~ Open in Prayer ~
Icebreaker
•What’s your favorite holiday and why?
•What’s something you appreciate about your mother or a mother figure in your life?
•It’s graduation season! Do you have any graduations to attend?
Message Review
God wants to bless you. Will you let Him? Our salvation is secured when we say “yes” to Jesus and believe that He died for our sins, but to live an abundant life here on earth there are certain Kingdom keys/principles we must enact to bring the blessings of heaven down to earth. One of those keys is the tithe. The word says, “Will a man rob God?” The tithe is God’s and when we keep it we are robbing Him and preventing the blessing He wants to give us from coming down and reigning over our lives. God wants to bless you. Do you believe that? Why or why not?
Let’s dig in more…
Read 2 Corinthians 9
In this passage we get deeper insight into God’s stance on giving. Pastor Ron stated, “We live by our giving not by our making.” What does this mean? What revelation of giving stood out to you from the passage? How does our giving impact those around us?
Read 3 John 1:2
God wants you to prosper in all things. You can’t think like a victim and live like an overcomer. Your level of prosperity is directly correlated with your soul. Your prosperity is on a parallel track with how you’re elevating your soul. Your life doesn’t go to the next level until your soul goes to the next level. Your soul has to prosper in order for your life to prosper. You cannot live above your “think.” Wherever you want to go your mind has to travel there first; you will “think” the next level before you arrive. How’s your soul? What healing/elevation needs to take place? Do you have high expectations of God and what He can do in your life? Why or why not? How can you increase your faith?
Read Luke 16:10-11
The passage tells us that whoever is faithful in little will be faithful in much. God is looking for those who are faithful with what He has given them in order to see if they can handle more. You cannot advance until you pass the test. Money is a test to see if you can handle the real stuff….the “true riches” (the power and authority of Jesus). True riches are the spiritual things – your ability to heal, to have authority in the name of Jesus. Have you been a faithful steward of the things God has given you? What tests do you need to pass in order to get to the next level?
Read Genesis 4:2-7 | Malachi 3:8-9
All throughout scripture we observe God reserving a portion for Himself. This is the principle of divine portion – God always carves out something for Himself and says don’t touch it. When this principle is not observed there are consequences. We see this in the Old Testament with the first conflict of Cain and Abel and in the last conflict of the Old Testament in Malachi. The principle is not about the tithe, it’s about the blessing. God is trying to get the blessing to you and the tithe is the key that releases it. The blessing is built into the obedience; the curse is built into touching what’s God’s. He tells us to BRING the tithe not GIVE it. It belongs to Him. The first fruits are the Lords. Giving the Lord what’s His protects you and allows the blessing to cover every aspect of your life. Have you been robbing God? In what areas of your life have you not given Him the best/the first?
Read Numbers 23:17-20
What God has blessed no man can curse. As long as we keep the principle (tithe) our lives will remain blessed. No man can curse what God has blessed, but remember the tithe is what ensures the blessing. So when you don’t tithe, the enemy has an opportunity to creep in because you are not covered with the blessing. The real blessing is corporate. God sees us as ONE – one body, many members. When we all operate on one accord we see in scripture there is an opportunity to receive blessings that are abundant and overflowing (Malachi 3:10). Why is it hard for us to get on one accord? What practical tools can we use to ensure we never miss out on the blessing God has for us individually and corporately?
Prayer Focus and Requests
Ask your members if they have any prayer requests or praise reports. Pray that they will be faithful over what God has given them and practice tithing which will release the blessing over their lives.
Scripture References
3 John 1:2
Luke 16:10-13
Genesis 1:26-28
Malachi 3:10
Genesis 3:17-18
Numbers 23:19-29