Some time ago, i spoke with a relative of mine who used to campaign to people in Nigeria about the existence of the "spirits of poverty" and their activities in people's lives, he used to recommend them to pray and "cast" out these "demons" from their families.

And also, i've seen and heard people singing songs like: "Me, i  no go suffer, i no go beg for food; God of miracle, na my papa o!"
It was impossible to convince him (my relative) that he imagined there are spirits of poverty because he was in Nigeria. Now, at the moment, he's in Canada, and few days ago, i asked him his current opinion about the spirit of poverty. He laughed and said "nonsense, i don't really think that there's any such thing like the spirit(s) or demon(s) of poverty".

My people, there is absolutely no such demons like "spirits of poverty" If there is any entity responsible for poverty: that entity is/are the leader(s) of the countries.

What do you expect, some greedy evil humans (in the positions of leaders) are enriching themselves with what is supposed to be used for the benefit of all people, now, the people are so poor that they need "miracles" to get food to eat, and you blame the devil for it?

[s]"Me, i  no go suffer, i no go beg for food; God of miracle, na my papa o!"[/s]
Come to think about this: is it actually a miracle to feed, why are the Americans or the Europeans not praying for "miracle" for food?

Food is surplus hence there are obesities everywhere, so those who maintain slim figures are considered as human models.

The holy book says: "remove the wicked from the throne, and his kingdom will be established in righteousness".

What do you think, are there spirits/demons of poverty? comments please.

Well, those leaders responsible for the dire state of the nation could be agents of demons.

Yes there are spirits of poverty!!
", and the fruits of these spirits are hatred, corruption, bad leadership, laziness, lack of vision, and ultimately lack of knowledge, against which there are no riches"
Cheers,
OIO

The only poor thing we have in Africa is our brain. We don't use it and if we do, it's always for the worst!

michelin89:

The only poor thing we have in Africa is our brain. We don't use it and if we do, it's always for the worst!

I don't believe we have poor brains. I think we don't channel our rich brains to the right use. We don't challenge our brains enough. We don't think and we don't read!! Although this is not totally any fault of ours. Our educational systems, beliefs, environment and even family have a share of the blame too.
If some basics(e.g. sound education, light, water, good housing and good governance) are provided, then more than 25% of our brains will be channeled to innovative business solutions to problems that'll provide income enough to "bind" every spirit of poverty.

A brain is poor when it's not used.

What differs a rich man, who never spends a dime out of his money and lives a miserable life, from a poor man?

My answer is nothing: they are both poor!

Can someone define this poverty we are talking about before I comment?

yes of course there are spirits of poverty and there habitat is in the bodies of our so called leaders, because it is only a man that has been possessed with the spirit of poverty that will want to steal everything belonging 2 a nation he is supposed 2 be leading just to enrich himself.

michelin89:

The only poor thing we have in Africa is our brain. We don't use it and if we do, it's always for the worst!

@michelin89, africans do not have poor brains!

sanrima:

@michelin89, africans do not have poor brains!

For real? I am convinced of the contrary!

Spirits of Poverty is simply act of laziness, simple as ABC,

[b][/b] One of the biggest deceptions on earth is; Satan does not want people to know that all these spiritual things exist.
The bible says: "do not be ignorant of satans devices" The people who rule countries such as Nigeria are controlled by different "Principalities" eg: Poverty,Greed,Wickedness etc. Principalities are controllers of demons and so on, (Eph 6:12)
These spirits control people’s minds in such a way that, a person in authority can make a devastating decision that will affect millions of lives.
(The amazing thing is that person will be happy with such a decision and you wonder why!) That is why we all need God Jesus to rule in our hearts.
Every thought a man makes good or bad comes from somewhere (God, himself or Satan) as the bible says "everything that God made was good"
Poverty is just a means of controlling people’s lives! You cannot control the life of a rich man; as his riches is his power to control!!
Where there is equality there is no control over others!!! This is another reason for a class system (Low class, middle class and upper class).

A lot of people don’t know these things because spiritual things can only be discerned by the spirit of god in a believer (born-again). 1Cor 2:12-14
I pray that you will receive God into your heart and he will open your eyes to all this things that is going on in the world today, That is why we
have to pray for our leaders Good or Bad.
Have a blessed day!

There is nothing like spirit of poverty it just that we don't help one another when we are in the position to do so, lecturers are good example.  we are so afraid of other people knowing more than we do or getting richer than us thereby hindering their way and making life difficult for them, take example from the group you belong to or your work place how the leaders there behave.

So the only spirit of poverty if you believe there is any are the bad leaders we have in our society

Spirits of poverty in Nigeria-e.g obj,abacha,odili etc. They were spiritual wickedness in high places(veiled in human flesh) then there are some people who are their own spirits of poverty because they have the right environment and leaders but wouldn't work. I call them "lazy fellows".

If anyone thinks that he or she is posses by the so call Spirit of Poverty, let him or her open a Church, every sunday offering will CASt his or her spirit of Poverty away. Till the second coming of our lord.

Ok, ok, ok, now I know.

Then yes, there are 'spirits' of poverty. And one can pray to break the yoke of these 'spirits' of poverty. That means that poverty itself is the end results of the things that cause it, more or less like the symptom(s) of somethings more sinister, e.g

bad leaders in government
unemployment
wrong investment plans
inflation
thieving public officers
or even laziness
etc

I just wanted to be sure that poverty is not seen as something that one is born with; or family/generational disease or something that a pastor will need you to fast and pray for, to cast out because (in agreement with the proponents of brain usage), by using one's brain one can prevent, avoid or fight all the above causes.

Deji, hw far its like you have much more more poverty than any1 else the way you are almost preaching pls take it easy all we need is prayer no too much talk the black race has its problems and poverty is one of them. i feel you in any case.

I can say the real spirit of poverty in Africa, first, is man made i.e. greediness of our leaders, second one is laziness, third is lack of information.

u empower POVERTY when u don't inform people,
We're on the road to a beta nation, whoever brought us this far(involve us in d information circuit), in my own opinion already made a mistake(we're already free from poverty, n all hidden agenda of high places), the power to fight poverty is being informed, n using information

Keep reading, keep xploring, keep using your brain power, God will see us through

Well, like many of us agreed, i personally do not think that there's any such spirit responsible for poverty; such demon(s) do not exist. I do believe in God, and i acknowledge the existence of Satan (or the Devil). I've spent a great deal of time abroad and i've seen many countries, but believe me, i've never seen a European who's so poor that he can afford regular meals.
  I began to realised that many people in Africa turn to God because they are oppressed by fellow humans, and poverty had compelled them to seek Divine interventions. But these Europeans (or westerners) are just too much that they often don't see any need to believe that there is a God.
  Now, come to imagine a society where an ordinary sales girl or a shop assistant, a house cleaner, a house maid or a baby minder can buy and drive the latest cars and live comfortable lives. So, where is the spirit of poverty in the west?

what do u think about the Ibo saying "omere ma chi ekweghi onye uta atala ya" which literally means that one has tried every thing possible yet no break through, though i don't believe in the saying but it is true. what do you think about curses,Nemesis-these can be the sprite of poverty

Sorry, spirit of poverty ?? Thank God I have been delivered from the Nigerian brand of Christianity , always looking for spirits everywhere.

While I do 100% believe that there are spiritual attacks and influences in society, the resultant physical manifestation is simply a consequence of our greed, lust and wickedness which attracts these spirits in the first place.

We are quick to blame our leaders but as a Nigerian who has lived in Nigeria for most of his adult life and who visits periodically, our society is rotten from top to bottom and bottom to top.

It is almost impossible to get along in Nigerian society without partaking of sinful acts such as bribery , financial greed and immoral day to day acts.

Will you attribute these traits to spirits ? No.  But you can bet that evil spirits will always take advantage of the darkness in our lives and society as a whole. They will inhabit and attack with dire consequences and inflict misery and curses on us when we imbibe the hidden things of dishonesty and shameful acts.

May we begin to take cue from this knowledge and rid ourselves of every dark deed we practice openly or in public, on ourselves or on others. Only  then can the light of Jesus shine into our souls and shield us from demonic misery.

Conclusion : Poverty can be enhanced by Satan but is generaly caused by greed, selfishness, laziness, unbelief in God and the rejection of Jesus Christ and finally by bad rulers in places of authority.

May God open our eyes to distinguish between human and spiritual matters and where they overlap.

Dukemore:

 what do u think about the Ibo saying "omere ma chi ekweghi onye uta atala ya" which literally means that one has tried every thing possible yet no break through, though i don't believe in the saying but it is true. what do you think about curses,Nemesis-these can be the sprite of poverty

Dukemore, do not mistake superstitions for realities, aren't these superstitious ?

an ordinary sales girl or a shop assistant, a house cleaner, a house maid or a baby minder can buy and drive the latest cars and live comfortable lives. So, where is the spirit of poverty in the west?

Not true really except you believe that amassing debt is equal to true riches.

The truth is that westerners are living on borrowed time and heading towards an economic crash. Almost everything done here is on credit except you want to settle for old banger cars etc etc . But generally people buy on credit and pay installments with high interest rates .

Since when did debt becomes prosperity ? Do not be deceived, this is only a temporary farce.

And how do you justify buying a house , semi detacched worth supposedly about £110,000 due to high demand and subsequent inflation. But we know the true worth of these houses are in the 40,000 to 60,000 pound margin in terms of real value. And then you have not talked about the interest on the mortgage which will come to about 70,000 pounds, so alltogether you are paying £180,000 for a house worth only £60,000 and then the house is not even yours until you complete payment which means that you can have your house repossessed if you miss mopre than two payments and lose out on all the thousands of pounds you have paid over the years.

If you call this prosperity then I am astounded, infact this is more of a curse than a blessing.

another escapists idea, people unwilling to take responsibility for their 'circumstances', easy to blame it on unseen forces

frosbel:

Not true really except you believe that amassing debt is equal to true riches.

The truth is that westerners are living on borrowed time and heading towards an economic crash. Almost everything done here is on credit except you want to settle for old banger cars etc etc . But generally people buy on credit and pay installments with high interest rates .

Since when did debt becomes prosperity ? Do not be deceived, this is only a temporary farce.

And how do you justify buying a house , semi detacched worth supposedly about £110,000 due to high demand and subsequent inflation. But we know the true worth of these houses are in the 40,000 to 60,000 pound margin in terms of real value. And then you have not talked about the interest on the mortgage which will come to about 70,000 pounds, so alltogether you are paying £180,000 for a house worth only £60,000 and then the house is not even yours until you complete payment which means that you can have your house repossessed if you miss mopre than two payments and lose out on all the thousands of pounds you have paid over the years.

If you call this prosperity then I am astounded, infact this is more of a curse than a blessing.

 Sure, i'm well aware of mortgages, but remember that it functions well in the west because the system encourages it: Let them do the same in Nigeria.
By what means can a sales girl in Nigeria buy a new car, is that possible?
 Actually, uncountable number of immigrants in Ireland who only have temporal work permit (who are not entitled for mortgages) do drive new cars from their minimum wages, not everybody is entitled for a mortgage, especially when one is temporally legal here.

i have powerfull medicin that drive away spirit of poorverty from your family, and i have medicin for knowing book

There are different evil spirits out there, for even Jesus himself cast out demons when he walked on the earth. But for me to say there is a "SPIRIT OF POVERTY" I really cannot say. In America you hear a lot about GENERATIONAL CURSES

[b]There are evil spirits in this world, for even Jesus when he walked on the face of this earth cast out demons from indiviudals, but to say there is a SPIRIT OF POVERTY I cannot say.  In America, we hear a lot of ministers talk about GENERATIONAL CURSES being past down from one generation to the next.   For example if your mother and father is poor, and there parents were poor, and there parents before them were poor, and YOU and your family experience never being able to get to the point of plenty, riches, and living a life of abundance, then it is said that you have a GENERATIONAL CURSE on the family, which must be broken by the power of God.  I believe that, for if our parents do not show us, by the way they handle their funds, pay tithes and offerings (which according to the word of God affects your financial blessings), then how can we do any better--except someone show us.  These generational curses, or spirits of poverty come from a lack of knowledge of the word of God and just life in general.  Many times it is a matter of not knowing how to handle finances, and therefore, the cycle of poverty continues.  God's word does not fail nor lie, if we pay our tithe on that which we receive, even if it is just on one Naira or American dollar, God has promised to bless our finances.  Of course, it is not just a matter of paying tithes and offering, but we also must be GOOD STEWARDS of the finances God blesses us to get.  If we continually do not pay our bills on time or just before the man is about to turn us out the door, that is not being a wise and good steward over our finances.  So, it is a combination of obeying God and paying our tithe and offering AND handling our money correctly by making wise decisions with what God gives us.

If we combine all of those things above, I believe the generational curse of poverty will be broken.  Actually, it is MORE in our power than Gods, for we must FIRST DO THOSE THINGS, and he will bless our lives.  By saying there is a Spirit of Poverty, to me, places ALL THE BLAME on the spirit, and takes ALL THE RESPONSIBILITY for our own actions off of us!

That is just my opinion.   Try what the word of God says in paying your tithe and offering and ALSO handling your money wisely and see where that takes you--in the blessings of God's prospertity and abundance. No matter where you live (Nigeria or America) the word of God is true![/b]

poverty is sometimes spiritual,

There is no such thing as spirit(s) of poverty what exists is poverty mentality- a way of thinking and subsequently living that has been eroded of all good value and high quality. in as much as i believe that being poor is not strictly limited to material things, lack of good and true leadership has engendered an acute situation of lack, want and paucity. the basic things of life are almost out of reach of the majority so what almost everyone is doing is trying to survive and  when a man is hungry, homeless etc his brain can't kick into pime/higher functions. what u get are desperate measures. Most countries have national plans that stretch into dozens and scores of years, we hear of the american dream etc but as a people we don't have a consistent national mantra. we don't have nigerian heroes: nigerians who can inspire and nurture a culture of value for human life by example. thats why our roads are death traps, air travel a tragedy, no medical facilities, no power,  we all know the list. what is the life of a nigerian worth? have u seen how we honour people who labored in their youth? pensioners i mean. what do u think the way they r being treated presently inspires young civil servants, professionals and custodians to do?
Every christian is an extension of God- a dynamic(dunamis) representation of His Kingdom(his rule and dominion). we should all be a living epistle describing and inspiring leadership, sacrifice and value to a poor and broken nigeria. i believe this is what the church should begin to do. not re-enforcing the poverty mentality by misplaced value systems and incomplete doctrines. As a man thinks, so he manifests.

Poverty is of the mind,you are poor because you don't believe you can be rich,it is a choice based on one's imagination and general state of mind,on the other hand,one can be rich materially and still be poor in mind,wealth in the hand of a fool is like bubble,it can't hold.