Here’s How to Break Free from the Poverty Spirit in Yeshua’s Name!

Have you heard of the poverty spirit?

This spirit is the work of the enemy. It deceives, manipulates, blinds, and discourages you from seeking to fulfill the desires God has placed on your heart. The spirit of poverty attacks in stages and is strategic and crafty. It twists God’s Word about blessings, finances, lack, and identity.

Discover what the poverty spirit is and…

• How it manifests
• How it blinds and deceives
• How to determine if you’re operating in it
• How to break free from it

It’s important for you, as a born-again Believer, to understand how it subtly operates. It reminds you of past failures and highlights what you don’t have. If you aren’t able to discern its presence and manifestations, it will slowly rob you of godly ambitions and passions and deceive you into comparing yourself and what you don’t have to others. 

Before long, disappointment and discouragement will cast shadows of doubt in your mind, leaving you feeling empty with no zest for life or vision for the future. 

How This Spirit Manifests in Your Life

The poverty spirit often manifests in a person’s behavior through actions of… 

• Hoarding 
• Greed
• Worrying about spending
• Lack of generosity
• Envy

The manifestations come from thinking that does not align with God’s Word.

• Thinking hoarding makes you happy
• Thinking God won’t provide for your needs
• Thinking that lack makes us holy
• Thinking all successful people used manipulation to rise to the top
• Thinking all wealthy people are driven by greed
• Thinking we must hold tight to what we have without living a life of generosity 

These mindsets simply do not align with God’s Word. 

It can be difficult to see it in yourself or your family line when you’ve been exposed to this mentality for your entire life. 

However, once you begin asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the intentions of the poverty spirit in your life, your eyes will open, and you will be able to deal with it at its root. 

The Spirit of Poverty’s Assignment of Robbery 

The Bible says every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is not of God but is the spirit of the Antichrist, which is already at work in the world (see 1 John 4:3). 

• Anti means “instead of,” “opposite of,” or “in exchange of.” 
• Christ comes from the Greek word Christos which means “the Messiah,” “the Anointed One.” 

Because Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One) said in John 10:10 that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but He came to give abundant life, you can see how the poverty spirit is one that opposes Christ’s favor and blessing toward you. It wants you to pick up the lies of lack instead of believing in the Father’s love. It wants you to exchange your blessings for a curse. 

The poverty spirit is one of many “antichrists” that have come to deceive in the last hour (see 1 John 2:18-19). And it is on assignment to rob you of God’s blessing and provision. It uses guilt, shame, a victim mentality, and pride to get its foot in the door of your life. 

To break free from the poverty spirit, recognize its characteristics and know the stages it goes through to get access into your life. 

The Poverty Spirit Holds You Back

Because of our Adamic nature, when the Holy Spirit prompts us to take a step of faith toward an assignment, we naturally open our wallets to check the contents before we open the Word to remember the promise.  

As a result, we do not often get to fully experience all God has for us because we want to trust what we see versus where our faith should be. 

• “Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”—John 20:29

When the poverty spirit is holding you back, try this…

• The next time you feel guilty for the blessings received, greedy and finding yourself hoarding, or worried your giving will place you in lack, try operating out of a spirit of gratefulness and generosity. Give thanks for what God has given you. Generously and cheerfully give to the Kingdom from that abundant supply that Philippians 4:19 mentions, not grudgingly or fearfully. God doesn’t bless you so you can create wealth for yourself. He gives you the ability to get wealth to establish His covenant with you so that you are a light to others (see Deuteronomy 8:18). 
• In other words, when the flesh wants to agree with the lie that you don’t or might not have enough, decree that your cup runs over. Decree your Father will give you all you need according to His glory in Christ Jesus (see Psalm 23:5-6, Philippians 4:19). 

Prayerfully develop a habit of self-discipline to go to the Word first. 

The voice of the poverty spirit says, “When I get (name an amount of money or a particular position), then I will take that step of faith and give or journey toward the desires God has placed on my heart to further His Kingdom.” 

But this is not what God’s Word says!

• “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’”—Malachi 3:10

The Holy Spirt Reminds You of What You Have in Yeshua

The spirit of poverty often says, “You don’t have enough.” But the Holy Spirit says, “You are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

Let’s be clear about this…

God is not asking you to give what you DON’T have. He asks you to give and live joyfully from what you DO have…

A rich inheritance that will not fade

• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”—1 Peter 1:3-4

An abundant life 

• “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”—John 10:10

A God who supplies all you need

• “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 4:19 

The Stages of the Poverty Spirit

We know the enemy uses your past and current circumstances to steal your hope and joy; the poverty spirit is one way he sends out this assignment. You know it is at work when you feel discontent, worried, fearful, prideful, entitled, and bitter. Its beginnings can seem subtle, but it has stages of increased operation. 

Stage 1. The poverty mindset. The poverty spirit begins small and infiltrates our thoughts by whispering words of discontentment and lack. This can relate to material things or vanity as well as emotional health. Maybe you see someone who appears confident and think to yourself, “I could never do what he or she does!” Stage one can look like false humility or a lack of confidence in God or the unique way He has created you.  

Stage 2. The poverty belief. Once those thoughts settle in and reside in your mind, your beliefs become rooted in them. You no longer think of the possible blessings and abundance from the Lord but instead camp out on beliefs that produce bitterness and disappointment. Your thoughts start to reflect the idea that what God has given you is not enough. 

Stage 3. The poverty actions. The poverty spirit has made itself at home in your mind. Your actions begin to reflect this spirit’s influence. Those around you can sense this. Your feelings of discontentment and your “poor” attitude will become evident through your actions. 

Stage 4. The total adoption of the poverty spirit. After a while, the spirit of poverty makes its way into every corner of your mind. When you live with it for years, it impacts more than just you. This spirit affects your relationships and family, even being passed down to the next generation. Perhaps it has been passed down to you. 

The glorious good news is that you can repent and declare the blood, breaking free from the poverty spirit in Yeshua’s name! 

The Checklist | Is the Poverty Spirit Operating in Your Life?

Review the list below. These are thoughts that the poverty spirit leads you to believe. Do any of these resonate with you? 

• I struggle with chronic, long-term lack—a cycle of poverty seems to continue, no matter how much money I make. 
• I think I have to give all of my work away. 
• I constantly think about how “expensive” it is to pay for a service. 
• I feel like I win when I get something for free. 
• I don’t tithe or bring offerings to the Lord.
• I find it difficult to be happy for wealthy people.
• I struggle to make wise financial choices, which leaves me stressed. 
• I find myself criticizing others for their financial choices, even if they have the resources to pay for them.  

Remember, this list is not to bring shame or guilt but to expose this evil spirit so that you can deal with it and get free from it!

Read Yeshua’s words…

• “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”—John 10:10

Read this psalm…

• “Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.”—Psalm 112:1-3

Does this sound like the poverty spirit is from the Lord? There is hope and good news. You can overcome and break free from the spirit’s influence in your life!

Overcoming the Poverty Spirit | 3 Steps to Break Free

1. Recognize, acknowledge, and repent. We all have had to deal with the ugliness of the poverty spirit. The checklist above exposes its influence so you are free not to feel guilty or ashamed. It is to help you see its influence and messages in our culture, such as…
   • You need more.
   • Your money is yours. Don’t give it away because it might run out.
   • What you have isn’t enough.

These lies from the enemy lead to condemnation, not conviction. Satan’s lies produce resentment, bitterness, or guilt. These are not messages of hope and abundance that are from the Lord. 

If you recognize any attributes in yourself or your family, you can deal with the poverty spirit by admitting it, confessing it, and repenting it. 

• “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”—James 5:16

2. Come into agreement with the spirit of generosity. The best way to move forward after recognizing, acknowledging, and repenting of the poverty spirit is to come into agreement with God’s Word and the spirit of generosity. 

The Holy Spirit never operates in a poverty spirit or lack. He only operates through generosity. He will not speak to you in words of lack. It is impossible for Him to communicate to you in anything other than a voice of gratitude, praise, and generosity. 

What does that mean?

It means that God has planted dreams and desires in your heart. The enemy then tries to distort those dreams with lies. These lies tell you that you are greedy and should feel guilty for having them. Or perhaps the lies magnify your weaknesses to steal the promise of your vision for the future. 

God is generous. He gave His only Son for you. When this fact is brought into perspective, it restores joy. You did not pay for your salvation—Jesus did. Ask the Lord to restore to you the joy of the gift you possess—eternal life and your name written in the books in Heaven.

• “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”—Psalm 51:12

3. Pray, praise, and keep on praying and praising. Understand that the devil is prowling around, looking to devour. For this reason, especially at the beginning of your breakthrough, repeat the act of repenting and coming into agreement with God’s Word—multiple times a day, if necessary. Then praise Him for the work He is doing in your life—declare the breakthroughs He is giving you. This creates a mind transformation that shifts your will and emotions. This shift cannot be done by your will alone but only with the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s operation in your life. 

Here is an example of a prayer you can pray today…

“Father God, in the name of Yeshua, I know I am not reading this by mistake today. I’m reading it so that I may be delivered from the poverty spirit. Father God, I am convicted, not condemned, and I have a spirit of poverty that has affected how I think. I acknowledge that the spirit has been on me and in my family line. I repent before you, Lord, and come out of agreement with it. By the power of Your blood and Your Holy Spirit in me, Lord, I dismantle it and bind it from attaching itself to me or my dependents.

“I speak Your blessings of prosperity over my family and myself for a thousand generations, according to Your Word in Deuteronomy 7 and 28. In the name of Yeshua, I cancel all poverty curses, hexes, and lies from my mind, will, and emotions. Thank you, Lord! I pray that my soul will process the Holy Spirit’s information through God’s Word as God’s voice. God, You and I are one. We are in unity. 

“Holy Spirit, come now and bless me with the fire of Your Spirit that will burn out all lying spirits that have created doubt, unbelief, and false identities that do not belong to me. I am a new creation, and all things are made new in Yeshua. I thank You and praise You, Lord! I am available in this season for the double portion blessing to be promoted into my call. I say yes, Lord, to that call, and I seal it in Yeshua’s name. Amen.”

Open Doors of Prosperity and Close Doors of Poverty

There is one more step you can take to open doors. Think for a moment of one thing you spend your time and money on. If you were to fast from it, you could take the money otherwise spent and bless God’s Kingdom—activating it in your life. 

Perhaps it’s the daily Starbucks you purchase or the Big Gulp you grab on your way home from work. Whatever it is, ask the Lord if that is something He wants you to fast from and then pour the blessings back into His Kingdom. Acting in alignment with the Holy Spirit opens doors. 

Fasting is intended to be a reminder. It reminds your soul to realign every time you want to act in accordance with your old nature. Fasting reminds your spirit of God’s generosity. The act can discipline your mind, will, and emotions to come out of the mindset of lack and cancel the poverty spirit in your life. It reminds you to call on the name of the Lord and come into agreement with His Word.  

You have a rich inheritance. You are blessed! Choose to renew your mind with the Word of God and restore the joy of your salvation!