! It has come to him by righteous means—not unrighteous ones.
What is said during these testing times is very important. Proverbs 18:21 states:
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].
To begin blurting out negative statements from emotion is extremely unfruitful. Speaking out of our emotions is not the right thing to do. Our emotions usually don’t do well in times of testing. As we mature in Christ, we learn to control both the emotions and the mouth.
You and I can speak death or life to our seed. After we give—after our seed has been planted—we should speak life to it. Water that seed with the Word of God. Don’t curse it by speaking negative things.
Speaking about our financial future or about the principles of giving in a negative way ministers death to the seed we have just planted. The result is this: it will not mature and bring forth an abundant harvest in our lives.
Speaking positively when everything seems to be going wrong is especially challenging. I can remember becoming very upset in the beginning days of our Spirit-led walk with God when Dave would tell me we needed to buy new tires or to repair the lawn mower—or, even worse, replace it!
The refrigerator would break down, or the washing machine would quit rinsing the clothes properly. It seemed as though it was always something, and Satan used it to confuse me. “We are giving!” I would say, “And I do not understand why these things keep happening.”
I had not learned the power of praise—of refusing to complain no matter what the circumstances appear to be. I had not learned to call those things that are not as if they are. (Romans 4:17.)
I spoke emotionally. I was upset, and I said things that were negative. I felt negative, so I spoke negatively! Therefore, we stayed in the land of even. We barely survived from paycheck to paycheck, needing a miracle every month to make ends meet. But, praise God, He sticks with us, and by His Spirit, He teaches us how we can be blessed.
I learned the dangers of complaining. I found 1 Corinthians 10:10 which says, Nor discontentedly complain as some of them did—and were put out of the way entirely by the destroyer (death). When the Israelites complained and murmured, snakes came into the camp and bit them. Many people died.
I don’t mean physical death will result from complaining, but I do believe there is a principle here which we need to give close attention. Complaining ministers death. It steals our joy, our peace and our progress. If people complain about what they already have, why should God give them any more to complain about? Complaining is a sign of immaturity—a sign of carnality.
Complaining is a normal function of the flesh—we may always have to resist it. But as we choose to walk in the Spirit, there is no room for it. The normal atmosphere for those walking in the Spirit is one of praise and thanksgiving.
Don’t kill your seed with your words! Water the seed you have sown by speaking life to it. Call those things that are not (the negative things you see around you) as if they are (lining up with God’s promises to you in His Word). Give God praise and thanksgiving. He will grow the seed you have sown into an abundant harvest to take you into the land of plenty!
4
PLANT MORE SEEDS TO MEET MORE NEEDS
And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation].
2 CORINTHIANS 9:8
My husband, Dave, and I have a desire to meet more needs, as I am sure you do also. You and I cannot meet more needs without a greater harvest in our lives. To have more output, we must have more income. God desires to meet our own needs abundantly and also provide enough that we may help others and meet their needs. It is time to water your seeds so that you can eventually meet more needs!
The ability to meet more and more needs occurs in levels or degrees. The Lord gives us a little to take care of and as we are faithful over it, He gives increase and allows us to be stewards over more. (See Matthew 25:23.) Matthew 25 shares a parable of the talents. A man gave three of his servants talents according to their individual abilities then traveled to a distant country. Two of the three servants invested their talents and increased. The fearful third servant hid his in the ground.
When the master returned for an accounting, he rebuked the servant who had acted in fear and gave that servant’s talent to one of the servants who had invested and increased his talents. The fearful servant lost even the one talent he had. The two who invested and increased were honored and brought into a new level of prosperity and responsibility.
Matthew 25:23 says: His master said to him, Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys.
As I look back to the place I began when I initially learned these principles, I am amazed at how far God has brought Dave and me in being blessed and being a blessing. You and I should never desire only blessing for ourselves. God spoke a promise to Abram recorded in Genesis 12:2: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others].
Actually both areas progress simultaneously. As we bless others (sow seeds), we are blessed (reap a harvest). We see clearly that the principles of seedtime and harvest do remain today.
Dave and I know the principles of sowing and reaping. We know the meaning of Acts 20:35: It is more blessed to give than to receive (KJV).
Giving brings tremendous joy into our lives. It is enjoyable to fill our minds with ways to bless others. My giving has become one of my highest priorities in life—God is first, my family is second and my giving is third.
I spent many frustrating years struggling, trying to change myself and all my circumstances. I must admit I was unhappy until I discovered the secret of joyful living—it is joyful giving! I took my mind off myself and purposely turned my thoughts to how I could be a blessing to someone else.
If you have not discovered this secret of joyful living, purposely think of ways to be a blessing to others with what God has made available to you. Follow through and become a radical giver of your time, talents, money and prayers. In fact, give your entire life to God for His service, and be determined to look for ways to bless ot
hers.
As we joyfully give, we are sowing seed that will eventually produce a harvest of blessings in every realm of our lives: spiritual, physical, financial, social and mental. Sowing seed is the basis upon which to believe God for progress.
Dave and I have been tithing since we were married in 1967. We attended a church that taught tithing, and we experienced a protection on our lives as a result of obeying the Word in this area. But we still lived in what I refer to as “the land of even.”
As we began seriously studying and practicing the Word of God, we started stepping out into new levels of giving. When God recently spoke to me saying, “I want you to have a season of watering the seed you have sown, because I want to bring you into a new level of prosperity,” I was excited. I know that God does promote people, and He does it in levels. Usually, everything does not come all at once.
I knew it was important for me to listen and grasp what He was trying to show me. You may be at the same place right now I was. God desires to promote you into new levels of prosperity, and He wants you to begin to water the seeds you have sown. God wants you to prepare to prosper!
5
THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF WATERING YOUR SEED