16/11/25 Sermon: Applying the John to Gaius prayer to our own lives

Ever started an email or a WhatsApp message with something like,
“Hope you’re doing alright”? It’s a standard, friendly opening,
isn’t it? A bit of a social nicety before you get to the main point.
Well, when the Apostle John wrote to his good friend Gaius, he
started in a similar way, but with a message that packs a much
bigger punch than we might first think.

This little firecracker of a verse is tucked away in one of the
shortest books of the Bible, the third epistle of John. It’s easy to
miss, but it’s a real gem. John writes to his mate Gaius, a chap we
know was already a solid believer whose “soul was prospering,” and
says this: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest
prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. (3 John 1:2,
KJV) Now, that word ‘prosper’ can be a bit of a hot potato in
Christian circles, often hijacked by ‘prosperity preachers’
promising a lottery win if you just send them twenty quid. (Spoiler
alert: I tried that once, and the £2,000 cheque never arrived!).
But what if John’s heartfelt wish for his friend is more than just
a polite greeting? What if it’s a legitimate promise from God that
we can grab hold of for ourselves? I believe it is, and here are
three solid reasons why:

1. It’s All Connected, Mate! First off, there’s a powerful link
between our spiritual, physical, and material well-being. We are
complex beings, a spirit with a soul, living in a body. As the
Apostle Paul notes: Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you
completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians
5:23, NKJV) When God gets a hold of your spirit, it’s not meant to
stop there! The change ripples outwards. Think back to life before
you knew Jesus. For many of us, things have definitely changed for
the better. We’re not doing the same daft things, we’re more careful
with our time and money, and we’ve swapped despondency for a genuine
hope and joy. That spiritual transformation naturally overflows into
our physical health and our finances. We stop wasting our money in
the pub, for instance! It’s a principle we see in the Old Testament,
too. Remember the story of Obed-Edom? When King David had to park
the Ark of the Covenant at this chap’s house for three months, the
Bible tells us “the LORD blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that
he had” simply because God’s presence was there. If God’s presence
in a box can bless a household, how much more can His presence in
our lives bring blessing to every part of us? I’ve been incredibly
blessed with good health myself. I remember hitting 60 and booking
a GP appointment just to say hello, as I hadn’t seen a doctor in
decades! I think he thought I was wasting his time, but I see it as
a testimony to God’s keeping power. It’s all interconnected.

2. It’s in His Nature to Bless Secondly, God is a good God. It’s
just who He is. He’s a good Father who loves to give good gifts to
His children. The Psalms are chock-full of this truth: Behold, thus
shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD. The LORD bless you out
of Zion… Yes, may you see your children’s children.
(Psalm 128:4-6a, NKJV) Now, I was lucky; I had a great earthly dad.
During the post-war rationing, he couldn’t afford to buy toys, so
he used his artistic skills to hand-craft model aeroplanes for me
and my brother from balsa wood and plywood. He did his best for us
because he was a good father. How much more does our Heavenly Father
want to do the best for us? Of course, the moment we talk about
blessings, a little voice pipes up: “But I don’t deserve it!” And
you know what? You’re right. None of us do. The Apostle Paul called
himself the “least of the apostles” because he’d persecuted the
church. But God, in His wisdom, chooses to bless the most unlikely
people. He makes choices we don’t always understand, like choosing
Jacob over Esau, or blessing Ephraim over his older brother
Manasseh. As the scripture says: But who are you, O man, to talk
back to God? (Romans 9:20a, NIV) He knows us inside and out, warts
and all, and He still chooses to bless us. It’s not about what we
deserve; it’s about His incredible grace and His very nature.

3. The Blessings Have a Purpose Finally, and this is crucial,
God’s blessings are not just for our own selfish enjoyment. They
are necessary for His work. There’s a dangerous, insidious idea
that our personal health and wealth are an end in themselves. This
is where some prosperity teaching goes off the rails, pandering to
our selfishness. The Bible is clear on this: When you ask, you do
not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may
spend what you get on your pleasures (James 4:3, NIV).

God didn’t save you just so you could sit back and wait for the
bus to heaven. He left us here for a reason: to serve Him and
extend His kingdom. Everything we have—our skills, our time, our
money—is given to us to be stewarded for His purposes. This
doesn’t mean you can’t go on holiday or buy a new car. Our souls
and bodies need rest and enjoyment! But it’s about getting our
perspective right. God wants us to have enough—He is Jehovah Jireh,
the God who provides. He promises sufficiency, not necessarily
extravagance. He wants us to have the Finance, Fitness, and Favour
needed to do the work He has called us to. He blesses us so that
we can be a blessing. So, yes, I believe we can absolutely take
that prayer from John to Gaius and apply it to our own lives. It’s
a prayer for wholeness, for our physical and material lives to
catch up with the glorious prosperity our souls found in Jesus.
It’s a prayer rooted in the interconnectedness of our being, the
goodness of God’s nature, and the purpose for which He has saved us.
My prayer for you is the same as John’s for his friend: that you
may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. Amen.