Companies rise and fall. Businesses expand and collapse. Entrepreneurs achieve success and can lose it all overnight.
David Johnson once lived paycheck to paycheck in the customer service industry. His work life lacked direction and he felt stifled and unfulfilled. He made the choice to start a company from scratch. Now, he is the CEO and founder of the digital marketing agency EverProsper.
As he started and scaled his business, Johnson had to overcome major obstacles, such as sudden wealth syndrome, which is a psychological condition that can occur when individuals suddenly come into large sums of money, leading to feelings of anxiety, guilt and confusion about how to manage their newfound wealth. He also had to hone his own character, shedding old habits that held him back.
Johnson shares the five faith-based strategies to which he attributes his success. These tips allowed Johnson to operate as what he calls a “kingdom entrepreneur”: an individual who applies supernatural strategies, insights, goals and actions to achieve their goals. “The key to implementing kingdom principles is partnering with God,” Johnson says. “Allow him to reign over your business and life and you will achieve a type of success you never dreamed possible.”
1. Trust that things will work out
Scripture reference: James 1:5-8 (NIV)
“I was done with corporate America,” Johnson shares. “I wanted more for myself. I prayed a simple prayer: ‘Lord, bless me to bless others.’ This is essentially the prayer of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:10). This was the beginning of my journey to entrepreneurship.”
In starting his company, Johnson knew he’d have to live by faith. “Delay is not denial,” he says, pointing to the bible verse Romans 5:3: “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance.”
“The season of waiting and wondering for God’s promise is the season when God is refining you, developing you, exposing issues,” he says. “He’s rebuilding you—equipping you to be able to handle the next level. I call this base camp.”
2. Give back to those in need
Scripture reference: Malachi 3:10 (NIV)
“Psalm 24 says tithing is about gratitude. We are to be cheerful givers (2 Corinthians 9:7),” Johnson says. “Tithing shows faith in God. If we are faithful, he is faithful. Tithing protects your heart from greed and breaks the spirit of Mammon when you obey God’s word.”
Johnson recalls a time in his business life when he stopped tithing and watched his business dry up for three years. “I know in my spirit that the dry season was because I was robbing God,” he recalls. “Once I realized this and started tithing again, God restored me entirely. I’ll never stop tithing again.”
Along with this is giving back to the community and those in need. “It is more blessed to give than receive (Acts 20:35),” Johnson says. “Blessing those in need is giving back to the Lord (Proverbs 19:17).”
3. Determine and live by your company’s mission
Scripture reference: 1 Chronicles 4:10
Johnson advocates dedicating your business and determining its purpose. For example, in dedicating his business to God, Johnson emphasizes the importance of using the resources that God provides and being a good steward of what God has given. “Someone has to pay the light bill at the church,” Johnson says. “It’s not wrong to have things or finances as long as you’re using them to expand the territory of the Lord.”
To remind him of his dedication, Johnson prays the prayer of Jabez over his company every day (1 Chronicles 4:10): “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.”
“My pastor challenged us to pray this over our families and businesses every day during 2022,” Johnson says. “Once I did this, I experienced supernatural growth in a supernatural timeframe. I still pray this daily.”
4. Practice forgiveness to let go of things that may be holding you back
Scripture reference: Matthew 6:14-15
Johnson states that unforgiveness is one of Satan’s greatest schemes to block an individual’s blessings. “If you’re holding on to something, then your hands are not open and available to receive anything else,” he says. “Unforgiveness delays blessings, creates stumbling blocks and stops the success that God has for you from flowing into your life.”
He adds that forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting. “If someone has wronged you, you can forgive them without letting them have the same access into your life that they once had,” Johnson shares. “But as my wife’s uncle once said, ‘Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.’”
5. Heal past traumas to open yourself to opportunities
Scripture references: Psalm 34:17 and Isaiah 43:18
Finally, Johnson urges entrepreneurs to deal with past trauma. “Say you grew up with a single mother and your father abandoned you,” Johnson says. “You may develop a belief that every relationship may end in abandonment. This can lead you to avoid engaging with kingdom-minded people and missing out on relationships that God may have specifically put in your path.”
Johnson emphasizes that, when hurt happens, negative spiritual influences step in to sow fear, doubt, anxiety and depression. “The enemy will do anything to keep you from deliverance and walking in complete freedom,” Johnson says.
