Turning to God meets all needs

Spirituality isn’t synonymous with poverty. In fact, spirituality goes hand in hand with prosperity.

Jesus assures us: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). How comforting it is to know that we have been given the kingdom of heaven, not just a little shack deep in the woods!

When we carefully study the deep spirituality taught by Jesus and contained in the Gospels, we find that his teachings hold a precise answer to financial difficulties that we may encounter. We find a satisfying answer to the fear of lack.

Jesus explains that it is normal to lack nothing good. He does not champion poverty, despite what some popular theories advance.

For example, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus doesn’t say, “You will be hungry, and you will be clothed in rags; such is the price to be paid on this spiritual path.” On the contrary, he assures us by saying, “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. . . . Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. . . . And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matthew 6:25, 26, 28, 29). 

Jesus assures us that God, infinite Love, naturally meets all of our needs. Driving home the point, he continues, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

Placing our trust in God and turning away from any limiting, difficult situation in which we seem to be, allows us to find peace, and to listen for and act upon divine inspiration that brings about an adjustment in our finances.

A few years ago, I found myself in a situation with meager resources. I was working, but my salary was very small and did not cover our family’s expenses.

So I decided to pray. My prayer was not a plea for God to fill my bank account. That sort of prayer would only have reinforced my perception that I was in a situation of lack. Christian Science, based on Jesus’ teachings, explains that God, good, is infinite and unlimited, so despite appearances, the spiritual reality is that lack is impossible. Or more precisely, what we perceive as something missing is in fact already filled by divine Love. As God’s spiritual offspring, made in His image and likeness, we already reflect the entirety of unlimited divine resources.

What we perceive as something missing is in fact already filled by divine Love.

My prayer consisted of firmly establishing these spiritual facts in my thought. It was also about letting go of a feeling of guilt for having a job that did not seem to provide enough for the needs of my family. Instead, I worked to gain a better understanding of God as the source of good for all, including my family and me.

What a relief it was to feel the certainty that good was present and unlimited, and gain the peace that accompanies this certainty! These were the effects of my prayer. I felt more receptive to divine wisdom as the source of inspired solutions to our problems.

Sometime later, a colleague at the office asked me to help with her move. She needed to leave town suddenly and vacate the apartment where she had been living. I agreed to help her.

On the day of the move, my colleague explained that she had moved into this apartment when she started her new job, but that during all this time she had also kept her former furnished apartment in the city where she had lived before.

So she explained to me that she now had doubles of everything, which she didn’t need. She then proposed that I take whatever I liked—sofas, furniture, kitchen utensils, etc. I found my needs met, even though I had never told my colleague about my financial difficulties. For me, this was clearly not a coincidence, but indeed the effect of that prayer that entrusts everything to God.

The spiritual path described by Jesus is neither to become materially impoverished, nor to focus on enriching oneself materially, but to turn away from matter as the source of our security and satisfaction by placing our trust in God, infinite good, whose creation is wholly spiritual and abundantly provided for.

When we are conscious of our oneness with the infinite, God, when we are conscious of our spiritual completeness, the reality of God’s creation is increasingly apparent in our daily life, including a satisfying response to our needs.