Holistic Growth and All Round Prosperity

UV 884/10,000 Holistic Growth and Prosperity “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in good health even as your soul prospers.” 3 John 1 v 2 We should not follow a leader who does not pray or does not know how to pray. For such a leader is spiritually blind. He is not able to cater to all the needs of his followers: spiritual, emotional, material or monetary, intellectual, social and physical. A spiritually blind leader will lead his followers sooner or later into the ditch. Those who are not spiritually blind know that prayer along with the Word of God are the two eyes of a leader. These two eyes enable the leader to see or to know and to meet the needs of his followers. One of the blind spots of management gurus and teachers on leadership like Stephen Covey in our age is that while he spoke or wrote about the circle of control and the circle of influence, he did not speak or write about the large segment of our needs that fall beyond our circle of control or influence. Prayer makes the entire universe the circle of our influence if not control. Through prayer we can influence positively the health, material and spiritual prosperity of all people. Prayer is the most intimate way to demonstrate our love for those we lead. John prayed for the beloved flock he led and mentored for Christ. This uni-verse does away with the half truth of the so called prosperity gospel. We need not over-emphasize or negate the value of any of the dimensions of life. We need not have a guilt trip as we prosper financially or materially even as the Lord blesses us. The early apostles were concerned as the Lord is with the holistic health, prosperity and development of the people they mentored. We need to be in good health, prosper in all things, implying our physical, intellectual, emotional, social, financial as well as in our spiritual dimensions. There is no divorce or dichotomy between any of these elements of our lives. If one or more of these elements are lagging behind, our growth will be lopsided and incomplete, affecting our efficacy, our advocacy and our experience of life. As and when the Lord blesses us in all these ways, we become a signboard for our generation pointing people away from the rat race to a more blessed race- the race of grace. Prateep V Philip