The Power To Create Wealth

Diplomat Hotel. Miami, Florida

Y'all, I got a peek into my Canaan, and ah! It’s better than I could ever imagine. You might’ve thought Canaan was somewhere in the Middle East. Funny enough, God showed me, Canaan, in the conference halls of the Diplomat Hotel… in Hollywood, Florida 😅. And for that weekend, those halls became the meeting place of giants and kings, movers and shakers, millionaires and billionaires all together with one vision in mind: prosperity.

The trip came as a surprise, and the event itself was one I never heard of. In fact, The Path to Prosperity conference was the first of its kind. My parents gifted it to me with this instruction, “go my child (insert theatrical tone) and see what the land is- whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak… whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds… and whether the land is rich or poor” (Numbers 13:17-20).  Well, maybe they didn’t say it quite like that but it might as well have been a Moses moment! And in my eyes, I was a top-recruited spy.

But my plan wasn’t to be unseen behind walls or to eavesdrop under tables. My plan was to blend in plain sight. Like Nakia in the casino scene of Black Panther- yup, I was she 😌.

Forget that “general admission” was smeared on my badge. I walked with my head up high like those with diamond and platinum access and I dressed like I belonged there, because I did.

I observed more than I spoke, and when each Speaker presented I listened intensely. One multimillionaire after another, they shared their paths to prosperity with instruction and counsel on how we could create our own. When my mission was complete, I came back home with a journal full of notes and energy to debrief.

I slapped onto my mind map, “How do we make more money?”, and as I stared at the question, I remembered something…

“God does not give wealth.”

It was a statement Mr. Myron Golden made at the conference and I remembered it because it shocked me. I didn’t even finish writing down his last sentence before my head perked up in sheer confusion and intrigue. Ok, Mr. Golden, go on.

“Read it carefully,” he continued. “The Bible doesn’t say God gives wealth. It says God gives us the power to create wealth.”

I looked up the verse Mr. Golden addressed and sure enough, Deuteronomy 8:18 reads “... it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.”

For hours I chewed on this verse and realized that everything we pray for God answers in seed form. Why? Because He created us as cultivators (the first ever job given to man) and it’s only when we cultivate that seed by walking in faith that it grows into the blessing we’ve prayed for.

God doesn’t give wealth.

I keep saying it because I’m trying to burrow it into my head (and in yours too!) Because who has ever prayed for $5,000 and it just appeared in your hand? Exactly! God is not a genie. He requires our faith to activate His blessings and “without faith it’s impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).

Even an instant come-up like in Matthew 17:26-27, when money appeared in the mouth of a fish to solve the disciple's tax problem, faith was required in order to see that miracle come to pass. Peter actually going to the lake, sitting there for God knows how long, catching the first fish he found, and then opening the mouth of said fish was all faith in action.

But this isn’t anything new to y'all, you know this already! In fact, we covered this in the very first blog together. So what makes this one different?

When you have a bunch of multi-millionaires telling you that making millions of dollars is actually easier than you think, you start to ask yourself- “well, dang what have I been missing?” If God’s word says He’s given me the power to create wealth, why am I not wealthy already? Is it that I’m not using this power correctly? And what is this power to begin with! That, my dear, is what makes this blog different. 3 thoughts on what we’ve missed about the power to create wealth? Yes, please!

1. THE POWER OF YOUR VIEW

When you have a bunch of multi-millionaires telling you that making millions of dollars is actually easier than we think, what’s your first thought? It probably was like mine- “Pssh, yea right.” And what influences that thought? Your environment, right? I.e what you’ve seen. All my life, I’ve seen hard work around me. I’ve seen my mother during the days of her residency, hardly catching 8hrs of sleep while still managing her role as a mother of 4 kids. I’ve seen my father sacrifice being with his family to work jobs overseas that would pay our school loans and secure our freedom from debt. I’ve seen that making lots of money was anything but easy. And in that conference hall, I could’ve continued to sit there with the mindset of “extreme labor=more money” or I could’ve allowed what God was showing me and sharing with me to change my mindset.

“It begins in your mind!” I mean, what billionaire hasn’t shared that tidbit? Even the Bible tells us that “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). It’s an expression that means “what someone says or does is not necessarily what they think in their heart”. Ultimately, it’s what we think about ourselves that reveals our true nature and eventually fizzles out what we portray ourselves to be.

Mr. Golden explained that since what we produce (i.e what we have) is a direct result of what we do, and what we do is a direct result of who we are, and who we are is a direct result of what we think then in order to have more, do more, and be more- we have to change our thinking.

Many people have done this in many ways. I’m sure we’ve heard of verbal affirmations as a powerful tool for changing our mindset. We understood this with Habits Queen, Sheliese - that speaking what you want to see in your life causes your mind to be more aware of the new identity you’re claiming. We’ve probably heard of written affirmations too- the act of writing a belief over and over again. Done repeatedly, these actions actually create a new groove in our brain and result in a transformed mindset. But there’s an affirmation we often miss that’s extremely important in activating our power to create wealth and that is… visual affirmation.

When Abraham was having a hard time shifting his mindset to believe that he would be the father of many nations even though he had yet to have a child, God literally had to take him out of his environment so he could believe differently. “Look up at the sky”, God said, “and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.”... “So shall your offspring be.”

Abraham could’ve spoken God’s word over himself affirming his new identity morning, noon, and night. He could’ve filled his notebooks with “I am a father of many nations” line after line. But it’s hard to visualize being a father of many when you lift up your head from your notebook and all you see in the four walls of your tent reminds you that you’re fatherless.

I believe I’ll be a billionaire, but it wasn’t until God put me in a room of billionaires that it actually seemed more real to me- like I could indeed achieve it. And because that visual experience shifted my mindset my actions immediately followed suit. But, I had to allow God to get me out of my tent and the comfort of what I knew. How far out of our comfort zone are we willing to go to change what we see so we can change what we believe? What if it means making new groups of friends? What if it means letting go of old groups of friends? 😬What if it means setting aside $1,000+ for a conference like this? What if it means being an intern at 30 years old just so you can get into the room? What if it means hanging up your need to lead so that for the moment you can follow and learn something new?

I know! Ick, right?! 😭😭😭But how willing are we to push aside our pride and our insecurities for fresh vision if vision is so knitted to what we produce? Let me tell you, there were many times I felt like the dumbest one at those conference tables, and the need to prove myself was scratching at my throat! I had to empty all of that so I could soak in all God was exposing me to. I left that conference with a new group of friends who I chat with every other week, and I still feel like the dumbest one in there 😅but I don’t care because they create the environment I need to continually shift my mindset and activate the wealth creator in me. The power to create wealth lies in your ability to change your scenery.

2. THE POWER OF YOUR GIFT

Let me ask you a question, and be honest- Can you say right now at this moment that you’re maximizing your potential? If you answered yes, then honey you need to hit me up and get on this podcast so you can share with us how you’re doing it! But if you answered no or I’m not sure, then I’m right there with you.

Too many of us aren’t operating in our giftings. The demands of life rarely give us the time to explore how we’re made and how God uniquely designed us. However, Proverbs 18:6 says that it’s “a man’s gift [that] makes room for him, And brings him before great men.” The power of our gift is crucial to activating our power to create wealth, so we need to make the time to discover what our gift actually is.

Pastor Stephen calls it our “unique genius” in his book Stop Waiting For Permission, and if you’re looking for tools to help you figure out what your gift is then that’s a fantastic place to start.

In his book, Pastor Stephen shares that the difficult thing about identifying our gifts by ourselves is that they come so naturally to us we don’t even see them as gifts. Therefore, the first step to identifying your gift is actually asking the people around you- the receivers of your gift.

Last week I actually texted a bunch of my friends and family two questions I got from Pastor Stephen's book- 1) What do I give that you love to receive? 2) What about me do you want others to experience? 

And for my mentors/past teachers, I sent the question- “What is something you remember about me?”

This Group semester, I was also in a phenomenal Career development group. For the first week, we filled out an Individual Development Plan and took a couple of personality tests. I was eager to know all of my giftings so I took them all! The Spiritual Gifts Test, the Enneagram, 16 Personalities, DISC, and My Next Move.

I compiled the results I got from these tests with the answers from my friends, family, and mentors, and put it all on my mind map board. That’s when I started to see patterns - “Creativity.” “People-oriented.” “Relationship building.” “Leadership.” “Teaching.” “Knowledge.” “Wisdom.” “Communication.” Sure enough, my unique genius became clearer and clearer. 

These are all practical steps I took in my journey to discovering my gifts, but don’t you forget the spiritual steps too. We love the “write the vision and make it plan” part in Habakkuk 2:2 but let’s not forget the verse that comes before it when the prophet states “I will stand my watch…And watch to see what [God] will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.” Remember, we’re not doing this journey without God. In fact, we can’t. We’ll get the vision wrong if we don’t remember to submit it to Him and make room for His corrections.

However, that also doesn’t mean doing nothing in the meantime. I love how Pastor Stephen’s book says “when we look around and find vision… we’re following what we know of God’s directions, moving ahead in confidence because He’s right there with us and will help us put out any accidental fires. We can get to work and try things because we know God will put our vision to the test and correct us when we’re missing something.”

So after gathering all your insights and submitting your vision to God, begin finding ways to maximize your gift. How? Well, Paul says in Romans 12:6-8, “If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” You maximize your gift by DOING IT and doing it with excellence every chance you get.

And sometimes if that chance isn’t available to you, you’re going to have to be bold enough to create it yourself. One of the reasons why I started ThngsHopedFor was because I hungered to exercise my gifting and I was tired of waiting for other people to give me an opportunity before I could do it.

Stop waiting for permission- from employers, from family, even from God. Yes, God! Cause guess what? 2 Peter 1:3 says “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life” and John 14:25-26 says His Holy Spirit “will teach [us] all things”. God’s already given us the green light! So, what else are we waiting for?

3. THE POWER OF YOUR DISCIPLINE

If you’re anything like me, maybe you’re waiting for the “right time.” For when you have your own podcast microphone and you don’t have to borrow your brothers or use your iPhone. For when you’re in your own house and have the freedom to color coordinate your walls with your brand colors. Or when you have enough following influence to write the book. Eileen Wilder’s (another speaker at the Path To Prosperity conference) response to that would be, “Uh uh. Do It Now”!

In her words, “the enemy of wealth isn’t mindset, it’s delay”. She took a chance on her gifting and started her life coaching business with a janky promo video (her words, not mine!) and a one-page website. God responded to her faith by blowing her mind with how many people signed up for her coaching and she responded by upping up the price tag! The rest was millionaire history!

Let’s not wait until everything is perfect before we get started. Perfection doesn’t produce results as much as discipline does. In fact, none of this matters if we are not consistent. And discipline helps us to keep consistent. However, when we think of discipline we think of making these huge changes. We get excited about them and then when we can’t perform them perfectly, the excitement dies down and we’re back to square one. Discipline doesn’t start with perfection. It simply starts with action and it’s completely ok if that action is small. Literally, one baby step is better than no step at all.

James Clear explains in his book “Atomic Habits”, that the number of times you perform a habit is more important than the amount of time you’ve been performing it. To showcase that theory, he created a tactic called the 2-Minute Rule where the goal is to scale down a habit to 2 minutes so it is easier to start. Anyone can read one page of a book, or meditate for one minute. The power of this strategy “is that once you’ve started doing the right thing, it is much easier to continue doing it.” (Atomic Habits, pg.163)

And continuation is the discipline we need to unlock our power to create wealth. The Bible says, “let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Your harvest is tied to your endurance, so don’t give up. It doesn’t matter if you're the fastest or the slowest, whether your strides are long and majestic or short and stocky. Just. Don’t. Stop.

Y'all the harvest is plentiful. I’ve seen Canaan and baby, the land is goooooood. My job was to bring you back a taste of the land and a good report, and hopefully, I’ve done that job today. Cause what we not gonna do is spend another 40 years outside of our promise land because we didn’t believe it was possible for God. So who’s ready to go up and take Canaan? Who’s ready to go ahead and get their blessing?! The power to do so has already been given to you. Are you going to choose to use it?

Much Love,

Nyorh Agwe