“How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man” Proverbs 6:9–11 NIV.

One of the interesting things in the Bible is that it traces things to their root causes and although, apparently, poverty is a material condition, the Bible exposes that its root cause is spiritual. Its root cause is laziness. And we are warned that if we indulge in laziness, our poverty will come like a bandit, our scarcity like an armed man. One of the versions says, “like a man who travels.”

Poverty and scarcity may be apparently far off – but if you sleep on it, if you give up, if you fold your hands and just lie down, it is amazing how quickly poverty arrives and forces its way in on us like a bandit. Poverty doesn’t knock at the door; it forces its way in. Remember that laziness is ultimately a sure road to poverty, and that the remedy for poverty is not primarily financial or material, but it is spiritual.

If you are fighting poverty, if it seems to be oppressing you, check on your spiritual condition. See what is permitting that bandit to assault you and to move in on you and take you over.

—Derek Prince

To listen to Derek’s original audio on our website click here.

Materials used by kind permission of Derek Prince Ministries.