Poverty - Identifying the Orphan Spirit Day 3

Day 3 - Spirit of Poverty

Read: Matthew 6:19-34

The spirit of poverty is one that stirs up division, offense and confusion, leaving many with more questions than answers.  Two extremes call out to us – the prosperity message…and those against it.   Let’s consider the possibility of finding a balance somewhere between the two.

The enemy uses the Spirit of Poverty to keep Believers from accessing all that is available to them from their Abba Father.  He convinces the Body of Christ that there isn’t enough and never will be enough.  The fear of lack keeps the Orphan Spirit clinging to everything they can – essentially filling their lives with that which has little value. 

Living with a wealth mindset brings Believers to a place of complete trust in their Abba Father – no matter what how many zeroes are in the checkbook.

For example, Abraham was a wealthy man, yet willingly gave up all he had in order to follow God’s calling in his life.  His decision to follow God cost Abraham his home, his family, his comfort – even his name.

Western Christianity has reached a level of comfort and security that does not require much faith.  If Plan A doesn’t work out – we can always rely on Plan B.  Our self-reliance has taken us from a place of trust in our Father to trusting in ourselves.  The lie hidden within this concept is that we need to reach a place of being in control of our life situations, but the truth is that in our sub-consciousness, we know how weak and frail we are – we know our limitations… so while we enjoy the idea of being in control, this also takes us to a place of fear, worry and doubt as we consider what will happen when we reach the end of our resources, strength and abilities.

Ask yourself:

§  How is the spirit of poverty affecting my life?

§  Do I fear not having enough?

§  When things go wrong, how likely am I to blame others for my situation? 

§  Do I believe that God values me?

§  Do I value myself enough to not live with a poverty mindset in my:

ž   relationships

ž   home

ž   health

ž   finances

For Day 4, read Chapter 4 of All the King's Orphans and Week 4 of the correlating Study Guide.

Start from the beginning:

Day 1 - Intro

Day 2 - Jealousy