To live a prosperous life, your soul must prosper in all the
truth of the Word. God’s power is in direct relationship with
His Word. He has used His Word to release His power. He has
sent His Word to us so that we may be in contact with His great
power. Isaiah was quoting God Himself when he wrote, “So
shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
His power covers the entire spectrum of human existence—so
also then does His Word. We can see it in scriptures such as
Hebrews 1:3 that says He is upholding ALL things by the Word
of His power and Hebrews 4:12-13 that the Word is a living
thing which covers spirit, soul, body and thought life. It even
goes so far as to say that nothing in the earth is hidden from the
Word of God.

Your faith is in direct relation to the level of the Word in
you. Get your Word level up so that you can believe spiritually,
mentally, physically, financially and socially. Thus you will be in
the position to handle any problem that comes your way
according to the Word of God. You may not have the answer,
but God has! Getting through to you is His only difficulty! God
always knows the answer, but we are not always in a position to
hear what He is saying.

If you know how to use God’s ability to receive healing and
never use it to help anyone but yourself, then it won’t work for
you very long. If you can believe God for healing, help someone
else get healed. Spread it around! If you know how to
believe God financially, start helping the people around you.
You will begin to grow as you reach out to others.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

As we begin this study of prosperity and how it functions
according to the Word of God, let’s read the basic scriptures on
which our whole study is founded. Let me mention here that
we are putting the Word of God first and foremost throughout
this study, not what we think it says, but what it actually says!
When we see it in the Word, believe it, and begin to act on it,
faith is created. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God” (Romans 10:17).

As you read our basic scripture text, remember Jesus said in
John 17:17, “Thy word is truth.” For a clearer meaning substitute
the Word for truth as follows: “Beloved, I wish above all
things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul
prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified
of the truth [the Word] that is in thee, even as thou walkest
in the truth [the Word]. I have no greater joy than to hear that my
children walk in truth [the Word]” (3 John 2-4).

It would be good to point out that when the Apostle John
wrote this epistle, he was an old man and had been in the
Christian walk for a long, long time—in fact, from the time of
his youth. He had walked with Jesus and watched Him closely
throughout His earthly ministry. John was a wise old man,
strong in the Lord, and he said, “I wish above all things that you
prosper and be in health.”

Through our traditional ideas, we have been lead to believe
that prosperity is bad or ungodly. However, John writes that
we should prosper and be in health and then it says in verse 11,
“Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He
that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen
God.” If prosperity is evil, why would He want us to prosper?
You see, there is nothing wrong with prosperity in itself. Money
is not the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil
(see 1 Timothy 6:10), and there are people committing this sin
who don’t have a dime! I want you to realize, however, that
prosperity covers much more than finances.

When John said we should prosper and be in health, he
added the phrase, “Even as thy soul prospereth.” Man is a spirit;
he has a soul consisting of the mind, the will and the emotions;
and he lives in a body. Thus, there is spiritual prosperity; there
is mental prosperity; and there is physical prosperity.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries