Walk in God’s Abundance Daily: How to Attract God’s Favor & Blessings
As Romans 8:28 (NLT) says, God causes everything to “work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
When God leads you to possess something, He will dispossess it beforehand and/or give you the strength to dispossess it yourself. To dispossess means to oust, evict, or remove. A key aspect of walking in God’s favor involves learning to recognize the places God has emptied for you and then taking action to fill them. One of the most significant biblical examples of this is when God led the children of Israel to the Promised Land.
Long before God delivered the Israelites from slavery, He began divesting, or removing, the Egyptian army from the Promised Land. At the time, the Egyptian army was one of the most powerful militaries in the world. For centuries, they were spread throughout Canaan to control the land and keep people out of it. However, 150 years before Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land, the Egyptian army began to leave. God used the reign of three different pharaohs to dispossess the land and prepare it for Israel’s arrival. He also sent an angel before the Israelites to secure their success (see Exodus 23:23). Psalm 44:2-3 (AMPC) beautifully describes God’s favor over the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land:
You drove out the nations with Your hand and it was Your power that gave [Israel] a home by rooting out the [heathen] peoples, but [Israel] You spread out. For they got not the land [of Canaan] in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your countenance [did it], because You were favorable toward and did delight in them.
God has been working on your behalf to clear a path for centuries, too. His favor will supernaturally equip you to enter areas that you could never reach in your own strength. As Joshua 24:13 (NKJV) says, “I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and the olive groves which you did not plant.” When the Israelites occupied the Promised Land, they didn’t have to build a society from scratch. The pieces were already in place. God’s grace went before them to prepare a home beyond what they could achieve.
I have heard countless stories from pastors about how God supernaturally provided a building for their church. My son, Brant, and daughter-in-law, Abi, are some of them. Their church outgrew their old space, so they searched for a new building. During that process, we encouraged them, “The Lord has a building for you. Just be patient. It will be the right space in the right location at the right time.” Sure enough, a church moved out of a beautiful 35,000-square-foot building with its own parking lot (which is a big deal in Denver). The Lord supernaturally dispossessed the space and orchestrated the divine connections necessary to make it happen.
You might ask, “Well, of course God would do that for a church, but how does it apply to me?” If God does it for a pastor, He will do it for the Christian banker, politician, schoolteacher, and business-person. Ephesians 4:4-7 (ESV) says:
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
We all have a different measure of grace, or favor, for certain work. God’s favor will prepare a place where you can be fruitful and multiply with the kingdom work you are equipped to do. He will lead you to the job, show you how to build the business, and give you the power to get the resources.
For example, we believe there is a mandate in our life to help people make sense of making money for making a difference. In other words, God gave us a passion for teaching people in the Body of Christ how to build wealth so they can use their resources to positively transform cities and nations. Throughout our lives, God has dispossessed areas that equipped us to fulfill our calling. As we’ve built our investment real estate portfolio, we have repeatedly witnessed God dispossess commercial and residential properties. By dispossessed, we don’t mean that the properties were run down. Rather, we mean that God was intimately involved in the investment process. Not only did He guide us to the right properties, His favor coordinated the factors needed for the deals to transpire.
For example, one day we received a call from a banker out of the blue. He said, “I want you to go look at a property and tell me what you think about it.” I went and assessed the land, and it truly was a valuable plot of dirt. So I called the banker back, and he said, “I’m going to sell you that land for what’s owed on it.” That amount was extremely below the market price, so it had to be divine intervention. We took the deal.
About three months later, I met the man who sold us the land. He said, “Billy, I want to thank you for doing me a favor.” I was shocked—I had no idea what he was talking about! He continued, “If you hadn’t bought that property when you did, I would have lost everything.” That taught me a lesson. When God dispossesses something, it’s usually a win-win.
Believe the Land Is Good
When we know there is a place prepared for us, it empowers us to move forward in confidence. God will clear the path, but a step of faith will always be required on our part. The Israelites approached that step with hesitancy. Before they entered the Promised Land, Moses sent spies to scope it out. They found so much abundance in Canaan that a single cluster of grapes had to be carried on a pole between two people. They reported, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there” (Num. 13:27-28 ESV).
God proves His faithfulness.
God repeatedly promised to give the Israelites the land, and He proved His faithfulness through miracle after miracle when they were in the wilderness. Still, they doubted. Even though the land was fruitful, the Israelites focused on their fear. The descendants of Anak were giants, after all! They didn’t understand that God was leading them into what had been dispossessed, and it cost them greatly. Two men, Joshua and Caleb, were the only people who believed God would give them the Promised Land. Consequently, they were the only ones over the age of 20 God allowed to enter the land.
In Numbers 14:21-23 (ESV), God says, “But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.”
Before you go too hard on the Israelites, remember that the only existence they had known was slavery and the desert. It must have been difficult for them to believe they could live in a land of freedom that was flowing with milk and honey! There will always be a chasm between your present reality and your hopes for the future. Are you believing God for something you’ve never experienced before?
Perhaps:
Your parents had a poverty mindset, yet you want a life of abundance.
You didn’t grow up in a Christian home, but you long to leave a spiritual legacy for your children.
The church has been a place of pain or even abuse in your life, yet you dream of being in a Christian community that reflects the kingdom of heaven.
Everyone you know works a 9-5 job, but you feel like God is leading you to start a business or ministry.
When you become a Christian, God plants kingdom desires in your heart. These desires (and your faith for them to come to pass) might start small, but over time they will grow. As they do, mountains will move in your life and create space for others to experience the kingdom, too.
As Jesus says in Matthew 13:31-32 (NLT), “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come to make nests in its branches.”
It is essential to feed your faith even when God’s promises seem impossible. Remember the thousands upon thousands of Israelites who could not enter the Promised Land because of their disbelief! The same holds true for us today. Trust that God is leading you into a land flowing with milk and honey and that He will give you the strength to defeat any giants that stand in your way.
God has already given you victory.
Many times, Christians mistake resistance for the voice of the Holy Spirit. They say, “I don’t have peace about that,” and stay stuck where they are. Just because something is uncomfortable does not mean God is telling you not to do it. As you follow God, He will lead you to new frontiers that require deeper levels of faith. You are a pioneer for your family. It will require a fight if you want to break generational strongholds of poverty, sin, or fear. The good news is that God has already given you victory.
Money is attracted, not pursued.
If you want God’s favor to dispossess resources for you, pursue righteousness and steward what you have with integrity. Remember the Parable of the Talents (found in Matthew 25:14-20) that we mentioned in the first chapter? The servants who were given two and five talents doubled their investment in anticipation of their master’s return.
However, the servant who was given one talent buried it in the ground. When the master returned, the servant dug it up and explained, “Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth” (Matt. 25:24-25 NLT). Naturally, the master becomes angry. So he dispossesses the one talent from the unfaithful servant and hands it to the first servant, who has ten talents. He says, “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance” (Matt. 25:29 NLT). Money is attracted, not pursued. The one talent was attracted to the character of the servant with the ten. If you faithfully steward what you have been given, God will dispossess areas of abundance for you, too.
Activate: Reminisce on God’s Faithfulness
Take time to reflect on how God’s favor has opened and closed doors for you. What experiences, opportunities, or relationships have been pivotal in your life? Perhaps you didn’t realize God was at work at the time. Reminiscing on God’s faithfulness will build your faith and align your perspective for future opportunities.
God has a plan for your life, and His favor goes before you and behind you. Pray Isaiah 25:1 (NLT): “O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.” Then ask God if there are any areas that He has dispossessed for you in this season.
