How to Increase in Favor
In order to get to the place where our faith will move mountains and we have the ability to overcome everything that the world—or the enemy—throws at us, we must increase in favor.
Let’s look at 2 Peter 3:18, which instructs us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” When we translate the word “grace” as “divine favor,” what this verse is saying is that we are to grow in divine favor and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In other words, the more we grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the more we will increase in the manifestation of the favor of God.
The Word of God tells us that Jesus Himself grew in favor: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52, NIV). Other translations render “grew” as “increased.” If the favor of God increased in Jesus’ life, then it can also increase in our lives.
Some people have said to me, “Now, wait a minute, Brother Jerry; that was Jesus.” In essence, what they are saying is that Jesus is the only one who can grow in favor. Well, if that is true, then by extension no one but Jesus can increase in wisdom or stature, either. But we all know that it is possible for us to increase in both wisdom and stature. Therefore, it is also possible for us to increase in the favor of God.
Just as we have a part to play in walking in the favor of God, we also have a part to play in increasing in that favor. I have studied what the Word of God has to say about favor for many years, and I have discovered three important keys to our increasing in favor.
KEY #1:
WE MUST CONSIDER OUR WAYS
The psalmist wrote, “ I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; be merciful to me according to Your word. I thought about my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies” (Ps. 119:58-59). Here is someone who is asking for favor, and he is asking for it with his whole heart. But making the request is only the beginning. Notice that in the very next sentence, the psalmist states what he must do in order to increase in favor. He says, “ I thought about my ways.”
If we are going to ask for God’s favor to be increased, then we need to take an inventory of our ways. Here’s another way to say it: To increase in the favor of God, we must make sure that our ways are pleasing to Him. That is what the psalmist did. He asked for favor, and at the same time made a decision to line up his ways with the testimonies of God.
Obviously, our lifestyles have a direct result on how much favor we walk in. The fact that we are born again and in covenant with God opens the door for God’s favor. But if our lifestyles are not pleasing to God, then we are not going to increase in favor.
God spoke through the prophet, Haggai, saying, “‘You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.’ Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Consider your ways!’ ” (Hag. 1:6-7). If we are not experiencing the favor of God in our lives to the extent that it has been promised, we should examine our ways and see if they are pleasing to the Lord.
IF WE ARE NOT EXPERIENCING THE FAVOR OF GOD IN OUR LIVES TO THE EXTENT THAT IT HAS BEEN PROMISED, WE SHOULD EXAMINE OUR WAYS AND SEE IF THEY ARE PLEASING TO THE LORD.
We know that God approved Jesus, who said at the time of Jesus’ baptism, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Another time, as several of the disciples witnessed the transfigured Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah, God spoke again, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 17:5). The favor of God was upon Jesus, not because He was the Son of God, but because His ways were pleasing to God.
We have already established the connection between divine favor and the peace we experience in life. But peace is also the result of our ways being pleasing to the Lord: “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Prov. 16:7). When I consider my ways and make my lifestyle pleasing to the Lord, I avoid having to fight some battles simply because God makes my enemies to be at peace with me.
If we want to increase in the favor of God, our ways must be pleasing to Him. If there is something in your life that you know by the testimony of the Word and the conviction of the Holy Spirit is not pleasing to God, then take authority over it and remove it from your life. When you do, you will begin to see the favor of God increase in all areas of your life.
KEY #2:
WE MUST HEAR INSTRUCTION
The book of Proverbs has much to say about instruction, and I always like to begin my study with these verses: “Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the LORD” (Prov. 8:32-35).
In this passage, “me” refers to “instruction.” Instruction is the speaker; those who seek and wait for instruction will be blessed and obtain favor. Not so for those who despise instruction: “But to the wicked God says: ‘What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you?’ ” (Ps. 50:16-17). When we despise instruction, we are in essence abdicating our right to walk in God’s statutes and in His covenant.
In order to increase in the favor of God, we must be diligent in searching His Word for instruction. Proverbs 11:27 says that “he who earnestly seeks good finds favor, but trouble will come to him who seeks evil.” I especially like the way the King James translation reads: “He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.” So mischief will come to those who seek it, but those who do good shall procure—or get possession of—favor.
There are many people who have accepted Jesus and are therefore going to heaven, but they are not enjoying the favor of God in this life. They live with a barely-get-by mentality and lifestyle, always looking for shortcuts. Rather than seeking instruction in order to achieve excellence in all they do, they seek to do the least amount necessary to get by. I do not enjoy working with people who have what I call an “it’s good enough” mentality—who are constantly watching the clock and counting the minutes until it’s time to leave. We don’t hire people like that in this ministry. Instead, we look for those who make the effort to hear instruction and strive for excellence.
Looking again to the book of Proverbs, we see that “a good man obtains favor from the LORD” (Prov. 12:2) and “he who keeps instruction is in the way of life” (Prov. 10:17). When we encounter people who are constantly disobedient to God’s instruction, it’s easy to see that they are not walking in much favor. But those who hear God’s instructions and determine to be obedient to them will experience His favor. The more we increase in obedience to instruction, the more we will increase in the favor of God.
KEY #3:
WE MUST GET UNDERSTANDING
In order to increase in God’s favor, we must not only consider our ways and be obedient to the instruction we receive, but we must also strive to get understanding. Scripture tells us, “He who despises the word will be destroyed, but he who fears the commandment will be rewarded. The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death. Good understanding gains favor” (Prov. 13:13-15).
Next to this verse in my study Bible, I wrote, “Never lose your zeal for the Word, never lose your hunger for revelation knowledge, and always desire understanding.” While I desire to grow in understanding of the entire Word of God, I know that getting understanding of the favor of God will cause that favor to increase in my life—and it will do the same for you. That is why I have written this book; I want you to have an understanding of God’s favor and to experience it on a consistent basis in every area of your life.
Sadly, I hear some Christians say things like, “I’m so tired of s
tudying the Word” or “Why do I have to be in the Word all of the time?” The Word has become irksome to them. They have lost their zeal for it. At one time, these people were strong in the Word, attending every Bible study, buying the latest books and inspirational messages, going to seminars, and being in church on a regular basis. But then their attendance at church and meetings became less frequent, and as a result, they spent less and less time in the Word. They lost their desire for it. When someone loses their desire for the Word, they literally cut themselves off from God’s favor.
God wants us to walk in a continuous flow of His favor; but without a Bible-based understanding of favor, we are vulnerable to suffer from the same difficulties the world experiences. I tell people that while the economy may be bad, it doesn’t have to stop the favor of God from bringing blessing to our lives.
Oftentimes after I preach this, someone will say, “That may be true for you, but you just don’t understand my problem.”
My response is always, “Your problem is not the issue. The issue is that you don’t understand the power of the favor of God.”
I have preached the message of the favor of God all over the world for more than 40 years. I’ve preached it in places where people live in mud huts with no electricity and no running water. I’ve watched these people get revelations of the favor of God and eventually get houses, cars and businesses. Before long, they are supporting the work of God in their communities. If understanding the favor of God works in the bush of Africa, it will work right now, right where you are, regardless of your circumstances.
Do you know who has given me the hardest time about preaching this message in countries afflicted with abject poverty? It hasn’t been the nationals, or the people who lived there. It has been the religious American missionaries, who say, “You can’t preach prosperity in this country, Brother Jerry.”
I just smile and ask them, “Why not?”
Invariably, they answer, “Because the people are poor.”
That’s about as rational as saying that you can’t preach salvation someplace because the people are lost. It doesn’t make any sense.
You can experience a continuous flow of the favor of God no matter how negative your circumstances might be. Throughout the Bible, we see examples of God’s people experiencing various kinds of challenges and tests; even in the most desperate of those situations, when the favor of God manifested, it changed their circumstances into something positive.
I still face challenges just like everyone else does. I’m dealing with some impossible-looking situations at this very moment—and in the natural, there’s not a thing I can do to change the circumstances. But being favor-minded changes the way I look at these circumstances, because I know that the favor of God is coming, and I know that I am growing in God’s favor.
Growing in the favor of God does not depend on the economy or the doctor’s report or where you were born or where you live or your education or any natural fact of life. Growing in the favor of God depends on your first becoming favor-minded, then developing faith in the favor of God, and finally becoming determined to increase in that favor.
5
MOVING TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF FAVOR
The first time Carolyn and I visited the former Soviet Union country of Ukraine, the Berlin wall had just come down. Although Communism was dying out in the region, we could still see the toll it had taken on the land and the people.
The cost of bread changed every day. We’d go to the market and pay a certain price for food one day, and the next day the exact same thing would cost 10 times more—thanks to the Russian mafia. People were given tiny plots of land, which the government allowed them to have to raise their own produce, but the land didn’t produce much.
The equipment at the main hospital in the capital city of Kiev looked like stuff American hospitals had discarded in the 1930s. One of the surgeons we met there was making less money than a high school janitor would make in America. The hospital administrator allowed me to put on a gown and surgical mask so that I could observe the surgeons at work; what they were able to accomplish with what little they had was nothing short of miraculous.
When Carolyn and I had completed our mission in Kiev, we flew to Vienna, Austria. Although we had traveled only a few hundred miles, the lifestyle there was markedly different from that in Kiev. Known as the City of Music because of its musical heritage, Vienna had been ranked number one not only for its quality of life, but also for its culture of innovation. Carolyn and I were absolutely stunned at the difference between the two cities.
It saddened us to think that the people over in Ukraine had no idea that this other lifestyle existed such a short distance away. The reason they didn’t know was that they were bound by their culture. They had been lied to and told that God didn’t exist; therefore, they had never seen or experienced the favor that was available to them through faith in Jesus Christ. They were bound by the beliefs that had been dictated to them by people in authority.
UNFORTUNATELY, MANY BELIEVERS TODAY ARE BOUND BY THEIR CULTURE AND THE BELIEFS THAT HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN TO THEM.
Unfortunately, many believers today are bound by their culture and the beliefs that have been passed down to them. The Word of God tells us that “as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). The reason so many of God’s people do not walk at a higher level of favor in their lives is that they can’t get past old mindsets. They can’t get past their upbringing, their culture, and the standards of living that were set by their families—particularly if those standards did not line up with the Word of God.
So how do we move beyond these restrictive cultural mindsets to a higher level of favor? As always, the answer is found in the Bible, which instructs us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
The Phillips New Testament puts it this way: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould.” The Good News Translation tells us, “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world.” The word “standard” can be defined as “that which is widely recognized as the model of authority.” But that’s the world’s definition. Whatever the world’s standard is, we’re expected to adapt to it because it’s the accepted way of doing things.
Take borrowing money, for example. The Bible says we are to “owe no man any thing” (Rom. 13:8, KJV). Carolyn’s parents took this verse to heart; they never owed anybody. But that wasn’t the way I was brought up. My dad owed everybody. He lived on borrowed money, and by the time I was 18 years old, I’d learned to live on borrowed money, too.
The first loan I ever got was so that I could pay my college tuition. My dad’s best friend was the vice president of our local bank, so I went to see him. What I didn’t realize was that the man who had gotten my dad into debt was about to get me into debt. When I arrived at his office, he shook my hand, told me to have a seat, and then asked, “So, Jerry, what do you have for collateral?”
I said, “What do you mean?”
“Well, what do you own?”
I told him that the only thing I owned was my 1957 Chevrolet, and then I reminded him that I still lived with my parents. I should have known when he said, “We’ll take it!” that the paper he presented to me was not something I should sign my name to. But debt was a way of life in my family, and it became a way of life for me, as well. When Carolyn and I married in 1966, debt was very much a part of my life; that was how I ran my automotive business. Debt was the standard of the world in which I had been raised.
So there I was, a young man with a new wife and a fledgling business, headed down the same path that everybody else in my family was on—and I can tell you that the favor of God was nowhere to be seen on that path.
I had no idea there was any other way to live until 1969, when I got hold of God’s Word and discovered that He wanted me to live an abundant life. I learned that ther
e was a better way to live than being in debt all the time. I listened to faith-building messages over and over again, and I began to renew my mind to the Word of God.
I’m not saying that it’s a sin to borrow, or that if you’re in debt then God doesn’t love you. But I am telling you that there is a better way—a higher way—to live. There is another standard.
Let’s look again at Romans 12:2. Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Notice that the transformation doesn’t begin on the outside. We begin experiencing transformation on the inside, with the renewing of our minds.
In my case, I saw myself getting out of debt before I ever started reducing that debt. I saw myself experiencing better health before I had any outward evidence of it. I most certainly saw myself walking in a higher level of favor before it ever manifested.
The only way you and I can break loose from what others consider to be the standard way to live and move to a higher level of favor is by the renewing of our minds. I began this process several decades ago, and I can tell you that I am not the same man today. The way I live now bears no resemblance to the way I lived before I committed myself to renewing my mind.
THE MESSAGE translation of Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.” The word “culture” in this verse can be defined as “the attitudes, the opinions, the beliefs, and the behavior patterns that are characteristic of the country or the society in which we live.”
The reason so many in the Body of Christ are not experiencing God’s best is that they’ve become so well-adjusted to their culture that they can’t even think about a better way of living. If we desire to walk in a higher level of the favor of God, we must be willing to walk away from our culture. Most importantly, we must leave old mindsets behind.
The Favor of God Page 7
