Being a Christian isn’t easy, especially born-again Christians. Not easy at all! No wonder that road is narrow and the gate even narrower! The road is littered with temptations of all sorts and sizes and colours! Its not easy. Being a child of God entitles you to all the promises of God which includes both spiritual and physical blessings. Spiritual blessings like peace, eternal joy, happiness, enduring love and mercy, uncommon favour, wisdom, etc and these lead to a physical manifestation of good health, job promotions, marital blessings, fruitfulness, financial wisdom, prosperity in all forms, etc. All these blessings are available for the Christian who should do nothing else but ask God and believe that when he asks he will receive and of course to the one who is righteous and asks without asking amiss.
There are many ways to receive from He who has promised. One day a friend with no faith in Christ said,
‘Oh! Don’t mind them! Why are Christians always praying but remain poor?
’ This was passed during a conversation after the stampede incident at TB Joshua’s church which occurred some months back.
I took up a leadership position at my church and after a few months of serving it dawned upon me why many Christians face severe financial challenges despite undergoing weeks and sometimes months of fasting & praying. This realisation came after some interactions and personal experiences. As a born-again Christian, I have come to gain knowledge about a lot of things i used to be ignorant about concerning entrepreneurship, personal development, motivation etc. This knowledge didn’t come to me out of the blue sky but through listening, reading and studying resources in such areas.
Many Christians are Lazy.
Poverty will come upon the man who folds up his hands and sleeps. (Prov 20:13) Many Christians are not just physically lazy but also mentally lazy. After going to an all-night service, or a prayer meeting, once they get home all they do is sit and wait for God to miraculously drop their miracles into their eagerly opened hands. Where is the manna they ask. They say they are trusting in God but won’t get up and out of their homes to submit a CV or think of a way to start a business of some sorts. They still rely on parents or relatives to keep providing for them. They keep blaming the witches & wizards in their family line for the abject poverty they live in forgetting that they have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus nullifying any generational witchcraft if it exists. They forget that God blesses the hands of hardworking Christians and prospers them. Mental laziness is the state of being too mentally fatigued to think of ways to develop oneself in business or profit-making ventures. The mind of that person is just too tired to think of a business idea or how to be better at an already existing business. The mind isn’t challenged to be more innovative because the person thinks more of attending and spending money on funerals and other social events. For lack of knowledge my people suffer!
Lack of Initiative & Innovation
‘Ewurade Me Da Wa Se’
,
‘Shw3 Nia Nyame Aye’ ‘The Lord is My Shepherd’
‘Nyame Dea Chop Bar’
are just a few examples of names of some table-top shops/containers/kiosks in Ghana most often selling grocery items. As funny as these names are it just shows how there is lack of knowledge in Gods house in terms of how to branding your business. Too often churches focus on the congregation bringing money to the church and ignore teaching about practical business skills and knowledge. This creates a huge gap in knowing how to grow one’s business using technology, how to be a better leader or entrepreneur or the use of the internet to grow one’s business. It never ceases to amaze me when a business person at church tells me their business isn’t online. Some Christians can’t use their own initiative to do anything. Some have turned their pastors into a fetish, unless the pastor says ‘Move’, they won’t move. They run to Pastor for every single decision they have to make, ‘Pray for me, Pastor’ is often their request when they should be saying, ‘Pray with me’. They forget that the same God of the Pastor has promised to give if only they ask. Mediocrity is also killing many of God's people, an attitude of indifference towards business development, personal development and social development.
Complacency kills!
I have seen complacency first hand in the house of God and its scary. Either people are unconcerned to try to become better or are self-satisfied with the little they have thinking its enough. When programs are organised on personal finance, self-development, attendance is usually poor but organise a miracle night of deliverance and instant miracles and get ready for a jaw-dropping attendance. Whilst some Christians are working hard to develop their business others are spending valuable hours in church during working hours praying for breakthroughs.
Blame Game
This is a game many know how to play well and have even won awards year after year for. They blame everyone for their current situation and won’t stop at any opportunity to let anyone know who’s has caused their misfortune and less-fortune. Constantly blaming their father, mother, siblings, aunties and uncles releases them from facing the real issues causing the problems at hand. Sadly, many an innocent grandmother in a village somewhere has been blamed for financial misfortunes in a family when the real cause could be financial mismanagement and poor saving habits. Blaming others for one’s misfortunes is an irresponsible habit which many Christians should repent of.
I am not saying Christians shouldn't fast and pray. I fast and pray. Fasting and prayer strengthens every Christian spiritually for spiritual warfare but being a spiritual warrior doesn’t mean bread will materialise from the air unto your dinner table. Prosperity involves a lot of hard work, sowing of seeds and having a positive attitude towards life. Remember how Isaac listened to God in Genesis 26:12-13 in the midst of a severe famine? Had Isaac been a lazy complacent dude who put up his feet and waited on God to do his thing, I doubt he would have prospered as he did. The man sowed and reaped a hundredfold in one year, God saw the handwork and blessed him. Isaac prospered and prospered until he became very prosperous! Thats hard work right there! Plant the seeds of hard work and it will yield a hundredfold of harvest, plant the seeds of laziness and harvest a truckload of poverty.
