How to Raise Prosperous Children

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9

Prosperous → xlc → tsalach → to advance, succeed, be profitable

“For then you will make your way prosperous,
And then you will have good success”

‘Then’ indicates a condition(s) preceeding. The conditions, and the process of teaching raising prosperous children:

Teach Them the Word of God
 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth”

Listen to what comes out of a person’s mouth, and you will know A LOT about them. Critical, depressed, positive, negative, uplifting, optimistic . . . .spend a little time around someone, and you’ll know. This instruction suggest that what should be in/on/out of our mouth is the Word of God.

That doesn’t mean you’re an obnoxious religious zealot who has to force a Scripture reference out of your mouth every other sentence. It means that you speak truth, and that in doing so the Word of God is common in your language.

You can’t do that – your children can’t do that – without knowing the Word of God

Help Them Understand the Word of God
”You shall meditate on it day and night”

That means study it, contemplate it, contextualize it.

This is one of the greatest challenges we face in our growth, and in leading our children. We and they hear a Bible verse, but what do we do with it?

Teach Them to Obey The Word of God
“that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it”

This won’t be so hard if steps one and two are in order!

Remember that Scripture? Remember how we said it applies to life? That means now.

Then the Promise↓

“For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success”

Summary Statement→The Word of God simply tells us that if we learn the Word, focus on the Word so that we understand its context, and obey the Word, we will succeeed.

Note the passage twice says “you.”
The first “you” indicates a personal choice – the onus is on the person learning.
The second “you” says “you will make your way prosperous”

YOU. Not God. The child, not God, not the parent. YOU.

Now all blessing flow from God, and He deserves the glory, no doubt. But I believe this “you” indicates that the choice for prosperity – at least in some aspects of life – is that of the individual, BECAUSE IF he learned, understood and obeyed the Word, he would be in the center of God’s will and blessing!

Is that where you want your children?

To learn, understand and obey the Word – that is, to LIVE IT OUT – must be challenging in any culture, because the Word says next, “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Hence the fourth instruction.

Teach Them to not Wilt Under Pressure
We must stand firm in the truth and teach our children to. How? By putting them in positions, small at first, to courageously live out the truth. The challenges will grow large rather naturally as they grow up.

Then another Promise↓
“Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” This is literal and figurative. If you know the Word, He is with you in that you know His truth and can state it. But in Acts 2 the Holy Spirit came, and for us modern-day believers, He is literally with us 1) reminding us of the Word; 2) making it make sense for us; 3) counseling us; 4) comforting us; 5) giving us peace; 6) giving us power.

Key Relevant Question↓
Where does learning, contextualizing and obeying the Word of God lead us? What does it mean ‘to prosper’?

I think to ‘prosper’ in our life would mean to live in the center of God’s will. That’s where He is. That’s where He wants us. That’s where “good works He has planned in advance for us” reside, the things He wants to do in us – and in our children – that will reveal Him and bring Him glory and transform other lives.

So in essence this instruction is about being in God’s will.

But we see in our ‘church culture’ very few people actually walking in the center of God’s will. Why? Simple disobedience. Profound self-focus.

Francis Chan, in his new book, Forgotten God writes that we shouldn’t be fussing with ourselves and God over His will, but instead should “seek hard after the Spirit’s leading in my life today.”

One day at a time following His instructions/leadings for that day will lead you squarely to the center of God’s will.

THE Key Question
What place have God and His Word in your life?

‘Cultural Christianity’, which is what most everybody you know lives, suggests we have a ‘balance life.’ Chan writes, “Nowhere in Scripture do I see a ‘balanced life with a little bit of God added in . . . yet when I look at our churches this is exactly what I see: a lot of people who have added Jesus to their lives. People who have, in a sense, asked Him to join them on their life journey, to follow them wherever they feel they should go, rather than following Him as we are commanded.”

How does all this relate to parenting? Do you want to raise ‘cultural Christians’ to use God as a magic genie-bailout-crutch, or do you want to raise prosperous children who live in the center of God’s will?

There is a difference between facilitating our children’s desires and guiding them into worthy desires. You are doing one or the other, depending on whether you are teaching them to Biblically prosper or prosper in the world’s way.