Category: Becoming Debt-Free

One of the First Big Answers to Prayer

Over thirty-two years ago I attended my first Rock of Ages, which was one year after graduating from the Foundational Class. While at the festival, God impressed upon my heart to enter The Way Corps training. I wanted to finish college first, and did so prior to my apprentice year. At that time, not knowing God’s heart for His people to live free of debt, I had incurred debt by way of a student loan and a car loan. I desired to enter the in-residence training without these financial obligations, so I set to work to believe God for help. As a result of all the teaching I received in the class as well as at our home fellowship, I took action on any idea in the senses realm to overcome this situation. I also prayed, solicited the mutual believing of my leadership, and every time I thought about these needs, I thanked God for taking care of them.

A few months before starting my training, one couple in a local home fellowship called to inquire about my financial needs. I shared about the student loan, which I had begun paying on, about the desire to sell my car, and my need for spiritual partners. They replied, “Great, we will take care of your student loan, send us your payment book.” Astounded, but thrilled God was so generously taking care of me, I sent them the payment book. A few weeks later, they returned the payment book with each month’s payment sheet stamped with a big, red “PAID.” This couple covered the $7,500 balance, and then committed to sponsor me during my training, which they did faithfully for three years. This was one of the first big answers to prayer in the financial realm where I saw God do exceeding, abundantly, above all I could ask or think. And the car—it sold as well, so I was debt-free before my training began.

The Doors for God’s Blessings Are Wide Open

Within four years of being married, my husband and I were living the American dream, complete with a car payment and a mortgage. As we learned that God’s will is for His people to live debt-free, we began to reconsider the situation that we had put ourselves in and decided to make changes. By the time we’d been married six years, we were living debt-free on one blue-collar income. We have lived debt-free for well over twenty years. God has met our every need. We have driven nice vehicles, raised our children in nice homes, and are in the process of buying a house without going into debt. When you make God’s will your will, the doors for His blessings are wide open. God meets our needs and the desires of our hearts! We just cannot out give Him.

If you would like to know more about God’s will regarding prosperity for His people, order a copy of the booklet Giving: The Prosperity Principle at our online bookstore.

Several years ago in August, I was experiencing pain in my side, so I went to a major clinic in my city to have some tests done. Later that month, they referred me to an oncology center for more tests and eventual surgery. The bills for those appointments and tests were mounting higher and higher. I had no insurance and only a part-time job. Then the doctor found cancer cells, so I started chemo at the end of September. More bills were coming in.

I knew from the Word that I didn’t want my healing to be slowed down by worry and fear of not being able to pay the bills. My family and I tried outside sources for help, but found none. Some of our bills were not being paid fast enough, and the medical center was going to send our bills to collections. I immediately communicated with all our bill collectors about our situation and all that we were doing to remedy it, and then asked What can we do? Using a principle I have learned—communication—we got each agency to group their bills together; for example, instead of the medical center sending five separate bills, we received one bill. Because we communicated with them, we were able to work out a solution and not get sent to collections. Yay! We faithfully stuck to our agreement which is yet another principle taught by our ministry.

Another big principle we continued to practice was living within our means. We had been living debt-free for five years, so we did not have a lot of other bills too. In March (just seven months later) I was done with chemo, but the doctor still wanted to see me every three months. One by one the payments were made; one by one collectors called us, and even though we had a long way to go, we were told that we did not owe any more money.

What did God do for us? God took care of over $100,000 of our debt!

Two years later, we were again debt-free, and have remained so. And four years after that, I was given a clean bill of health. My doctor visits were over. Yay!

We are so thankful, first to God for all He has done for us—big things like this incident and the everyday small things. Also, we are thankful to The Way Ministry that has taught us His Word so we know victory is always ours.

A joyful journey started about nineteen years ago, when my childhood best friend presented to me The Way Ministry. It was 1998 when she came across my path after several years of us not seeing each other. We both were medical doctors, so we met at a place where doctors go to get some services, and one of the most popular ones was getting a loan. I was there for that reason, because as many others, I was struggling with financial issues. After the correspondent greetings, she asked me, “Why are you here?” And with a bold face I responded, “I am requesting a loan.”

She mentioned the countless benefits and financial liberty she has had just by believing and applying God’s Word. It was mind-blowing. I could not believe that. (In my childhood, I was an avid reader of the Bible, and I enjoyed reading the Gospels, but I would never think the Bible and God had to do with living debt-free or any other financial issue.)

She continued, “I am in a ministry where you learn how to pray, you learn how to have a relationship with God, how to get anything from God, and how we can live without debts.” I was shocked, and at the same time I was skeptical. She quickly invited me to come to fellowship to show me what she was talking about. I did not attend right away because I had three young kids, and it was not easy to travel from my city to the capital of my country on public transportation. She did not give up, until one Sunday when I accepted her invitation, and we all went together to fellowship—she with her two daughters and I with my three kids. I cannot recall what was taught that day, but I do remember that what the teacher said made a big impression in my heart and mind. After that, there were many other invitations, but it was a wrestling match between my discouragement and her constant and outstanding encouragement to come back. One day I decided to go, and since then I faithfully attend fellowship three days a week, against opposition, issues with transportation, dangers on the road, hurricanes, and so on. They never diminished my desire to be where the Word was taught. My friend’s continuous encouragement and support strengthened me to the end that we prevailed during all the challenges we faced. Her faithfulness and my leadership who were there for me all the time showed me we are one Body of Christ. I was born again of the holy spirit, and I learned I am God’s daughter and neither anything nor anyone can take away that right from me. I have learned to talk to God anytime, anywhere, and that He is always there for me and for my beloved ones. I have learned that I am an ambassador for Christ and I am a fellow heir with him. And countless is the list of benefits I know I have for being a child of God. During that process of learning and applying God’s Word in my life, I got debt-free and acquired a car that was an answer to our prayers. I was able to manifest God’s power by praying every time I was about to perform any surgical procedure with our patients and with the surgical team. These and many other victories came to my life and other people’s lives through the knowledge and practical application of God’s Word which I have learned.

Ephesians 3:20 [The Amplified Bible (1987)]:
Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams].

Malachi 3:6,10,11:
For I am the Lord, I change not….
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.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

These verses, along with Ephesians 3:20 and Philippians 4:6 and 7, helped my husband and me get out of debt and stay out. We first took the Power for Abundant Living (PFAL) class in 1975. We had been married for two years when we found ourselves in deep debt. We were witnessed to and started going to fellowship. From that time until this day, we have tithed to The Way Ministry, and for over forty-three years we’ve learned how to live within our means by budgeting, praying, and knowing that God is good ALWAYS.

Recently we retired and moved to a new state. Our son had wanted us to move closer to him. We were not sure we could afford it, but during the two years we’ve been here, God has blessed us abundantly. So, we thought, OK. We looked at the apartments within five blocks of him and his family and decided what we wanted—a specific apartment, which is on the ground floor, and we wanted to move on a specific date. We kept checking the Internet, waiting for the apartment to be available. Then we went to fellowship later that week and prayed for the apartment and the time we wanted it. The next Sunday, we checked the Internet, and there was our apartment. Needless to say, God took care of our need and want, and we moved in by that specific date.

We are so very thankful for everyone that serves at The Way International Headquarters and for the Word of God we have learned in the classes we have taken. God has met all our needs.

God works in us and abounds toward us as we believe Him and take appropriate action in the specific area that we have a need in. The key is making up our mind to do the Word that we know in any specified area and to be unmovable all the way through to the end of deliverance.

A victory experience that comes to mind for me is in the financial category. I had been taught from God’s Word about debt. (Proverbs 22:7: “…the borrower is servant to the lender”; Romans 13:8: “Owe no man any thing….”) But even after being taught this, I can’t say that I had my mind made up with an urgency to get out of debt. I had a couple loans and a little credit card debt, but I always paid my bills, and I didn’t feel it was going to affect me as long as I kept current on my payments. I didn’t feel that I was that much of a servant to the lender, so I really wasn’t that committed to getting out of debt.

Then one day I received a letter in the mail from the lender on my truck. It stated that they didn’t have a record of me having insurance on that vehicle and that they were going to insure my truck with their insurance company and add an extra $170.00 to my monthly payment. I called them and told them that I already had insurance, but they said that they had no record of it and required me to go to their main office and show them proof. So I took my insurance policy over to their office and showed them my current policy, and then they were satisfied.

It was approximately a week later when I received another letter in the mail from the same lender, but this was on my house. It stated that they didn’t have a record of me having insurance on my house and that they were going to apply another insurance premium to my monthly house payment. Again I called them and told them that I already had insurance on my house. Again they required that I come in to show them proof. All I could think was, “The borrower is servant to the lender.” That is when I decided to get serious and committed to getting out of debt.

This all happened in the latter part of March. In April I made up my mind, I was going to get out of debt! I committed myself to put every dollar of extra money that I had left after I tithed (I definitely wanted God backing me) and paid my bills and bought the bare necessities toward getting out of debt. I figured if things went well, I would be out of debt in a little over three years. I gave it to God, I prayed, and I took all the believing action that I could.

A thought came to mind that I had been driving my truck for work and they hadn’t been paying me a vehicle allowance. I had been driving my vehicle for work for about eighteen months and figured I should be compensated. So I approached the boss with an amount of four thousand dollars. She didn’t even blink and said she would pay it in monthly increments of one thousand dollars. That very same week I had a client that called and made a huge order that paid three thousand dollars. This continued; it seemed that there was one big deal after another. I was tithing faithfully, and I was paying off my loans with the highest interest.

I remember one teller telling me to put my money in a savings account and earn some interest. I told her, “No, I am going to be debt-free!” She looked at me like I was “different.” I have to admit that as I was paying the loans off the thought went through my mind, “Maybe I could go and buy some new clothes.” But I didn’t. I knew that God was working mightily in me and delivering me from this debt. I stayed committed completely, not wavering, and I was out of debt in November of that same year. God came through with flying colors!

That’s when I learned the truth in my opening statement: God works in us and abounds toward us as we believe Him and take appropriate believing action in any specific area that we have need in. The key is making up our mind to do the Word that we know in that area and be unmovable all the way through to seeing deliverance.

I had wanted to take the Advanced Class for many years, but my financial responsibilities disqualified me from doing so—until 2018. God worked in my life to make it possible to clear my financial indebtedness so that I could take the Advanced Class in June 2018! He guided me on the path to victory, beginning approximately eighteen months before the class.

Early in 2017 I made the decision to retire from my government job by the end of the year. I worked with my financial resources to assess and prepare for a life where I would no longer be getting a hefty monthly income. I put it all up to God and confessed that He is my sufficiency and has always taken care of me. Why should He change when I retired? After all, I’d had God’s abundance in my life every step of the way up to that point, and He always met my needs. So I took the believing step and retired on December 31, 2017.

The huge financial hurdle to taking the Advanced Class was to pay off my mortgage. Although I considered several options, when I put it up to God, He told me that I had enough to pay it off right then in full. Truly trusting God, I paid off my mortgage and remaining credit card debt. What a tremendous feeling of release and freedom from bondage this believing action gave me. I was then able to meet the class requirement of being debt-free.

God also worked on clearing the path for me to take refresher Foundational and Intermediate Classes, arrange for care of my dog for the two weeks of being at The Way International Headquarters, and arrange for travel and lodging needs for the class. Every detail was perfectly executed, and everyone involved was blessed.

Taking the class was a huge blessing, and my desire was abundantly fulfilled. This believing journey started eighteen months in advance when I first made my desires known to God with great trust and thanksgiving. God truly hears our prayers and works with us to bring to pass the desires of our hearts if we faint not. This experience has energized and deepened my trust in our loving Father. I am fully persuaded that He cares for me.

In the past thirty years of my life, I have had great freedom to make choices in my life because of what the ministry has taught concerning “living within your means” and living debt-free.

I purchased a home in 1986 and considered if I could afford the mortgage even if I worked at a minimum-wage job. So I was applying the principle of living within my means.

But looking ahead, I wanted to do more for God with my time and talents. The best way to do this was to start living debt-free. So I worked toward and then paid off my mortgage, and I now have no loans or credit card debt.

When in the early 1990s our country entered a recession, I was able to face the challenges of the country’s financial crisis with trust in God and the absence of fear because I was free from the bondage of debt.

Living debt-free opened up opportunities to take on the privilege of being a household fellowship coordinator in the first years of the new millennium and to help others see the greatness of living the Word in this category. I am still sharing these truths today and will continue to do so in the current fellowship I have the honor to coordinate.

I was able to leave a job situation after thirty-eight years that had become very vexing day after day because I knew that I had that freedom of living debt-free. Another woman who was in the exact same situation at the company was afraid to look for other opportunities to use her skills elsewhere. She was too afraid to do so because her mind-set was, “I cannot because I have a mortgage.”

I have seen the benefit of what the ministry has taught me in very practical solutions for living in whatever financial or political climate that surrounds me in the world. I have peace. Being in bondage to debt would have caused me to fear and ensnared me. God’s Word, when applied, allows us to walk in freedom and abundance.

I thank God for His matchless Word, and The Way Ministry for teaching me how to apply it in every category of life so that I can walk circumspectly and unfettered, serving God with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.

When we were preparing for our wedding, we made up our minds that we would begin our marriage debt-free and also have a beautiful event that was within our budget. We were convinced from the Word we had been taught in The Way Ministry that it is God’s will for us to live within our means and that there is true freedom in living without financial encumbrances. Although neither of us foresaw any upcoming changes to our income levels, we decided to prove God by continuing to tithe and abundantly share, set a workable wedding budget, and pay off our debts little by little.

Over the course of the next year, we were amazed to see our debts shrinking and finally disappearing. We were blessed by individuals who gifted us some money here or there; but beyond that, we still to this day do not know how we were able to make our incomes stretch as far as they did. In fact, after our wedding was over and paid for, we were debt-free and still had an unexpected abundance of finances remaining. We started our new life together with a crystal clear example of what God truly means by “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

Blessings overflow constantly.

Most recently, I decided to adjust my finances to get out of debt more quickly, save for the future, and have enough to give with plurality in mind. I decided on a budget and was looking for new housing within that budget. It definitely seemed impossible by five-senses standards; but when we are in alignment with God’s will all things are possible! God led me to a brand new, fully renovated and furnished apartment with more “bells and whistles” than what I had even asked for. AND it is $50 less than the amount I budgeted for housing! It is approximately twelve to fourteen minutes from fellowship (I had requested less than twenty), and it’s on the BEACH! Ephesians 3:20 to the fullest! So many principles here—and I learned all of them from the Word I have been taught in our ministry.

A Region meeting in May of 2014 inspired me to get committed about taking the 2015 Advanced Class. I had been proving the limitlessness of God in other categories of my life, but I wasn’t sure how God would erase over $40,000 of debt in less than a year so I could attend the class. I began by finding out what God’s Word says about debt and why it was important to live debt-free. I met with a seasoned believer who was able to teach me and show me where those truths were in the Word, and I decided to believe and act on them.

My first step was to go through my budget, looking at my income and expenses and at exactly how much debt I had. I quickly realized that I would need to increase my income and decrease my expenses. I remembered the principle of giving equals receiving and increased my tithe. In Christians Should Be Prosperous it says, “…the tithe has never been improved upon except by increasing the proportion.” After reviewing my budget again with all the expenses reduced, I knew God would go to work to help my income increase.

I was at work on a Monday morning, and I was thanking God for all His blessings, including getting me through college with minimal debt and helping me find a fun job with good pay, good benefits, and good people to work with. The next thing I knew, I was marching into the president’s office and explaining to him why I needed to look for more work. I told him about the Advanced Class and that I needed more income to get out of debt, and that I would be looking for a part-time job soon. The president told me that I could take on some more responsibility at my current job and work more hours for more compensation. It was a very simple solution that I was peaceful with, and I knew it was from God. With all this, I was debt-free and registered for the Advanced Class all in God’s perfect timetable.