In the prosperity gospel, also known as the “Word of Faith,” the believer is told to use God, whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is just the opposite—God uses the believer. Word of Faith or prosperity theology sees the Holy Spirit as a power to be put to use for whatever the believer wills. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Person who enables the believer to do God’s will. The prosperity gospel movement closely resembles some of the destructive greed sects that infiltrated the early church. Paul and the other apostles were not accommodating to or conciliatory with the false teachers who propagated such heresy. They identified them as dangerous false teachers and urged Christians to avoid them.
Paul warned Timothy about such men in 1 Timothy 6:5, 9-11. These men of “corrupt mind” supposed godliness was a means of gain and their desire for riches was a trap that brought them “into ruin and destruction” (v. 9). The pursuit of wealth is a dangerous path for Christians and one which God warns about: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (v. 10). If riches were a reasonable goal for the godly, Jesus would have pursued it. But He did not, preferring instead to have no place to lay His head (Matthew 8:20) and teaching His disciples to do the same. It should also be remembered that the only disciple concerned with wealth was Judas.
Paul said covetousness is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5) and instructed the Ephesians to avoid anyone who brought a message of immorality or covetousness (Ephesians 5:6-7). Prosperity teaching prohibits God from working on His own, meaning that God is not Lord of all because He cannot work until we release Him to do so. Faith, according to the Word of Faith doctrine, is not submissive trust in God; faith is a formula by which we manipulate the spiritual laws that prosperity teachers believe govern the universe. As the name “Word of Faith” implies, this movement teaches that faith is a matter of what we say more than whom we trust or what truths we embrace and affirm in our hearts.
A favorite term in the Word of Faith movement is “positive confession.” This refers to the teaching that words themselves have creative power. What you say, Word of Faith teachers claim, determines everything that happens to you. Your confessions, especially the favors you demand of God, must all be stated positively and without wavering. Then God is required to answer (as though man could require anything of God!). Thus, God’s ability to bless us supposedly hangs on our faith. James 4:13-16 clearly contradicts this teaching: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Far from speaking things into existence in the future, we do not even know what tomorrow will bring or even whether we will be alive.
Instead of stressing the importance of wealth, the Bible warns against pursuing it. Believers, especially leaders in the church (1 Timothy 3:3), are to be free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5). The love of money leads to all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). In sharp contrast to the Word of Faith emphasis on gaining money and possessions in this life, Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). The irreconcilable contradictions between prosperity teaching and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is best summed up in the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:24, “You cannot serve both God and money.”
True Discernment 
When I got saved in 1979 on Valentines Day, I was one hurting puppy. I was addicted to alcohol, Valium, two packs of cigarettes per day and Bulimic on top of all that. Even though I worked and functioned in daily life, I was miserable on the inside. My question, like a popular song of the day, was “What’s it all about, Alfie?” How could people seem to be so happy and know where they were headed in this life and where they would end up? I could not figure it out. No one could tell me how to find happiness in this life. Not my friends not my family, but Oral Roberts, one of the TV Evangelists I had begun to watch out of desperation, had a little pin he would send you for a donation. It said “TRY GOD.” And one day I got so down, I decided I had to do it! I had to “Try God.” Very soon after that, while watching the 700 Club, I prayed with Ben Kenchlow and gave my life to the Lord. Right after that a friend invited me to her Church and I began to grow.
As time went on, I was totally delivered from my addictions through the Lord and His Word. The Word of God was my life-line and one of my favorite scriptures speaking of the Word of God became Proverbs 4:22 “For they are life to those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” Truly God had healed me emotionally, physically, and spiritually, and I was able to experience for once in my life “His abundant life”, having been translated out of darkness into His marvelous light.” As I learned about Him, I wanted all He had for me. I had found the Peal of Great Price and I was not going to let go. But like many new converts who were not raised in a Bible Believing Church, (I was raised Catholic, attended Mass and Catechism through 12th grade, while receiving all the Holy Sacraments for my age and status in life) I came into Christianity “where I was invited,” not really making a thought out decision in the matter, as to the best place to go.
Where was that? Smack in the middle of a Church that would begin to embrace the Prosperity Gospel. I was immersed or should I say submerged (anyway looking back I was drowning and did not even know it) in the Prosperity Gospel for probably 15 years. I would watch Kenneth Copeland before I went to Church. I fed on and thrived on the writings and teachings of Kathryn Kuhlman, E.W. Kenyan, Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake, Kenneth Hagin, John Avanzini, Marylyn Hickey, Joyce Meyers, the Beveres, Benny Hinn and the like.
I was convinced what they taught and what I was learning was what the Bible taught. However my best friend in the Lord moved away and began calling me and telling me that what we were being taught in the Faith or Prosperity Message was wrong. I was highly upset that she would even try to say such things. But the chipping away at the lies had begun unbeknownst to me and God was going to show me she was right. I am so thankful she was bold enough to tell me and even more thankful God was so faithful to me. But unlike many of my church friends at the time, I thought I “could be” deceived. They however thought they “could not”. The truth is, I believe, they were afraid to even consider the thought that they “could be” deceived because it showed a lack of faith in their minds. It showed doubt and unbelief in their minds. One of the biggest hindrances to those caught up in this false teaching is that they believe they receive God’s blessings through faith and that doubt and unbelief undermine their faith and cause them to lose out on their blessings. Since without faith we cannot please God which means to them they will miss their reward, they take this so far as to believe that they “need to know” and “can know” the “Will of God” in any given situation, so that when they pray they do not pray, “if it be they will”; but instead, they ask God for the very specific thing “they believe” to be His will in any given situation and the very thing they want to see come to pass. Then to insure they are “in faith” and not doubting God, they “thank Him for that very thing “ when they pray.” (Which is not a bad thing for us to do, but again we cannot always know the will of God when we pray.) Unfortunately if someone is that hung up on feeling any doubt and unbelief because they believe it is not pleasing to God, then how in the world can they easily doubt the teaching they are in? It is a set up! To come out of that teaching you finally get so full of doubt and unbelief about what you have been taught, it is almost an anathema to most to even begin the process! They literally do not and cannot believe they can be deceived! Thus Pride and Arrogance and Evil prevail and they cannot even see it. Read the scripture once again. Not only must we pray often, “if it be they will”, it is arrogant and evil not too!!!!! Wow!
Boasting About Tomorrow James 4:13
13 Come now, you who say, s“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For tyou are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, u“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. vAll such boasting is evil.
The other scripture that clinched it for me was James 2:5. If you read this Chapter, James is referring to the Poor, but not the Poor in Spirit but rather the Poor economically. In the Faith Movement, one of the most prominent unspoken truths is that the man who has Great Faith will be successful and by that they include Financial Success, with all their needs and more provided by the Lord. If you are a Christian and poor they believe you are doing something wrong, must not know the Word or just not exercising your Faith properly or heaven forbid, sinning! Essentially in their minds you have “little faith.” But in this scripture, the Lord admonishes those in this body of believers for showing special care to the well -to-do man in fine clothes, asking him to come sit up front with them in a “good seat” while telling the poor man in “vile” clothes, probably dirty, to stand over there or somewhere beneath the others feet! God says to the first ones, “your motives and thoughts are evil. You have shown respect for the rich man who will turn around and oppress you and you have totally transgressed the Law and shown no mercy to the poor man. And then, put this in your peace pipes, you Prosperity Preachers, the Lord goes on to say that “ He has chosen the poor man to be RICH IN FAITH!!! How does that fit into your teaching, Mr. Copeland, Mrs. Hickey, and Mr. Price?
How many times had I read that and not “heard” what the Lord was saying? Of course, poor people (Christians) are rich in faith, having to exercise their faith in God for practically every thing in life! This was so basic, so clear, yet there was a time when I could not let myself believe this Truth. It would have messed up my whole theology and “it did.” Armed now with these two passages of scripture, the Lord began to take me through the scriptures and show me the Truth. Together we were able to throw out the bathwater without throwing out the baby, which is a whole other subject. It took several years to come away from the Heresy I had believed and many times I felt like I was so vulnerable and faithless, but God stuck with me and today, I am keen to False Teaching and the Endtime Deceptions. It is one of my passions and I have a great desire to help people out of the same Deceptions the Lord has shown me that I was in and more, with His help!
2 Corinthians 1:3-4New American Standard Bible (NASB)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in [a]any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.