An Abundant Return is Not Automatic

Many Christians have learned how to give, but they don’t know how to receive. Receiving also isn’t “automatic.” When we give, God doesn’t automatically rain blessings down from the skies. If we want to receive from God, it is our duty to find His laws of receiving in His Word and then to study and meditate on them and apply them in our lives.

• 2 Corinthians 9:6 tells us that we can “reap bountifully.”
• Luke 6:38 tells us that we can receive in “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”
• Malachi 3:10 tells us that God will open the windows of heaven and pour out such a blessing “that there will not be room enough to receive it.”

Are you planting ample financial seeds and failing to receive abundantly? If so, God tells us what we should do. “Consider your ways. You have sown much, and bring in little, you eat, but you do not have enough, you drink, but you are not filled with drink, you are clothed, but there is none warm, and he that earns wages, earns wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways.”  (Haggai 1:6 – 7)

God’s Word clearly speaks of people who have “sown much and bring in little.” Therefore, an abundant return obviously isn’t automatic. We don’t “automatically” receive bountifully just because we sowed bountifully. If we’re sowing abundantly and not receiving abundantly, what does God’s Word tell us to do? Our Father tells us twice to “consider your ways.” He is actually telling us that we need to take a good look at what we’re doing if we’re sowing seeds bountifully and if we’re still not receiving bountifully. After planting our financial seeds, we must cultivate them. We must continue to study and meditate constantly in God’s Word. We must constantly express our faith in an abundant return by our words and our actions. No matter how bad a situation might appear, we must not block God in any way by lack of faith, or by lack of patience.

Lack of patience blocks more Christians from receiving from God than many of us realize.

A farmer wouldn’t dream of planting seeds and expecting an immediate harvest. We can’t rush this process. God’s laws of sowing and reaping always take time. God has a time for everything. “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

God’s Word says, “cast thy bread upon the waters for you will find it after many days.” (Ecclesiastes 11:1) The word “bread” means anything of substance to us – our money, our time, our abilities, etc.

We will receive our harvest “after many days.”  Many of us are expecting a return when our seeds haven’t had time to take root and grow and produce a harvest.

Our Father tells us in 3 John 2 that He wants very much for us to prosper “even as thy soul prospers.” This shows us that the key to God’s prosperity is in our souls.

Jesus told us, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” (Luke 21:19)

If we are to prosper under God’s laws of prosperity, we must be patient. God doesn’t lie. All of His promises are real. We will reap – if we are patient. We can’t rush God. The carnal part of us wants answers and it wants them now! We must counteract this tendency by developing ourselves spiritually so that we will have the strength and the patience to wait for the harvest.

“And let us not be wary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9)

Receiving from God isn’t “automatic.” We must work hard studying and meditating in God’s Word if we expect to develop our faith to the point where we will receive blessings from Him. We must be certain that we don’t throw away our confidence in God because of lack of patience.

“For you have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.” (Hebrews 10:36)

We develop this patience by trusting in God’s Holy Spirit within us. If we really do this, patience is just one of the fruits that we will receive.

Our Father wants us to be single minded. Our faith must be firm. If we don’t get a prompt answer, we must not begin to wonder and doubt.

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”  (James 1:6–8)

I still experience seasons of financial difficulty. When this happens, I don’t waiver in the least. Instead, I have learned to meditate and study even more and to show my faith by increasing my giving.

When everything looks bad, I have learned to open my mouth and confess that God will provide abundantly just as he has promised.

If we aren’t receiving an answer, we need to speak out the promises of Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1–3, Malachi 3:10–11, Luke 6:38, 2 Corinthians 9:6–8 and many others. We need to praise God and thank him for supplying abundantly. We must “stick to our guns.”

Too many Christians waiver after a while and allow their doubts to come out of their mouths. This negative confession cancels the results that would have been forthcoming if they had continued to cultivate their crops with faith and patience.

We must not doubt God’s Word. Our words and our actions should constantly show our faith in the promises of God. We should boldly claim the return from our tithes and offerings. We should boldly say, “I have given freely and, because I have given freely, my Father gives back to me. You say this in your Word, Father, and in Jesus name, I thank you for this return.”

The farmer has to clear out the weeds in his garden. We clear out weeds in the spiritual realm by boldly confessing the promises of God in spite of the weeds that are trying to choke off our harvest. If we really do believe that we’re going to receive from God, we should talk and act exactly the way we would talk and act if we had a guaranteed certificate of deposit that we know would mature in time to meet all of our needs! God’s Word is a much stronger assurance than any worldly promise to pay.

The same Holy Spirit who lived inside of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago lives inside us today. He is just as willing and just as able to provide abundantly today as he was then. The only variable is the faith and patience of Jesus compared with the faith and patience that you and I exhibit today.

Our Father doesn’t want us to limit Him in any way. He knows no limits. The only limits are those that we impose through lack of belief in His promises.

Virtually every one of God’s instructions on giving is combined with a promise of receiving. See for yourself in Luke 6:38, 2 Corinthians 9:6–8, Malachi 3:10–11, etc. If God himself places an emphasis on receiving, why should we feel that there is anything wrong with expecting to receive?

We should expect a return on our giving. All Christians should release their faith for a great return, not to “feather their own nests,” but to finance worldwide Christian revival.

We will receive from Him – in exact proportion to our unwavering belief that we will receive. This is His law.

It’s wrong to give selflessly, but it’s not wrong to give believing. Money that is constantly given is like a clear, bubbling brook – always fresh and new, always cool and refreshing. This continual giving, backed up by unwavering faith and patience, will continually activate God’s laws of receiving and put us in His perfect will for our finances.

Jack Hartman, “Trust God For Your Finances”