Save now, we beseech You, O Lord; send now prosperity, O Lord, we beseech You, and give to us success! – Psalm 118:25, AMP

When you, like the psalmist, pray for success and for prosperity, what exactly do you picture in your mind that success and prosperity look like? Money? Leisurely living? Souls saved? Souls discipled? A joyful family? Success and prosperity can mean different things to different people, but to the Christian, success and prosperity should look like one thing and one thing only: the pursuit of God’s will for our lives.

The best definition of success I have ever heard was articulated by the late Earl Nightingale in his audio recording (and book) entitled The Strangest Secret. Nightingale defined success as the identification and progressive realization of a worthy ideal. The only flaw in this definition of success is that it leaves the choice of which goal to pursue up to the individual. As Jesus Himself made it clear in John 6:38 (AMP)

For I have come down from heaven not to do My own will and purpose but to do the will and purpose of Him Who sent Me.

Like Christ, we ought to set aside all weights – all of which are tied to our desire to serve ourselves – that hold us back from running a full-out sprint to pursue God’s will for our lives (Hebrews 12:1).   When we create our own picture of success and pursue it instead of pursuing what God has outlined for us, we run the risk of living an unfulfilled, poor life, not one rich with God’s blessings.

Should we pray to God for success and prosperity? Absolutely. We just need to realize that God’s definition of success and prosperity may or may not match up with ours. If it doesn’t, we are much better off casting aside our ideas of success and prosperity in favor of God’s.

Shop hundreds of Christian-themed products at our new store! A portion of each purchase goes to support the work of Today’s Quote From God. To visit the Today’s Quote From God Store, please click here.