My question is this: we have some preachers who preach the Word but the people seem to be starving. If the speaker tries to feed them meat they almost seem to cover their mouths (and ears) and back up. Living by faith is just a phrase to most believers and faith is inversely proportional to the material goods we have, as you have stated. Is this a fulfillment of prophecy or just the natural progression followed by Europe before us?
Someone once said, “Religion gives birth to prosperity and the daughter consumes the mother.” It means as a general rule the more prosperous people get the more self-reliant they become. They stop living by faith and may even begin thinking that they are the architects of their own successes.
Because of that, they no longer give thanks to God for what they have and no longer ask Him for what they need. After a while the concept of living by faith is so foreign to them they can’t imagine how to do it, and don’t want to learn.
History has shown that God will often take away the prosperity of people like this in an effort to get their attention and turn them back to Him. The world’s current economic situation may be an indication that this has begun.