Name It and Claim It?

I hear some Christian folk encourage others to "Name It and Claim It."  And what I hear people talk about claiming are things like health and wealth and opportunity.  It is as if the promises of the Bible were all about my personal comfort, personal enrichment and personal advancement.  The thought being that we can read the promises of God in the Bible, claim them for ourselves and God is obligated to bring them to life in us.

But I wonder - I wonder if all the promises God makes in the Bible apply to me personally or if all the things you want to acquire are really high on God's "to do" list.  Is God primarily concerned with how well we fare on earth or are his concerns less about our earthly wants and more about our heavenly needs.

I guess I'm questioning the premise that God is all that concerned how healthy, wealthy and important you and I come to be in the here and now; and more concerned about how holy, humble and giving we live in this life, looking forward to the riches of the next.  That would seem to fit Jesus' warning about not storing up treasures on earth but in heaven instead (Matt 6:19-21) and how that it is "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 19:24).

Jesus' brother, James, amplifies this point in saying, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature..." (Js 1:2-4).

I am not suggesting that God doesn't want us to be healthy or against us being wealthy or that he wants us to pass on promotions.  I am questioning those things being his primary goals for our lives and that he wants us to "name them and claim them" as a primary pursuit in this life.  While these things may be afforded us, they ought not be in the crosshairs of our sights.  Instead, we are to "seek first the kingdom and righteousness and all these things will be added as well" (Matt 6:33).

God will provide for our needs.  He may even allow for our wants.  But he desires us to be kingdom-focused and heaven bound.  He wants us to see this life as it is - that we are "foreigners and strangers on earth" (Heb 11:13).

How about we name the promise of heaven and claim that?  How about naming the attitude and Spirit of Christ and claiming that?  How about naming the good of others and claiming that?  How about naming sacrifice, service and surrender, and claiming those?  Why do we need to name and claim health and wealth and personal advancement when God promises to meet our needs as we strive for his kingdom?  Jus' Ask'n.