Why I Want You To Prosper
JULIAN ADAMS • December 12, 2017
I have just returned from a trip to the United States. With my wife and two kids in tow, it was a busy trip yet a time of great reflection. Part of our time was spent in the Bible Belt where I suffered a massive culture shock. Most of my church experience has been in South Africa and Europe, where church culture and Christianity has historically been on the decline. The majority of the contexts in which I have worked have been slightly more conservative in their expression of Christianity.
The reason I was so surprised was not because of the sheer number of mega churches or the overwhelming Christian culture (certainly not all positive). Rather, I was shocked by the outrageous excess, choice and resources that are available to Christians. I have heard many of my peers on this side of the pond judge and dispose of the so-called “health, wealth and prosperity gospel.” I never understood why they were so fierce in their criticism of it but after this recent trip, I now understand and not for the reasons you may think.
You see, I have been convinced for many years that God wants us to be blessed, healthy and fully provided for. The reason I believe this is not because of my circumstances but rather His character and goodness based on the revelation of God in Christ. SO I wanted to pen down my thoughts on what I believe around prosperity.
The concept of prosperity is not a new one.
It is deeply connected with Israel’s history and is a greeting regularly used by most Hebrew-speaking people. It is the word shalom. Our english equivalent is peace. We sometimes think of peace as the absence of war, but for the Jewish worldview it was much more. Shalom embodied the blessing, peace, prosperity and wellbeing of Yaweh. Shalom was a way of life and something you were given if you obeyed the rules and regulations of Yaweh.
In the Old Testament, shalom was most exemplified in Israel’s history during David and Solomon’s rule. When there was peace being worked out in Israel, its people were prosperous. Since then, Israel longed for the day when a king like David would again conquer all their enemies and establish riches and economic freedom for everyone.
In the New Testament, Jesus established and released the shalom of God through His gracious rule and reign. Unlike in the Old Testament, shalom is not a by-product of law keeping, but rather something we are provided with by grace.
Jesus made peace and its full implications available to us because of the cross. As a result, all things – every area of society and life – are coming under His government of shalom.
Many have objected to the thought that prosperity or even healing is found in the atonement. The argument is settled for me simply in the truth that anything good we now receive is by way of the finished work of Jesus. He is making all things new.
He is making it the way he always intended it to be.
I know some of you might be thinking, “Are you saying that the measure of Christian success is determined by how healthy or wealthy you are?” If that was the case then I fail on both accounts. What I am saying is that God is good. He used a human example to demonstrate His goodness in Luke 11. ‘If you, being an evil father know how to give good gifts, how much more will your father in heaven?’
He wants us to be fully provided for. The Bible says so in Philippians 4:19, ‘And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.’ Paul says elsewhere that ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.’ This verse explicitly talks about money. Rich is rich…not just spiritually but financially in this context.
The problem is that most of us reduce these great scriptures about God’s goodness to us in the here and now.God’s kingdom, the full expression of His gracious rule and reign, has been inaugurated in the earth through the life Jesus lived, his death, his resurrection and his ascension to the right hand of God. God’s kingdom is now breaking out and is the only government in which true shalom, health, prosperity and relational wellbeing is found. The degree to which we experience this true shalom is found in a tension called ‘now and not yet’.
Now and not yet.
While the kingdom has fully come in Jesus, it is still coming through His people as God is about His great work of making all things new. One day there will be no poor among us. One day all sickness will be healed. One day all people will thrive as the fullness of His government of peace is established and swallows up this fallen world, making all things the way God has always intended. Heaven’s reality will swallow up this present age.
Until that happens, our lives are meant to be a prophetic picture of heaven on earth. The coming reality of God’s goodness and abundance should be reflected in our lives for the sake of the world. It’s not for more stuff or bigger houses. It’s for us to meet the needs of those around us. The way we reflect the goodness of God in our generosity is an opportunity for people to encounter Him and His kingdom through us. This goes beyond any sowing and reaping principle. To be generous with all we have is a direct revelation of the nature of God. Connected to that generosity is a complete confidence in God’s ability to provide. I give because my giving is not connected to my resource but to a deep revelation that God is good. I don’t give simply out of what I have but in obedience to his leading. This has meant emptying my bank account a few times.
Many people have been offended by what they see as ‘excess’ in both my ability to receive blessing and my desire to bless others. People get upset that I’m often upgraded on flights or even have people pay for me to fly business class. Both seem extravagant and reckless in nature, especially when you believe that true Christianity is only expressed through poverty and piety. Yet this extravagance is exactly what God is like. I love it when He embarrasses me with His goodness. I love it because I get to partner with Him in blessing others.
Prosperity only makes sense in the context of Kingdom life.
The government of heaven comes with a different economy. It’s an economy not based on capitalism or socialism. It’s based on extravagance. The kind of extravagance where gold is something you walk on and precious stones are what you build your gates with. In the Kingdom economy there is enough for everyone. No striving. No works. More than enough. It requires the simplicity of receiving. But here’s the deal about Kingdom living: it requires you to give it all away.
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty,
nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God,
who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
Notice Paul does not despise wealth, he simply redefines our view of it. Many of us read this (particularly in the Western context) and dismiss this text for those we deem as rich. The truth is that if you do not have to worry about your next meal, you are VERY rich. Paul goes on to say:
They are to do good, to be rich in good works,
to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for
themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they
may take hold of that which is truly life.
The ultimate goal of kingdom prosperity is not some ‘name it and claim it’ mantra of blessing. Rather, it’s a re-orientation of God’s people becoming the solution to the world’s depravity and being a prophetic community that answers the deep spiritual needs and practical realities that many people face. It’s about enjoying God’s bounty and giving it away without agenda. It begins with being generous with what you already have. The church in the West must learn to be a blessing and not just receive blessing. You will not give when you have more stuff until your learn to give what you have now.
My greatest lesson in generosity has come from my mother. She lives a life of giving away much. When I was a child it was not uncommon for us to see our ‘stuff’ sown into other people’s lives. Yet even in the midst of poverty, not once have I seen my family go without or be in lack. The impact of her giving will speak for many years to come.
I’ve learned how to give when it seems like I have nothing.
I have often been offended by mega preachers asking the poor for money. I am so glad that God is bigger than that. You see, I get to work among some very poor people, and have seen that the principle of generosity as the foundation of true prosperity works in the worst situations! I have noticed how living a generous life even in poverty begins to unlock Kingdom activity and provision, which begins to have a generational impact as whole families begin to walk out of poverty and into abundance. It may take years but it works. It just works.
People have often accused me of having an over-realised eschatology, or that that I want too much of heaven now. I am guilty as charged! I want as much of it as I can get to provoke others to jealousy for the kingdom themselves! Ultimately, the issue of blessing and abundance on earth is actually an issue of worship. People will either worship the stuff they have, or allow the stuff they have to be a platform for worship. Irrespective of what I have, I am learning to be content in who I have. I have Him. He is my exceedingly great reward.
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him
Psalm 67
This post was originally published on JulianAdams.me
If you want to grow in the prophetic, it doesn’t begin with what you say. It begins with what you see. The prophetic is rooted in perception. Not just natural insight, but spiritual awareness—what Scripture calls “the eyes of your heart.” Paul prayed that the church in Ephesus would have their hearts enlightened so they could truly see what God was doing. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you…” (Ephesians 1:18) God isn’t distant or withholding. But if we’re going to hear Him clearly, we have to see differently. We need Heaven’s perspective. And that means learning to quiet the noise, tune into His voice, and let Him train our inner vision. You don’t need to wait for a dramatic vision or audible voice. Often, God speaks through a nudge. A mental picture. A scripture that lingers. A sense of burden or joy that feels holy. These are the first signs that your spiritual eyesight is awakening. But it takes time. It takes attention. It takes trust. Just like physical muscles grow with use, your spiritual senses grow as you spend time with Him—not just talking, but listening. Not just asking for answers, but asking for His perspective. You were never meant to live according to what the world says is true. You were meant to live by every word that flows from the mouth of God. A Prayer for This Week: “Lord, open the eyes of my heart. Teach me to see what You see—not just in others, but in myself, in my circumstances, in the world around me. Give me clarity and confidence to trust Your perspective more than my own. Amen.” This week, pay attention to what you notice. The way you see is often the way He speaks.
In this live session, Sean Smith and Julian Adams share their prophetic perspectives on 2025, offering honest reflections on what they sense God is doing across the earth. With hope and expectancy, they discuss the spiritual landscape ahead and how we can prepare for what’s to come.
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