An Overlooked Key to Financial Success

I find the abundance of online videos claiming to hold the secret or shortcut to financial riches both comical and frustrating.

It's comical because most of the time, the information shared is obviously far-fetched and unlikely to lead to financial success.  On the other hand, it's frustrating because the individuals who fall for such misleading information are often facing financial difficulties and desperately searching for a solution.  

I can relate to this because I was once in their shoes, falling for those time-wasting schemes.

However, as I have grown in my walk with the Lord, I have learned better and discovered that there are "Kingdom Keys" to financial success that genuinely put you on the path to prosperity.  Let's examine 2 Chronicles 26:5-8 in the AMPC version. It describes King Uzziah, stating, "He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the things of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.  He went out against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, and built cities near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. And God helped him against the Philistines, and the Arabs who dwelt in Gur-baal and Meunim.  The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread abroad even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong."

Here, we observe that King Uzziah "set himself" to seek God. No one else could do this for him.  It was a decision he, as a busy king, had to commit to.

The term "set" implies putting something in its proper place.  He positioned himself in the place of seeking God. The scripture goes on to say that as long as he sought, inquired of, and yearned for the Lord, God made him prosper.

Who brought him prosperity? It was God.  

This is the essence of kingdom prosperity.  The passage continues to mention that the Ammonites paid tribute (money) to him, and he became famous and strong.  King Uzziah's pursuit of God resulted in favor, finances, fame, and strength.

However, in 2 Chronicles 26:16 AMPC, we read,"But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall".

What could have opened the door to this pride and downfall? The scripture is clear in verse 5 that as long as he sought God, God made him prosper.  He must have ceased seeking God; otherwise, he would have continued to prosper.  

His prosperity was contingent upon his ongoing pursuit.  It is vital that we never allow anything to replace our personal prayer time and Bible reading.  

The more success and favor we attain, and the more doors and opportunities (clients, customers, etc.) come our way, the more tempting it becomes to skip prayer.  The Secret Place is our Success Place as citizens of the Kingdom of God.  When we spend time with God in secret, He, in turn, spends time with us publicly working on our behalf as we go about our day.

Jesus serves as our perfect example.  We see Him consistently withdrawing from the crowd to be alone with His Heavenly Father.  He understood that the key to success in His Father's business was to maintain His place in prayer.  He didn't always cut His days short to find solitude for prayer.  Sometimes He worked late into the night, engaged in Kingdom Business, and then woke up "a great while before day" (Mark 1:35) to spend time with His Heavenly Father.  Undoubtedly, He believed in hard work and was diligent in His endeavors.  However, He recognized that hard work alone would not accomplish the task to the level desired by God.  Jesus did whatever it took to "set Himself to seek God."

So, let us emulate Jesus.  Let us set ourselves to seek God through daily prayer and study of the Word, and then give God something to prosper by being diligent in our work.  As long as we seek God, He will make us prosper.

Author: Jason Manning