Is this teaching biblical?
The claim that God 'needs' you rich inverts the entire gospel. God does not need anything from us (Acts 17:25). Scripture consistently warns that the love of money is a root of evil and that riches are a spiritual danger, not a divine requirement. Jesus taught that you cannot serve both God and money.
What did Kenneth Copeland say?
"He needs you well, he needs you strong and he needs you rich."
Speaker: Kenneth Copeland
Source: Believer's Voice of Victory broadcast
What does Scripture actually teach?
Matthew 6:24
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
— NKJV
Jesus presents wealth ('mammon') as a competing master to God — not as something God desires for you. The prosperity gospel turns Jesus's warning into a promise.
1 Timothy 6:9-10
"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
— NKJV
Paul warns that the desire for riches leads to destruction — the exact opposite of Copeland's teaching. Far from God needing you rich, the pursuit of wealth causes people to stray from faith.
James 5:1-3
"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you."
— NKJV
James warns the rich that their wealth will testify against them. This is the biblical view of riches — a potential witness for judgment, not a sign of God's favor.