24 There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty.

Proverbs 11:24

God is not limited to do a miracle by a few or by many (1 Samuel 14:6). What will lead you from shortage to surplus is what you already have in your hands. Don’t say, “It’s too small.” That’s what you have. Don’t think, “What is it going to do?” That is God’s business, not yours. Yours is to release it – making demands on your faith – and you will walk from shortage to surplus.

These principles apply to preachers and to the congregation as well. A man of God said God once told him, “What the people give is not what will meet your needs. It’s what you give that will meet your needs.” That is so profound. Though it sounds contradictory, it is true. If you’re waiting for someone to give to you, what are you giving? What you give is what will attract the harvest you’re seeking.

When I came to Port Harcourt to start a church in 1990, I came with approximately 250 Naira (the equivalent of $1.50 – One US Dollar and Fifty Cents in 2011), to a town I had never lived in before, not knowing where I would sleep that night. After a series of miracles, the church (then called Royal Evangel Church) started. For the first one year, I did not take an offering from the people. Not only did I want to establish my motive for starting the church, I also knew that these principles would work for me because I never stopped giving. My needs were always miraculously met. After one year, the few members of the church demanded that we began to do things right and take offerings so they would have the opportunity to give too. That was fine by me. They would be giving with knowledge, for the right reasons.

Have the spirit of giving and prosperity. It’s not what you give that God is looking at, it’s the measure of your sacrifice and what you have left over, after you must have given. The measure with which you give is the same measure which shall be measured back to you.

Confession:
Father, I thank You because in my hands You have placed what will take me from shortage to surplus. I have the spirit of giving and prosperity. I give sacrificially and receive a good return measured back to me.