This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, Five Principles of Prosperity.
God takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servants. Psalm 1 speaks of the man who is “like a tree planted by the rivers of water,” and ends with a promise: “Whatever he does shall prosper.” Our problem is that we don’t understand what real prosperity is—God’s hand upon you, helping you do the things He wants you to.
Abraham was the father of the Jewish nation. In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his most trusted servant, Eliezer, to find a bride for his son Isaac. God prospered Eliezer, and in that we can find five principles of prosperity.
You have got to have a God-given goal for your life.
“Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, ‘Please, put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac’” (Genesis 24:1-4).
Clearly, Eliezer had a cause, a mandate. Do you? Or are you just drawing your breath and your salary?
Most people could not write down what God has called them to do. Rather than being specific, they live a wandering generality, like a ship at sea on a dark night without a rudder, chart, or compass.
One definition of failure is succeeding in the wrong thing. George MacDonald said, “In whatever man does without God, he must fail miserably—or succeed more miserably.”
You need goals for every area of your life—not just physical, financial, or spiritual goals. Your entire life needs to be in balance.
If you get where you’re going, where will you be? Are the things you’re living for worth Jesus dying for?
Diagnose your problems. Eliezer knew what his cause was, and then he had to see where he was. “And the servant said to him, ‘Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came’” (Genesis 24:5)?
It is not enough to establish your cause. Ask yourself, What is standing between me and that cause? Roadblocks do not mean that God is not with you. Your ability to meet and solve problems constitutes your job. Planning is not unspiritual; God planned our redemption before He made the world. The Lord said, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it” (Luke 14:28).
To fail to plan is to plan to fail.
Get a promise from the Word of God. Abraham told Eliezer, “The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there” (Genesis 24:7).
To encourage your confidence, saturate your soul with Scripture. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8). Wait before God until you get a promise, and let it come out of the Word of God.
In the right sense, you need to ask, “What’s in it for me? Why am I doing this?” Real motivation comes from proper motives. What was Eliezer’s reward? 1) His master Abraham would be pleased, 2) there would be a bride for Isaac, 3) God would be glorified, and therefore, 4) Eliezer could have joy. It is not wrong to serve for reward if your reward is to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (See Matthew 25:21, 23.)
“Then [Eliezer] said, ‘O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham’” (Genesis 24:12). When you pray, the Spirit of God comes into you to encourage, motivate, and drive you, so that you are not doing it alone.
You are not going to drift into success. Eliezer disciplined his life.
When you examine your condition, some of the obstacles may be coming from some lack of discipline in your character.
Eliezer knew this was not a one-man show. He had to get Rebekah’s father, mother, and brothers to cooperate.
God makes us dependent on one another; that is the reason we have churches. Ask yourself, Am I a cooperative person? Have I learned to enlist others, to depend upon others, to delegate? A single snowflake isn’t much, but enough of them together can stop traffic.
Abraham did not send Eliezer off to get the job done without equipping him with gifts. (See Genesis 24:10, 53.) God the Father has given every one of us spiritual gifts—tools, not toys. Everything God has given us is to be used for the glory of God the Father, and we must give as we’ve been blessed.
Success is the progressive realization of the will of God for your life. Sooner than you think, you will stand before God, and then you will find out whether or not you’ve been prosperous.
