Prosperity

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. - 3 John 1v2

Sometimes we can get the impression that God is somehow against any prosperity other than spiritual prosperity. The Bible spends a lot of time talking about the dangers of wealth. It also talks a lot about being content where we are and how our joy and contentment is not contingent on our material prosperity. It teaches that we can be joyful and happy and blessed as we focus on our souls prosperity and living for God no matter what the circumstances.

Here we find John however praying that his readers would ‘prosper in all things and be healthy.’ It is obvious that although the key aspect of our lives is that our souls prosper. John knew that his readers had that sorted. That is what is truly vital. We need to make sure that our soul’s prosperity comes first. We need to make sure that we are not focused on the things that we can see, but on the invisible. We need to have our priorities right.

With that in mind we can return to John’s prayer. I think he gives an example here about a proper prayer. Our prayers for each other should include all aspects of our lives. We clearly can pray for good health, but we can and should also being praying for each other’s prosperity in their endeavours in this life.