God Is For You — What Prosperity Actually Means
By Erik Kingsley · · Imagine Church, Pembroke Pines, FL
There is a version of God that a lot of us have been carrying around without realizing it. He is distant. He is keeping score. He is withholding something — your breakthrough, your promotion, your peace — until you get yourself together enough to deserve it.
That version of God is not in the Bible.
This past Sunday, we kicked off a new series called Prosper on Purpose, and before we could talk about what God wants for your life, we had to deal honestly with what we actually believe about Him. Because what you believe about God will either take the limits off — or keep them firmly in place.
Two Ditches, One Road
The conversation about prosperity tends to end up in one of two places, and neither of them is right.
The first ditch is the poverty mindset — the belief that God wants you broke, that struggle is more spiritual than success, that staying small is somehow more holy. This thinking sounds humble. It is not. It is a lie dressed in religious clothing.
The second ditch is the ATM God mentality — treating God like a transaction, a genie, a vending machine where you put something in and expect a Rolls Royce to come out. This thinking sounds like faith. It is not. It reduces the Father of the universe to a slot machine.
The road between them starts with one question: Who do you actually believe God is?
He Is a Father — Not a Vending Machine
God is not an ATM. He is a Father. And that distinction changes everything.
Romans 8:31–32 is the theological center of this whole conversation:
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all — how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"
Read that logic slowly. God did not hold back the most precious thing in the universe. He gave His Son. Which means every lesser withholding becomes impossible. If He gave you Jesus, what exactly is He keeping from you?
If he didn't hold back his son, he's not holding out on you.
That line landed hard on Sunday — because most of us have spent years believing the opposite. That God is somehow against us. That our record disqualifies us. That we have to get everything in order before He will be fully for us.
But Romans 5 says He decided to love you before you had anything in order. Even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He did not wait for you to clean up. He moved first.
Prosperity Is Bigger Than Money
Here is where the conversation gets reframed in a way that matters.
When the Bible talks about prosperity, it is not primarily talking about your bank account. Third John 1:2 says:
"Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul."
Spirit. Soul. Body. All of it. That is the scope of what God wants for you.
The Hebrew word is shalom — and it does not just mean peace in the passive sense. It means whole. Nothing missing. Nothing broken. That is what God has designed for your life. Not just a bigger number in your account, but a life where every dimension is intact — your health, your relationships, your mind, your sense of purpose.
You are not under a curse. You cannot be cursed when God has blessed you. They tried that in Scripture — sent prophets to curse God's people — and it did not work. You can't curse who God has blessed. And you are blessed.
He Puts It in Your Hand — Not Your Lap
This is where the message moved from theology to responsibility, and it is the part that is easiest to skip over.
Deuteronomy 8:17–18 says:
"Beware, lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth."
God gives the power. You do the work. He does not drop it in your lap — He puts it in your hand.
That idea in your head that keeps coming back? The skill you have been sitting on? The story you have been too afraid to use? The door you have been standing in front of without knocking? That might be God putting something in your hand right now.
God doesn't drop it in your lap. He puts it in your hand.
The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is in you. That is not a small thing. That is not a reason to stay seated and wait for something to fall from the sky. That is a reason to get up and move.
Blessed to Be a Blessing
Genesis 12:2 gives us the reason behind the blessing:
"I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing."
Those last four words are the whole point. So that you will be a blessing. God is not prospering you so you can hoard it. He is prospering you so it can move through you. When God can get it through you, He will get it to you.
First Timothy 6:17–18 puts it plainly — God richly provides everything to enjoy, and the response is to be rich in good works, generous, ready to share. Enjoyment and generosity are not opposites. They are the same posture toward a good Father who gives good gifts.
Three Things to Do in the Next Ninety Days
This series is not just a theological exercise. It comes with a runway. Here is what was put in front of the room on Sunday:
1. Write the vision. Habakkuk 2 says to write it down. What has God put in your heart — financially, personally, for the kingdom? If you do not have a vision yet, pray and ask for one. Then write it down.
2. Kill one lie with one sentence. Identify one thing you have been believing about God or yourself that contradicts Scripture. Write it down. Cross it out. Write Romans 8:31 over it and say it out loud every morning: God is for me and not against me. You are not trying to convince God of anything. You are just declaring what He has already said about you.
3. Do a gratitude audit. List ten things God has already provided. Not what you are waiting for — what you already have. Deuteronomy 8:10 says to eat, be full, and bless the Lord for the good land He has given you. You are already in the good land. You may just need to stop long enough to see it.
This Is a New Day
If you have been sitting in the poverty ditch — believing God is withholding, that your past disqualifies you, that people like you do not win — that ends today. Not because of a feeling, but because of what the Word actually says.
He is a good Father. He is not keeping a record against you. He gave His Son before you had anything figured out. He has given you His power. He has blessed you on purpose so that you can be a blessing on purpose.
Stop praying small prayers. Stop dreaming small dreams. The next ninety days are an invitation to believe what God has already said.
This is Week 1 of the Prosper on Purpose series at Imagine Church. Listen to the full message on the podcast or watch it on YouTube. If you want to be in the room for Week 2, doors open at 9:30 AM this Sunday.