Question:
Answer:
John 16:23 provides, “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name.” Earlier in John’s gospel, Jesus says, “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son;if you ask anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14).
And in Mark’s gospel:
Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).
These and other verses, particularly in the New Testament, are used by “Prosperity Gospel” advocates to support their case. However, we need to realize that what we ask God has to be in accord with his will. For example, Jesus says that perfection in being his disciple entails selling everything one has, giving it to the poor, and following him (Matt. 19:16-30). This was a challenge the rich young man was not prepared to embrace. Jesus is not saying that material riches are inherently bad and that everyone needs to live a life of poverty, but Jesus does convey that the greatest things of the abundant life he has come to share are not of a material nature (see John 10:10).
Other passages in which Jesus exhorts us to make sacrifices in following him and/or not be possessed by our possessions include Mark 8:34, Matthew 6:19-24 and Luke 12:13-15 and 12:16-21.
For more on the Prosperity Gospel, see Trent’s Horn related article “Why the Prosperity Gospel is Bankrupt.”