THE STOREHOUSE PRINCIPLE

“The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Deut28:8

The concept of a storehouse is probably the most ignored or despised factor of Kingdom prosperity. Rarely do you find a Christian who knows what a storehouse is or who even has a storehouse.

The typical Pentecostal and Word of Faith believer feels that having a storehouse means you do not have faith in God. Several times I have heard Pentecostal and Word of Faith preachers ridicule the idea of saving money or storing finances. This criticism is predominantly born of ignorance of the scriptures and zeal without knowledge.

The bible is full of admonitions to have storehouses and to save money. In fact several times God pronounces a blessing on the storehouse. Joseph saved Egypt and Israel simply because he understood the concept of storehouse. 

The New Testament Jerusalem church lived in poverty and handouts from all the other churches simply because they consumed all that they had and didn’t have storehouses or even work. All they did was sell all their possessions, combine and consume the proceeds in a communal setting. They tried to found a socialist society and it backfired miserably. It was a big mistake which many Christians are repeating today.

There is no person, country or culture that has become wealthy over a long period of time without understanding and seriously applying the storehouse principle. The Jews are trained from a child on saving and investing money. 

Western societies and nations understood this a long time ago and built businesses and economies that have been wealthy for thousands of years. Asians, Indians and Arabs also understood this principle and have become incredibly wealthy and prosperous over time because they have storehouses and long term investments.

Sadly, contemporary Africans and more specifically Christians have little to no understanding of storehouses and thus save very little. We give and consume all that we get. This is not wise and it is not biblical.

The word storehouse used in the Old Testament means a barn. God said He would command His blessing into the storehouses. Their job was to start a barn and be faithful to not plunder it. God would command His blessing on it and multiply what they kept.

It is wisdom to start a barn even when you aren’t wealthy yet. The issue is faithfulness and diligence first before God can increase you. If you want to prosper God’s way start a barn or barns and be faithful to them in the little and God will promote you and increase your barn.

We shouldn’t despise small beginnings. Start from where you are. Save something. Put something in your barn however little and be faithful and disciplined to not plunder it.

Genesis 41

25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. 27 And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. 28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh. 29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: 30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; 31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous. 32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. 33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. 35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. 36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.

Joseph was a man filled with the wisdom of God concerning stewardship. God blessed him and taught him how to steward resources and increase. This was something that followed him everywhere he was. Whether in Potiphar’s house or in jail we see him operating in the blessing and increasing because of wisdom and excellent stewardship.

When Pharaoh narrated his dream to him, Joseph knew exactly what God was saying. He had been living this and practicing it for years. He knew a severe famine was coming and he knew the only way to survive it would be by applying the storehouse principle. In other words, Joseph understood that the only way to survive this famine was by building great storehouses and barns and saving some food every year until they had enough to go through the years of lack.

This not only provided enough food for the entire kingdom and other nations, it also purchased for Pharaoh great riches and wealth. Joseph bought the entire land of Egypt with all the people and their possessions for Pharaoh. By the end of the famine Pharaoh legally owned all the land, the people, the animals and every other possession because his storehouses had sustained them in the time of famine.

The world was saved and Pharaoh was made incredibly rich by a man who understood the storehouse principle and pursued it with discipline, diligence and faithfulness.

While Egyptians and the rest of the nations including Israel were greedily spending and consuming all their harvest, Joseph saved and put away a percentage of the harvest and left it alone for years. He didn’t plunder it. Because of this he saved entire countries from famine, starvation and death and bought them for Pharaoh.

The disappointing thing is the people of the world who are earthly, carnal and natural understand this principle much better than Christians. Governments and businesses keep cash reserves and store a percentage of their profit every year. This enables them to do two things mainly. In a bad year or when they make losses they don’t collapse. They use that money to get back on their feet. They have a fall back. They have some money put away to buffer them.

Secondly, they use this money to invest and expand their businesses or take opportunities when they come. What use is a great opportunity to you if you don’t have the resources to take advantage of it? A storehouse always enables you to do this because you have money kept away.

The concept of banking operates in the same way that Joseph did thousands of years ago. And just like Joseph ran and owned the world they too run and own the world. Banks are storehouses. Their business is to gather and store money for various people and businesses. Just like Joseph they gather the harvest and resources of several people and store them away.

However they don’t just store this money. They go to the next step and invest it. They lend it out to those who want to do business or to those in trouble at a cost (interest). In exchange, you give them your property as collateral. In case you fail to pay, they take your property. The largest banks in the world not only lend to individuals but to large companies and to governments. They determine what policies are implemented, who gets elected, who gets hired, etc. this is what the World Bank and IMF do. We have also seen the control Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, EXIM bank, Deutsche Bank etc. have over governments throughout the world. These banks literally own these governments and call the shots. As the bible says;

“The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” Prov22:7

Western governments and financial institutions have gained world hegemony because of the storehouse principle. It is time the church woke up and started applying this principle as the bible teaches us to.

The starting place

Mal3:10

10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

The church is a storehouse. Our first storehouse. It is where we should put the first fruits of our income. God promised to command His blessing on all our storehouses. However, for most Christians the home church is their only storehouse. They tithe and give to the church and then consume the rest of their income.

If your home church is your only storehouse God will be faithful to His Word and command His blessing on it. There will be meat in His house. The windows of heaven are open and our churches are showered with blessings. But the problem is we end there.

God commanded His blessing on our storehouses. Not just one storehouse (the church) but many. We should have multiple storehouses. Remember that a storehouse is a place where you store a portion of your income for future use as a buffer or investment.

Because we don’t have any other storehouse we are not prosperous in our financial lives. Open up barns and storehouses and the blessing will manifest there too like it has in the storehouse you already have, your home church.

The same blessing that makes your home church increase and prosper with a powerful Word and anointing is the same blessing that is upon your other storehouses and business. It is the blessing of the storehouse.