Rev’d. Dr. Mike Oluniyi.
Being a ministration during the Apostolic Leadership Summit, held on Monday 18, May 2026 @ CLEM Cathedral, Ijebu Ode.
Text.
“And Jesus saith unto them… go thou to the sea, and cast an hook… thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.” (Matthew 17:27)
Introduction.
Any discussion about ministry finance is always attractive to ministers for at least three reasons:
1. No minister wants to spend ten years doing what could have been done in one year.
2. It is a painful thing for a man of God to have a vision and not be able to finance it.
3. Every minister has personal needs to be met. When those needs are not met, there is a sense of unfulfillment and pressure.
For at least these, and many other reasons, financing ministry is a subject that continually catches our attention.
However, because ministry is individually assigned, and because we all have different backgrounds, capacities, burdens, and divine instructions, there is no single formula for financing ministry.
God does not finance every ministry the same way.
The way God financed Moses was different from Elijah.
The way He sustained Paul was different from Solomon.
The way He helped David was different from Nehemiah.
Therefore, instead of looking for formulas, we must understand divine principles.
There are vital issues we must examine if we are going to understand God’s financial dealings with our ministries.
- FOUNDATION : WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM?
Your background often affects how God builds your ministry.
When Elisha was called, he was already a mechanized farmer.
“And Elisha… was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him…” (1 Kings 19:19)
He came from a background of substance and capacity.
He had something to sacrifice.
But Gideon said:
“My family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (Judges 6:15)
Different foundations. Different financial realities. Different starting points.
Some ministers come from wealthy backgrounds.
Some begin ministry with nothing except a call and a burden.
Never compare your beginning with another man’s beginning.
A minister whose parents built schools and estates may not start where another minister who grew up in poverty starts.
Some people inherit platforms.
Others must build from the ground up.
Your foundation may explain your starting point, but it must never limit your destiny.
- ASSIGNMENT: WHAT EXACTLY WERE YOU SENT TO DO?
One of the greatest mistakes in ministry is trying to finance what God did not commission.
Every divine assignment carries divine provision.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” (Proverbs 29:18)
God is committed to what He initiated.
The critical question is:
• What exactly did God ask you to do?
• Did He ask you to build a cathedral or raise disciples?
• Did He call you to television ministry or village evangelism?
• Did He ask you to start schools, missions, healing ministry, or literature ministry?
Many ministers suffer financially because they are trying to imitate another ministry pattern.
God told Noah to build an ark with measurements.
God told Moses to build according to pattern.
“See… that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” (Hebrews 8:5)
Financing becomes difficult when we abandon divine pattern.
Sometimes scarcity is not demonic attack; it is divine correction.
The question is not merely:
“Am I doing ministry?”
The real question is:
“Am I doing what God asked me to do?” - SEASONS: UNDERSTANDING DIVINE TIMING.
Every ministry passes through seasons.
There are seasons of:
• sowing
• watering
• waiting
• growth
• reaping or harvest
A young ministry may not have the financial strength of a ministry that has labored faithfully for thirty years.
Jesus Himself had seasons:
• hidden years
• active ministry
• rejection
• glorification
Do not despise small beginnings.
“For who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10)
Some ministers are in sowing season but are expecting harvest-level finances, forgetting that a tree does not bear fruit the same day it is planted.
There are seasons where God trains your character through lack.
There are seasons where He expands your capacity through abundance.
The ministry that survives difficult seasons will eventually enter fruitful seasons. - UNDERSTANDING GOD’S FINANCIAL PLAN FOR YOU
There are three basic financial plans through which God finance ministries;
- Adam’s Dealings- If you are in this financial dealing, you will discover that God would have prepared what you need for you if you stay in the garden of Eden in which He has placed you.
- Moses Dealings- God asked Moses to build tabernacle according to the plan that he was given. In doing it, God made people to give until they had to be told to stop giving: “And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much”
Under this dealing, divine partnerships, missions support, special helpers etc - Paul’s Dealings (Tent-making)- When you are under Paul’s financial dealings, you will have to work along with the ministry that God has committed into your hands. The only major factor which you must never forget under this dealing is that though you are using it to support the assignment, the assignment takes priority over the work you are doing.
Paul sometimes received support from churches.
“Because in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.” — Philippians 4:16
At other times, he worked with his hands.
“These hands have ministered unto my necessities…” (Acts 20:34)
There are ministers God will sustain through local assemblies, but you must allow the local assembly to grow to the level where it can sustain you.
- YOUR LIFE OF OBEDIENCE
Obedience is a major key to supernatural supply.
Many ministries are delayed financially because of partial obedience.
The widow of Zarephath experienced supply because she obeyed Elijah.
Isaac prospered because he obeyed divine instruction to remain in Gerar.
“And Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold…” (Genesis 26:12)
Never underestimate small acts of obedience.
A ministry that obeys God consistently will never lack divine help. - YOUR MOTIVE
Why do you really want financial increase?
This is a dangerous but necessary question.
Some people want ministry money for; competition, luxury, popularity, personal empire building, but God does not finance flesh.
“When ye ask, ye ask amiss…” (James 4:3)
If money enters the hands of a minister whose heart is corrupt, ministry can become merchandise.
The motive behind ministry affects the flow of resources.
When God sees that resources will advance souls, missions, discipleship, compassion, and kingdom purposes, He can trust such a ministry with greater supply.
The safest ministers financially are ministers who remain broken before God. - IMPACT ON LIVES
One major key to sustainable ministry finance is impact.
When your ministry genuinely transforms lives:
• people support it willingly,
• doors open naturally,
• helpers arise,
• testimonies attract favor.
The Shunammite woman supported Elisha because she perceived grace upon his life.
“And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God…” (2 Kings 4:9)
Ministry that blesses people becomes difficult to ignore.
If your ministry carries; healing, wisdom, transformation, integrity, spiritual power, God will raise people to support it.
The kingdom principle is simple:
Value attracts value.
CONCLUSION
In Matthew 17:27, Jesus demonstrated something powerful:
There was money in the fish’s mouth.
This means:
• God knows where provision is.
• God can use unusual channels.
• God is never bankrupt.
• Heaven has solutions beyond human calculations.
But Peter still had to; go, cast the hook, catch the fish, open the mouth.
Miracles do not cancel responsibility.
As ministers, we must;
- understand and assignment,
- follow divine pattern,
- survive challenging seasons,
- remain obedient,
- maintain pure motives,
- and focus on genuine kingdom impact.
If God called you, He has already made provision available.
The challenge is to walk closely enough with Him to discover where your “fish with money” is located.
May God raise ministries here that will never lack divine supply.
May He finance visions, establish His servants, and make us faithful stewards of kingdom resources in Jesus’ name. Amen.
