Chapter 23
BREAK THE CHAINS OF POVERTY AND LACK
So the Lord answered and said to His people, Here! I am sending you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied, and I will never again make you a disgrace among the nations.…Then the threshing floors will be filled with grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. And I will compensate you for the years the locusts have eaten.
—JOEL 2:19, 24–25, MEV
THERE ARE BELIEVERS who are faithful givers. They believe God to meet their needs. Yet they can’t seem to get a financial breakthrough. They can’t seem to get a good job or see their businesses thrive. They can’t seem to overcome, and they get depressed. They begin to think maybe they don’t have enough faith, or they don’t believe God enough, or they aren’t close enough to God, or God doesn’t like them. But the reality is that they may be dealing with a spirit of poverty.
The spirit of poverty can be a stubborn demon, especially if it has been operating in a family for generations. But I believe that with God, nothing is impossible. You may have to fast and pray until breakthrough comes, but you cannot give up.
The word bless is first mentioned in Genesis when God blessed the man and woman and told them to be fruitful and multiply. So the result of blessing is fruitfulness, multiplication, increase, and productivity. God wants you to be productive; He wants you to multiply, increase, and enjoy the fruit of the land. The earth was created to yield its increase unto us. All the wealth is in the earth—in trees, oil, diamonds. God wants you to inherit the land, and He wants the land to yield its increase to you, but it can’t yield its increase if a curse is operating in your life.
The one who breaks open will come up before them; they will break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it; their king will pass before them, with the LORD at their head.
—MICAH 2:13
This verse is a picture of deliverance and breakthrough. Because Jesus was made a curse for us on the cross, He can bring us out of that place of captivity, limitation, and confinement and into a wealthy place. (See Psalm 66.)
Isaiah 54:2–3 says, “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.” This means when the blessing of the Lord comes, you become so fruitful that you need a larger space. You need more room. You need to enlarge the place of your tent.
Israel was bound in a small place in Egypt. God brought them out and into a much larger place, a land flowing with milk and honey. When the curse is removed based on the redemptive work of Christ, the blessing of God begins to come, and you begin to see the land yielding its increase.
In Joel 2, locusts were invading the land God had given His people. Locusts represent demons that devour. Locusts represent the spirits of poverty and lack. The locusts had come upon Israel and devoured the harvest. Joel encouraged the people to fast and repent. God promised to hear their prayers and answer by sending corn, wine, and oil, which represent prosperity.
Fasting is one of the ways we can break generational strongholds of poverty. Fasting prepares a believer for prosperity by bringing him or her into a place of humility. God has promised to exalt the humble (1 Pet. 5:6). Financial promotion is part of this exaltation. God gives grace (favor) to the humble (Jas. 4:6). Favor is a part of financial prosperity. Fasting releases grace and favor upon a person’s life. It will help to break the cycle of poverty and failure.
PRAYERS AND DECLARATIONS FOR PROSPERITY AND FINANCIAL RELEASE
I break all assignments of the enemy against my finances in the name of Jesus.
I break all curses of poverty, lack, debt, and failure in the name of Jesus.
I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things are added unto me (Matt. 6:33).
I rebuke and cast out all spirits of the cankerworm, palmerworm, caterpillar, and locust that would eat up my blessings in the name of Jesus (Joel 2:25).
Lord, teach me to profit, and lead me in the way I should go (Isa. 48:17).
You are Jehovah Jireh, my provider (Gen. 22:14).
You are El Shaddai, the God of more than enough.
Wealth and riches are in my house because I fear You and delight greatly in Your commandments (Ps. 112:1–3).
The blessing of the Lord upon my life makes me rich.
I am blessed coming in and blessed going out.
I am God’s servant, and He takes pleasure in my prosperity (Ps. 35:27).
Jesus, You became poor, that through Your poverty I might be rich (2 Cor. 8:9).
I meditate on the Word day and night, and whatever I do prospers (Ps. 1:3).
Let peace be within my walls and prosperity within my palace (Ps. 122:7).
I live in the prosperity of the King (Jer. 23:5).
Through Your favor I will be a prosperous person (Gen. 39:2).
Lord, release the wealth of the wicked into my hands (Prov. 13:22).
Lord, bring me into a wealthy place (Ps. 66:12).
I give, and it is given to me—good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over (Luke 6:38).
Open the floodgates of heaven over my life, and I receive more than I have enough room to receive (Mal. 3:10).
Let every hole in my bag be closed in the name of Jesus (Hag. 1:6).
Rebuke the devourer for my sake (Mal. 3:11).
Let Your showers of blessing come upon my life (Ezek. 34:26).
Let my vats overflow (Joel 2:24).
Let my barns be filled with plenty and my presses burst with new wine (Prov. 3:10).
Bring me into a good land without scarceness and lack (Deut. 8:9).
PRAYERS AND DECLARATIONS FOR ENLARGEMENT AND INCREASE
Break off of my life any limitations and restrictions placed on my life by any evil spirits in the name of Jesus.
Bless me indeed and enlarge my coast. Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from evil (1 Chron. 4:10).
Cast out my enemies and enlarge my borders (Exod. 34:24).
Enlarge my steps so I can receive Your wealth and prosperity (Isa. 60:5–9).
I receive deliverance and enlargement for my life (Est. 4:14).
The Lord shall increase me more and more, me and my children (Ps. 115:14).
Let Your kingdom and government increase in my life (Isa. 9:7).
Let me increase in the knowledge of God (Col. 2:19).
Let me increase and abound in love (1 Thess. 3:12).
Increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side (Ps. 71:21).
Let me increase in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52).
Let me increase in strength and confound the adversaries (Acts 9:22).
Let Your grace and favor increase in my life.
Let the years of my life be increased (Prov. 9:11).
Let the Word of God increase in my life (Acts 6:7).
Let my giving and tithes increase (Deut. 14:22).
NEVER-AGAIN CONFESSIONS
Never again will I allow poverty and lack to control my life, for my God supplies all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).
Never again will I lack, for I have plenty (Gen. 27:28).
Never again will I lack, but I will prosper through prophetic ministry (Ezra 6:14).
Never again will I sow and not reap, but I will reap where others have sown (John 4:38).
Never again will I carry a bag full of holes (Hag. 1:6).
Never again will I lack glory (kabowd), honor, abundance, riches, splendor, glory, dignity, reputation, and reverence (Ps. 84:11).
Never again will I be poor, for the Lord became poor that I through His poverty might be rich (2 Cor. 8:9).
Never again will I live without the desires of my heart, because I will delight myself in the Lord (Ps. 37:4).
Never again will I allow covetousness to control my life; I am a liberal giver (Prov. 11:25).
Never again will the enemy devour my finances, for the Lord has rebuked the devourer for my sake (Mal. 3:11).
Never again will I hold back from giving, for I give, and it is given to me; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over do men give to me (Luke 6:38).
Never again will I allow fear to stop me from giving.
Never again will I allow debt to control my life. I will lend unto many nations and not borrow, for the borrower is servant to the lender (Prov. 22:7).
Never again will I allow doubt and unbelief to stop me from believing in the promises of God (Heb. 3:19).
Never again will I think poverty and lack, for as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov. 23:7).
Never again will my basket and store be empty, for my basket and store are blessed (Deut. 28:5, KJV).
Never again will I allow Satan to steal my finances, but I have abundant life (John 10:10).
Never again will I limit what God can do in my finances and in my life (Ps. 78:41).
Never again will I tolerate lack, for my God gives me abundance (Deut. 28:47).
Never again will I have just enough, for El Shaddai gives me more than enough (Gen. 17:1–2).
Never again will I use my money for sinful things (Ezek. 16:17).
Never again will the enemy hold back my blessings.
Never again will I doubt God’s desire to prosper me, for the Lord takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant (Ps. 35:27).
Never again will I be the tail and not the head (Deut. 28:13).
Never again will I be a borrower and not a lender (Deut. 28:12).
Never again will I be behind and not in front (Deut. 25:18).
Never again will I believe I don’t have power to get wealth, for God gives me power to get wealth to establish His covenant (Deut. 8:18).
Never again will I lack any good thing, because I will seek the Lord (Ps. 34:10).
Never again will I lack prosperity, but whatever I do will prosper because I delight in the law of the Lord (Ps. 1).
Never again will I lack anointing for my head (Eccles. 9:8).
Never again will I lack favor for my life, for with favor the Lord will surround me as a shield (Ps. 5:12).