Word of Faith adherents claim that it is God’s desire for all men and women to be healthy and wealthy. They deceive people with a false “prosperity gospel” that claims that one can simply speak their desires into reality in the same way God spoke the heavens and earth into existence. They ask only that one “sow a seed” (code for send money) into their ministry to help guarantee success in getting what they want and deserve.
The Prosperity Gospel
The prosperity gospel is about praying for things like a new car, a new house, or a big bank account. But that type of thinking turns God into nothing more than a cosmic vending machine… insert a coin, pull the knob, and the blessing is supposed to fall out. The prosperity gospel is about not trusting God for one’s needs but attempting to manipulate Him for financial gain.
Like socialism, the prosperity gospel is rooted in greed and envy.
There is nothing new about this particular lie of the devil…
The book of Matthew details the account of Satan tempting Jesus… the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” (Matt 4:8-9 NASB)
That’s what it amounts to… If one worships the things of this world, health and wealth, they are not worshiping the one true God, but the things of Satan himself.
Satan has never changed his strategy of deceit since his first encounter with Eve in the garden. He is the father of lies. Satan’s deceptions have infiltrated all aspects of daily life… government, schools, the media, entertainment, and even many churches.
Blessings In No Time
There seems to be no shortage of charlatans who will happily prey on the vulnerable to fill their pockets in the name of God. In my book, Deceived No More, I tell the story of “Blessings In No Time”. The pyramid scheme was sold as a “godly”, all-Black, socially conscious gifting community. Beginning in August of 2020, Marlon & Lashonda Moore used deceit and celebrity connections to scam over eight thousand people out of more than 40 million dollars. The couple, who appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Network’s reality show Family or Fiancé, used deception to entice victims to place their “faith” in an illegal pyramid scheme. The scam began in August 2020, when COVID-19 had already killed thousands of people nationwide.
The Prosper, Texas couple (you can’t make this stuff up) promised to “bless” and assist needy members of the African American community with an eight-fold return if they placed an initial “investment” of approximately $1,400 and recruited other people to join groups they called “fires.” In June of 2021, the Attorney General of Texas instituted legal action against the couple.
False Teachers
One sure sign of a Word of Faith teacher is an emphasis on health and wealth over true repentance and a relationship with Jesus Christ. Many popular Word of Faith/Prosperity teachers claim that as a “Christian,” you can have the personal power to make things be what you want them to be. And they do it in the name of Jesus. It is a lie from the pit of hell… and these false teachers get filthy rich doing it.