If Africa is to break the claws of poverty, all our churches, cultural and community centres, must begin to teach and educate the people on the laws of money and the principles of economic empowerment. Our churches must be reoriented. We must begin to tell the people to not just come to church on Sundays to pray to God, but that after Sunday they have a place to come to on Fridays and Saturdays to learn the laws of productivity and other basic skills that will help them put food on the table for their families.

If we could get every church, cultural and community centre in Africa to begin to teach skill acquisition, economic empowerment, process of production, and other laws of money, only then would we be able to liberate our land and continent. It is for this purpose that I put all the laws and principles of making and multiplying money that I have learned over the years in the form of a book called “MONEY WON’T MAKE YOU RICH.” My goal is to liberate 40 million people from the grip of poverty in Africa and beyond.

Why money won’t come

I therefore wish in this article to make a mention of some laws that are responsible for wealth and prosperity. Unfortunately, we have been fed for so long with the wrong food when it comes to money. For example, after I newly became a born again Christian, the impression that I had was that I only needed to be good, in particular, to be a good Christian to prosper. The impression in Christianity was that if you could serve God with all your heart, God was going to prosper you.

Unfortunately, too many people are still believing in this theory and are writhing in poverty. It was not until much later in life that I discovered that it is actually the knowledge of the laws of money that is responsible for wealth. That is to say: You don’t become wealthy because you are a good person. Otherwise, where are all the good people world over: are they all wealthy?

As a matter of fact, in most societies, most of the wealthy people are not the best people. I have actually heard many people complain: why are bad people the only ones that have all the money? Some have even alleged that it is counterproductive to be good, because then you will be poor. The truth however is that money doesn’t come to either good or bad people. Money only comes to people who know the laws of money – whether they are good or bad. In that sense we could say money is neutral.

Money doesn’t come to you because you do business. If that were true, how many business men do you know around you? Are they all filthy rich? No! Many people who do business are not even aware of these laws of money. To me it is indeed pathetic that many people who have been involved in business for few decades cannot even boast of a million US dollars. This is primarily because they are labouring without the necessary knowledge of the vital laws of money.

You don’t become rich because you are a Christian. Even though God promises Christians wealth and prosperity, that is only on the condition that they abide by the laws of money. The Bible says that God gives us power to make wealth. Notice that God doesn’t give wealth, He gives the power to get it. Unfortunately, many Christians are still hoping and waiting that because they are Christians, God is obliged to give them wealth. No, Sir; God gives you the skills that enable you to get wealth. He doesn’t give wealth; He gives you the power to go get wealth.

“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. — Deut. 8:18

Unfortunately, many teachers have led the body of Christ astray by teaching that if Christians would give, that will bring prosperity to them. Some even go to the extent of saying that the more you give the more prosperous you become. Well, experience and reality has shown that that doctrine is not totally true. Some have given and out-given themselves, leading them to poverty and wretchedness rather than prosperity and abundance. Regrettably, the scripture upon which this principle has been based is Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.””

That scripture was actually talking about judgment. It says we should not judge people, because if we do we get several folds of the judgment we are giving out ourselves. Many have now made it to look like it is talking about money. Even though there might be some truth in that principle, but when it comes to money, you don’t just give and give hoping to prosper.

Other Christians, sad enough, are still waiting for when the wealth of the wicked will come to them. Yes, even though there is a scripture that talks about that, but the truth is, that is also taking the scripture out of context. The wealth of the world will only come to you if you are good enough in what you do, because the Israelites were good at what they did in Egypt before the wealth of Egypt came to them.

Secondly, the wealth of the world will only come to you if you produce better products than your competitors, that is when you are a good representative of the kingdom of God and God will honour you for that.

Thirdly, for any wealth to come to you, you must be busy producing either goods or rendering services. If you are only claiming promises, you will end up been disappointed at the end of the day.

For Christians to begin to enjoy the blessings of prosperity and wealth, it is high time for churches to begin to teach and educate their members, not just on how to give and sow seeds, but also on how to produce goods and services. There is no prosperity without goods or services.

Money does not come to you because you name it and claim it. After naming and claiming, you need to show diligence in your work. You need to show the virtue of hard work. You need to display your dedication to the principle of dignity of labour. For money to truly come to you, you must go ahead to prove your obedience to some other laws of money. Naming and claiming will not do it.

•Sunday Adelaja is a Nigerian born leader, Transformation Strategist, Pastor and innovator who lives in Kieve Ukraine. He can be contacted at sundayadelajablog@gmail.com

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