Developing a Spiritual Strategy for Growth

I'm going to start with the topic. Although you wonder sometimes, don't you, how much we need instruction? How much we need to be taught? It seems like sometimes we need to be taught the very basic things over and over again to hammer them into our minds.

You know, in the beginning of the 1900s, Herbert W. Armstrong was a very young man. But you read in his autobiography that he was a man with a purpose. He had goals in his life. You know, he, of course, was going to go into advertising, as we know. And he had a real strategy to accomplish the goals that he had for himself. And no doubt, even in the physical world, Mr. Armstrong would have been successful eventually. We know that, of course, that did not happen for reasons he found out later.

But his goals were physical like most people's goals are physical. But later, when God brought him to conversion in his life, when his goals became spiritual, he wrote a booklet which was circulated widely and has been circulated to millions of people. And that booklet was the Seven Laws of Success. It might be good for all of us to sort of go back and review that booklet, very short booklet. And read in about 30 minutes or so.

But, you know, he made a study of men who were successful, and he put together these ideas about what the Seven Laws of Success were. And great men throughout history have practiced most of these laws. You know, most of them have practiced at least six of these laws. Very few, though, have practiced all seven of the Laws of Success. If you read in the Bible, the Hebrews 11, by the way, you'll read about godly men and women who practice all seven of the Laws of Success.

And the reason is, is because these people that are written up in the Hebrews 11 chapter, which is, you might say, the Hall of Fame of spirituality, of true spirituality in the Bible, all of them had a personal program of growth. And they worked toward a goal, an accomplishment. Now, we see again, I spoke about this a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned about the subject of meditation. We see Isaac, you know, after the death of his mother, Sarah, out of the field meditating. That was a part of his program, things that he did, more or less on a regular basis.

We read about that in Genesis. We look at the patriarch in King David. We're told to pray three times in a day. Psalm 55 verse 17, one of the old memory scriptures. He prayed three times in a day and meditated on his bed, you know, during the nighttime, according to the scripture.

So he's a man that was on a program. You know, sometimes we look at David's life and we think that David, well, you know, David had some major falls, and he did. But you know, you look at the Jewish traditions about David, and David was head and shoulders above even the priests of his day. David was up and he was working, he was learning, he was striving himself before others were.

This is, again, according to Jewish tradition. In a time where men were closer to God, David was closer to God than those that should have been closer to God than he was. But of course he was a king, and he was a godly king. We look at the prophet Daniel, by the way, who had the same custom.

He prayed three times in a day, as we're told, in Daniel 6 verse 10. And so these men and many of the women of God practiced rather than the seven laws of success. I saw, by the way, a t-shirt this past week. Somebody had a saying on the back of their t-shirt. And, you know, the saying was not necessarily bad. I don't mean that in any way. But I thought when I saw that, you know, how neat it would be to have a t-shirt with the seven laws of success on the back.

You know, we need those seven laws. Our children need to be acquainted with them and never forget them. What are the seven laws of success? I'm just going to give them to you. I'm not going to go through these seven laws of success today. That's not what the sermon really is about. But, number one, law of success is what?

Fix the right goal. You've got to have the right goal. Today, people operate with wrong goals in their lives, and they wonder why they're not successful. Number two, you know, just as the first message was talking about preparation for the future, brethren, the second law of success is education and preparation.

We've got to educate ourselves for the future. You know, you've got to do that, whether you're doing physical goals or spiritual goals. Number three, this is very important, is maintain good health. Maintain your good health. Make sure that you do not let your health go by the wayside, pursuing your good goal that you may have.

Number four, law of success is drive. Having drive in life. And by the way, this is what gets somebody out of bed in the morning when they don't feel too awful good. I don't know about you, but I get up in the morning and my body is sore. It seems like every year that goes by, it gets sore. You know, what is this about? This aging process. You know, it used to be that I, you know, I do exercise. On Friday I exercise, but, you know, it's like things hurt.

The only way I can get past the hurt in the morning, by the way, is I have to hop in a hot bath. And that sort of irons it out for me. But, you know, I was exercising yesterday. And as I was walking on the treadmill, I kind of stepped up to the pace a little bit. And I started having ache here, a little pain there, and I said, Yeah, you cry out, you body!

You know, you're always complaining. I was saying in my mind, of course, the neighbor didn't know what I was talking to myself about. But, you know, we have to have drive, brethren, to accomplish anything, to accomplish a goal. Because if we go by our feelings sometimes, we don't accomplish anything. We don't get anywhere. We don't accomplish the goal that we have. My goal is to get in good shape. Physically, I can't do that like the old saying, no pain, no gain.

Number five, resourcefulness. Be resourceful. You know, always be thinking about how you could accomplish the goal. Looking for different avenues of getting to your goal. Sometimes this life, brethren, is like a maze, isn't it? And you can go down a pathway that's a dead end. Well, what do you do? You sit there at the dead end, or do you turn around and go back and you find a way out, a way through that maze, so you can get through the other side.

That's where resourcefulness comes at. You know, if it's a maze made of hedges, cut a hole through it, go through the other side. If you have to, go over it, go under it. Be resourceful. And number six, brethren, is about as far as most people ever get is perseverance. The reason why sometimes teens do not win a game is not because they don't have heart, but because time ran out. And believe it or not, brethren, you and I are on a time clock. You don't have all day. You don't have necessarily that as a guarantee.

You don't have all week. You don't have the year ahead of you, or years ahead of you. And you young people are going to realize that the older you get, the time is running out. It's like a clock. It's like Mr. Caramidjids watch up here. That's tick, tick, tick, tick. And you come to the end of the day, and then payday comes through. So perseverance, you know, means you hang in there until you've accomplished the goal.

Because there will be no hay that will be made if it gets dark. No hay. Make the hay while it's sunshining. And number seven, the most important thing that Herbert Armstrong learned, brethren, in these seven laws of success is what? Contact with God. He found that out. When he fell on his face so many times with advertising, and he learned, you know, to go through the trials to persevere, the only way to be successful was to have contact with God.

So there you have it, brethren. The seven laws of success. Fix the right goal. Get education, preparation, maintain good health. Have drive in your life. Be resourceful. Persevere, and you have contact with God. You know, in light of what I've talked about here, brethren, about how Mr. Armstrong had goals, and how they had physical goals, and then he had spiritual goals, brethren. And we see the patriarchs of old and matriarchs of old had goals, and their goals, they saw a far off, according to Hebrews chapter 11.

They saw it a far off, so they had that goal of being there in the future. Do you have a personal spiritual strategy of growth and development in reaching your goals? Do you have a personal program? If there's anything I learned at Ambassador College, you've got to enumerate what you're doing. You've got to make a plan of action for what you're doing. So many people live sort of willy-nilly in life, you know. They're like, I remember when I was a kid growing up, we used to go down, and this was the video games back in those days, go down to the cafe for lunch, during between the morning and afternoon in school, and they had a pinball machine.

I don't know if you've ever played a pinball machine, but in those days it was all these little mechanical things. But the pinball just sort of bounced from one place to another. Well, sometimes people are like that in life. They don't have a goal. And you've got to press toward that goal. So do you have a personal, spiritual, strategy, brethren of growth and development? You know, the men of God of the Bible and the women of God had a regular program of spiritual development to attain success.

Let's go to Mark chapter 1. We'll start with the greatest man in the Bible. Mark chapter 1, just down in verse 35 here, just read one verse, brethren. It says, Now in the morning, Heaven risen a long while before the crack of noon. No, before daylight. He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there he prayed. You see, Christ was a man of drive. He had a goal that he had to accomplish. And, you know, at the end of it, he said, Father, I finished what you sent me to do.

He had a time clock, as it were, as well, to finish that goal, didn't he? As we do as well. Let's go to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. You know, often Christ sought solitary places to pray. Over here in Luke, the book of Luke, after the book of Mark here, but in chapter 6, down here, in verse 12, it says, He came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. Brethren, have you ever prayed all night long?

Or have you prayed most of the night? But notice, and when it was day, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose twelve whom he also named apostles. He must have really wrestled that night as to who were going to be those apostles, who were going to be those disciples who would carry the message of the gospel to the world. But here we see again Christ that had goals. He was up and about. This was very much in his mind.

He prayed all night long before he chose those who would be the apostles of the church. No, we are counseled in the Bible, brethren. We should pray ourselves privately. Let's go to Matthew 6. Matthew 6 over here. Matthew tells us this. Of course, we know in this same chapter is the model prayer. We always like to remind people of what Jesus says over here. In Matthew 6, I'm sorry, verse 6 is where I wanted to go. But you, when you pray, not if you pray, there was an expectation of his disciples that they would pray.

Go into your room, and when you shut your door, pray to your Father is in a secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. So we see here Christ was telling his disciples to go to a solitary place, where you can make that contact with God. It's just you and the Father in heaven. Now, brethren, we might attend church every single week. In fact, we may be the most spotless in terms of attendance records. And that's certainly a worthy goal for someone to stay healthy and not miss services. But unless, brethren, we have a spiritual life, a prayer life, what does it matter?

Unless we're close to God, what does it matter? I know that we have had people that outwardly appeared to be very converted, very much with it.

But back in 1995, other fruits were realized. And they gave up on all of those things that the Bible reveals as truth. Let's notice over here, you know, so it's important for us, brethren, to have a spiritual program of growth. Nowhere of you're living your life, what you're doing. There's a popular minister that has put out a book a number of years ago called a purpose-driven church.

Now, I personally have not read his book on that, but many people have. But, brethren, we ought to be living life on purpose and not being like that ping pong ball, or that ball in the machine that I described earlier, the pinball machine. You know, we ought to be going directly toward our goal and doing everything to accomplish those goals. But let's notice here in 1 Chronicles 28 and down in verse 9.

I'm sorry, I'm in the second Chronicles here. I guess, you know, sometimes your Bible gets trained to go certain places. It depends where you've been reading. But 1 Chronicles 28 verse 9. It says, So again, we must seek God to find God. And we have to have that as a regular thing. And to make it heartfelt, brethren, that we as God's people in a heartfelt way are seeking God. Later on, as Uriah told King Asa this in 2 Chronicles 15 and verse 2, He told him, He said, The Lord is with you while you are with Him.

If you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. So if we want God in our lives, brethren, we must seek God. And the way we do that is through prayer. Going before God, developing a relationship with God. James chapter 4 over here in verse 8. Again, we see that not only in the Old Testament, but we see it in the New Testament as well. But in chapter 4 and verse 8 of the book of James, it says, Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands. We need to go before God with clean hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you devil-minded. So God wants us to draw near to Him. And if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. That's His promise. That's one of the promises of God. And don't we all, brethren, want a closer walk with Jesus Christ and with the Father in heaven? Or do we want this arm's length thing that oftentimes would keep people and arms' length from us?

We don't ever let them in our lives, but, you know, they can sort of look from afar. Reminds me what it says in the latest here, that, you know, Christ stands outside the door and knocks. Hopefully, brethren, we haven't put that hand up there only this far, but we allow Christ all the way into our lives. That Christ is living His life in us, in fact. That's how close Jesus Christ is to us, and that's how close we are to our Father in heaven through the power of the Holy Spirit.

You know, we need, all of us need to be fed, spiritually speaking. And right now, brethren, this nation is starving to death. This nation is dying with thirst. And the evidence of that, I submit to you, brethren, is the lack of wisdom that's coming even from leaders in this country. You know, from the lowest to the highest, it reminds me of what it says in the book of Isaiah, the whole head is sick. Everything is infested. It's sick. From head to toe, it is sick. Bad situation, brethren, because people are starving to death, spiritually speaking. And you may wonder, well, what do you mean? Have they ever been fed?

Yeah, I think there was at the time where at least, even in Protestantism, people had a limited understanding of the spiritual dimension. Now, they never understood the truth. I understand that. I think we all understand that. But the morality was better, because there were certain spiritual things that people lived and they practiced, and they conveyed it to their children. But we have now a different story altogether. And I was, before coming down, I decided, well, I better tune into the news here in case the, you know, California has fallen into the ocean.

You know, maybe I was the line there, and I hadn't found out about it. I told my wife, I said, you know, and I looked on, you know, television, I couldn't find any news. I said, today, we don't get any news anymore. I said, you know, if New York were to fall into the ocean, the headline would be, J. Lo Dies, because she happened to be in New York. No, not worry about the 15 million people that died, but J. Lo died.

We are living in incredible times. It just amazes me. And it gets worse and worse, even as Mr. Andrade has talked about. It's like I told the brother-in-doll in Phoenix. You know, we don't know where this whole thing is going to begin. I'm talking about the big blow-up when the world is involved in a major catastrophe, a giant war. We don't know where that's going to begin. Will it be in Israel?

Doubtful. I doubt it's going to begin there. Satan doesn't work that way often. You know, he doesn't come at you from the most obvious place. Will it be Ukraine? You know, Russia's got all these troops that are perched on the border with Ukraine, about ready to go right into Ukraine with the military. They're going to secure the land that they believe is theirs, like they did with the Crimea.

Could be there. Could be Syria, where something like 1,700 people have been killed. And of course, the world is not focused on that right now. We're focused on what Israel is doing to gossip. That's what the world is focused on, and what is happening down here on the border, you know, with our neighbors to the south, with all the children coming over. But it is amazing, we're focused on what it is today. But there's a lack of a spiritual dimension anymore in the United States of America, and it grows worse.

But you and I, brother, need to be fed, spiritually speaking. You know, Jesus Christ Himself, remember when He would fasted for 40 days, at 40 nights, what did He say? You know, when Satan came at Him to turn the stones into bread, what did Christ say? He said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

This is from a man, and we know Emmanuel, he was God as well, who was at the point of starvation. Man shall not live by bread alone. He can't survive on bread alone. And this country, this world, has been surviving on bread and in the water for a long, long time now. We need, brethren, spiritual nourishment in our lives. We're not created to survive on food alone, because there is a spiritual dimension. And I think that a lot of the problems we have in the world today, the middle problems where people are just developing all kinds of paranoias, they're developing all kinds of problems mentally, brethren, I think it's because people don't have the spiritual dimension.

And it bleeds over, by the way. Sometimes it impacts even us within the church, because this world is so bereft of spiritual concepts, in fact. We receive it through the media. We receive it wherever we go, that we cannot help but be impacted by this, because this world is crazy.

You know, maybe the word insane also would be applicable here. And it's hard for us to remain sane in an insane world. I've been in some homes, or as they were back in those days, they were called insane asylums.

And you don't want to live in that kind of environment. They call them something different. You know, as time went on, I'm not even sure they exist anymore. I haven't seen one for a long, long time. But it is like bedlam in a place where it's an asylum for people that have insanity problems, because it reflects Satan's mind. Satan's the author of confusion. And it impacts people's minds. And we could be impacted by it, brethren.

We actually live in an insane asylum called Earth now. You and I do. It's hard to keep our minds right, but we must do that, brethren, as God's people. But you know, the Bible says that spiritual growth comes from God's word. Growth. So unless you have God's word and it becomes embedded in your mind, you're going to remain a spiritual infant. And unfortunately, we have seven billion infants on this planet today.

And only a few that have grown to maturity. 1 Peter 1, verse 22. Let's notice here. Here Peter is writing to the church at large, and he says, "...since you have purified your souls and obeying the truth..." So obeying God's truth purifies us, cleanses us.

1 Peter 1, verse 22. It's, "...since you have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit, in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart." Have a clean heart. Having been born again, as it says here from the New King James, we know it means begotten of God. Not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever.

It's interesting what it says in the next verse here. Usually we stop here when we read these passages. Notice what Peter says, because... So he's talking about the word of God causing us to grow because all flesh is grass.

"...in all the glory of man as the flower of the grass, the grass withers and its flower falls away." You see, unless we have that spiritual dimension, that flower just wilts away and it dies. And that's what's happening to this world and the society that is out here, brethren. You know what the church is about? Giving the world hope of what's going to be in the future. A time when God's Word is going to fill this earth as much as the waters cover the seabeds of this earth, it's going to be so plentiful in a time ahead. Imagine what this world will be like in just one generation after the word of God is important in people's lives, in their minds, in their hearts. How much will we grow? No, man likes to talk about evolution. I think there will be an evolution, but not in the physical sense like man's talking about, but in the spiritual sense. Because that is, of course, a space that has never been plumbed. That is a domain that man has never really tackled. Oh, I know he thinks he does, but he has not tackled the mind and the spiritual dimension of life. Only God's people, quite frankly, have done that. Over in 1 Peter 2, verse 1, it says, Therefore, laying aside all malice, put away the things of the flesh, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby. Gotta get into the Word of God, brethren. We must study the Word of God because all flesh is grass, and we will perish otherwise. Can't grow and develop without the spiritual dimension. Let's go to Ephesians 6. Ephesians 6, over here. Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul here, talks about the battle that we're going through right now, which of course most are totally oblivious to in this world. They're not aware of this battle that's going on because they think they are the way they are just because of their physical makeup. They don't realize that there's a spiritual dimension to this world, to this life, that we live here upon the earth. But in Ephesians 6 and verse 10, Paul says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, in the power of His might. And then he says, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. A very, very crafty, subtle, evil being. And the reason he's so potent, brethren, is he doesn't reveal himself. He appears as an angel of light to people. I've seen it happen many, many times. God's people have been waylaid by people that ostensibly looked like they were trying to help, but in reality they were not.

They themselves are being manipulated by the devil, and oftentimes they do not even know it. But going on, it says, We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

But notice verse 14, Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And so we need to have, again, God's truth in us, and the Word of God, Jesus Christ said in John 17, 17, is truth. That's what truth is.

And, you know, we may have ideas, but the Word of God gives us the truth. And with God's Spirit, brethren, we can figure out what the truth is. We can sort it out. We can make it come to life and understand what was the intent, you know, of God's Word.

So we are in a battle, brethren, and it's a battle for our minds.

And we must face the reality that Satan the devil and his demons, his minions exist. And without God, brethren, without prayer, without studying the Word of God, we are like a soldier going into battle. We've got no armor, we've got no sword, we've got nothing to stand against the wiles of the devil. And that makes us an open target. So let's make sure, again, we are well equipped. We've got the tools that God has given to us. And one of those tools, brethren, is prayer, and one of the other is to be fed spiritually speaking.

Brethren, you need to be here on the Sabbath.

Not luxury. You need to be here.

You need to hear what's being said.

And not, you know, sitting back and drinking coffee at home and listening in on the Internet. If you're able-bodied enough to come, you need to be here.

For your own spiritual development's sake. So that you can grow and increase.

No, I know I went through that where I couldn't be here, and I listened on the Internet.

But, you know, there's no substitute with being among God's people. Iron sharpening iron. You just can't substitute that.

And I don't care what you do, brethren. You just can't substitute the physical contact with God's people, interaction with God's people, and the growth that takes place when we're with and among the people of God. So we need to be here, brethren. And frankly, nobody should have to talk you into being here. We shouldn't have to have a sermon to tell us the importance of being here. We should know that.

But here in Psalm 119, verse 7, notice about what David says about God and His relationship with Him. But here in Psalm 119, verse 7, David says, When I learn your righteous judgments, I will keep your statutes. It says, You notice he's saying here, when I learn your judgments?

He was about the business of learning. And, brethren, we are all going to school, aren't we? Spiritually speaking, we're learning. And believe me, what we're learning is so valuable. It's priceless, in fact, what we're learning now, because this is what God's going to build on when we're changed out of the flesh into spirit. He's going to use what we put in and the character that we built, the knowledge that we built in a very powerful way, in the kingdom. But notice going on here about what he says in verse 9, How can a young man cleanse his way? How can we clean our lives up? We all need to do that. But notice, it says, The Word of God, that's how we cleanse our ways. With my whole heart I have sought you. O, let me not wander from your commandments, your word I've hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you. And blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes.

So that's what David did, brethren. He was growing. He had a program of growth. And like I said, according to the Jewish tradition, he was head and shoulders above anybody else. You know, that's what a leader ought to be. A leader ought to lead. And David was certainly doing that, did it probably better than most people do through history.

But we need, brethren, the strength that comes from that as soldiers of Jesus Christ. It's been said that an army of men moves forward on its belly. And the saying means that you've got to keep a soldier's stomach full. Remember in the case of Saul, when we took his men to war, he was going to remember, kill anyone who ate anything before they fought a battle.

And Jonathan, remember, he dipped his sword in the honey, and somebody reported it.

Again, it shows the lack of wisdom on the part of Saul. He should have been reading the Bible a little more than it should have been reading the Torah, which was available at that time for him, and other things that were available for him to read.

But an army moves forward on its belly, it's got to keep its stomach full. And you know what, brethren? Spiritually, we move forward on our knees.

That's what keeps our spiritual belly full, and our minds focused. I sent a book to our sons a number of years ago about the power of focus, because most people today have a tension span of about 10 seconds. And you know why, don't you? The length of an advertisement.

That's why advertisers only have these really short, you know, ads that they come on.

People just don't have the span of attention to even pay attention. But we need the power of focus to stick with something, brethren, until we're successful. And being steadfast and stable only comes when you're on a development program, spiritual development program.

Again, practice the 7 Laws of Success. Add that 7th Law of Contact with God through prayer and through studying the Word of God. We live in a very, very stressful world. I don't have to tell you that. I hate to say it, but it's going to get more stressful as the time goes on.

I think Satan has caused people to be going in about 14 different directions in this day and this time that we're living in. So we really won't pay attention to the really important things of life. But brethren, don't get caught in that rat race. Don't be that hamster on that treadmill, because that is what 7 billion people are doing right now. And Satan wants to keep them on that treadmill, going around and around. Because as long as they are having to fight that treadmill that carries you nowhere, then he's got you occupied. And you can see the world is essentially like that today. Never focusing on the really important issues of life. But if we're doing what God wants us to do, brethren, let's notice what it says in Philippians. Paul says here in verse 6, beginning, He says, Be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So here, the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard our hearts. If, brethren, we see here we're thankful when we offer prayers to God, we're praying on a regular basis, as God's people. And we are, you know, basically, even in a time of turmoil going to God, that God will give us a peace that the world cannot have. That your friends, my friends, in the world will never understand how you make it through, sometimes even in a difficult time, a hard time. You know, look at it this way, brethren. You cannot have peace in your life unless you have the Prince of Peace in your life. Unless the Prince of Peace is in your life, there will be no peace. You're living, you're going to be living a life of turmoil and trouble. There'll be a lack of tranquility. The only way to bring about that tranquility is have Jesus Christ living in us, brethren, so that you, like David, said, can say, God, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

And David himself came to realize this. He said, great peace have those that love your law, that embrace the law of God. And he said, and nothing causes them to stumble. Now, we have a lot of people these days stumbling all over the place, but you wouldn't have to do that. We don't have to do that, brethren. We can have that pathway to the goal, to accomplish the goal. It could be a straight pathway. You know, that old pinball, that, you know, shining ball comes down and you hit it with that bumper and it goes right. And to the goal. You're going to make it, if you again put God first.

This world is a world filled with so many pitfalls, but if we drink in of God's word and embrace it, we can be kept from stumbling and falling as God's people. I want to encourage you, brethren, to make a schedule for your personal life. What time do you have to go to work? You know, maybe you go to work at 6 in the morning. I remember when I used to work at that great Midwestern company in Arkansas, Tucker Duck and Rubber Company. I'd go to work at 6 o'clock in the morning, hopping the old 60 mile model Impala, and I'd hit in.

But I needed to get up early to pray. So you set yourself a time schedule. What time do you need to get up in order to pray, to eat, and to get ready to go to work? Maybe it's two hours. You know, if you go to work at 6, maybe you've got to get up at 4. If you're going to work at 7, you've got to get up at 5. Whatever it would be. Allow yourself time so you can pray. Maybe you're not a morning person, but a night person. Maybe you would want to pray a shorter prayer in the morning. So you wouldn't have to allow as much time. So again, allocate yourself time for spiritual. And when you work during the day, what do you do for your lunch hour? You know, I remember when I worked again, I'd go up in the...there were these stacks and stacks of flat boxes. I'd crawl up to the top of it. During the lunch hour, eat my lunch and do my prayer there.

I've even done prayers in a toilet stall before.

I sure hope God didn't mind me doing that, but that was the only private place in the whole place where you could do it. But set yourself a schedule. When you get home, maybe you want to allow yourself some time to unwind a little bit. Want to watch television? But don't watch it all night. Get to bed in time so that you can do your prayers. Or you can study. Again, make yourself a schedule and stick with it. It teaches you so many, many good things. You can get even more intricate with it as time goes on. I encourage you to get a notebook. You can even write down the things you need to pray about. If you have a hard time praying for 15 minutes or 20 minutes, you can almost spend that much time praying for some of the needs within the local congregation of sick people that need our prayers. But one thing I will say, brethren, that I would encourage you to be praying every single day. This is sort of a distraction of what I'm talking about, but we need to be praying, brethren, for God's kingdom to come and His will be done. That we be accounted worthy to escape the things that are going to come upon this United States of America and to stand before the Son of Man. Jesus Christ meant that, brethren, when He said you'd better be praying always that you be accounted worthy to escape.

Because we don't want to be caught in the trouble that is going to brew and come together in this country. It's already brewing, as a matter of fact, not just this country, but other places around the world. Australia, Canada, you name it. There's going to be major, major problems for the future. So make a schedule for yourself.

Where should you pray? Again, make sure it's private, a private place. Sometimes you can pray outside.

Sometimes you might be best to pray in your bedroom, or wherever it might be. Whatever is good for you, the key is the place needs to be solitary. We're not hearing a lot of noise and distractions.

There are ways to actually get around that, too, by the way, if you can't get away from the distractions. You get yourself, what do they call them? Metronome? The click, click, click. Or you get yourself one of those old alarm clocks that you wind up and they go click, click, click, click. Pretty soon, that's all you can hear. And maybe you can concentrate on your prayer, even if there's other noise that might be in the house. But pray on a regular basis, brethren.

You know, Christ taught His disciples how to pray. And that's in Matthew 6 with a model prayer. I'm not going to go over there, but we all know, again, that model prayer, our Father who art in heaven.

Make sure you learn how to pray within the parameters of the outline Christ gave. Because He gave the parameters so that, brethren, when we pray, we're not focusing in on ourselves. We're not necessarily focusing in on praying for even one another. Initially, the focus of the prayer should be, first and foremost, God. Praising Him. Thanking Him for what He's done for us as God's people.

I gave a sermon, brethren, on the subject of meditation. Learn to meditate.

You know, develop that seminal thought approach I talked about in the sermon on meditation.

You know, David, when he prayed, he focused on the great works of God that you read about. You know, what he did at the Red Sea. He obviously meditated about these things, and it's recorded for us to read what David wrote.

Look at what Solomon wrote in the Proverbs. So many things there. All the great works of God we can meditate on and think about those things. Think about the greatness of the universe that is about us, and why it is that God says a fool has said there is no God.

We live in a very foolish time, though many people, of course, have thrown, you know, out God out of the picture. But David made meditation a practice of his everyday life, and we should, too, brethren. We should be meditating on a daily basis. And one of the things we need to be meditated on, brethren, is higher values in our lives. What are your values, brethren? What's your value for relationships with one another and how you live? What's your values when it comes to your marriage, when it comes to your children?

What are your values? What do you want your children to be when your job is done? At least from the standpoint of raising them until they are out of the house. What do you want them to be? What are your values again? What are your goals, you know, if you're going to have children? Meditate on those things. Think about those things. The higher values and pursue, brethren, in the seven laws of success, pursue excellence in all the things you do. Don't take the low road, but take the high road.

You know, why is God's way the best way? Ask yourself. Meditate on.

You know, mankind doesn't believe God's way is the best way. That started, of course, in the Garden of Eden. Otherwise, Adam would have listened to God. But he didn't believe God's way was the best way. You know, look at what has happened in the world out here. So much pain and suffering and trouble. And it's, again, growing worse, sadly. But we need to see clearly why God's way works and why it's better for us. Another thing, brethren, that is important in terms of a strategy of growth, of spiritual growth, is when we're with God's people.

Do we realize, you know, not only coming in God's presence is pleasing to God, but He likes to hear us sing. He likes to. He enjoys hearing us sing. You may say, well, I can't carry a tune in a bucket. Oh, brethren, you can make a joyful noise.

I had one of our deacons up in the Idaho area, lead songs. He couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. He just couldn't. But, boy, He was enthusiastic. And you know what? After He adjusted at least His level of singing, He was just so enthusiastic, He got everybody else to sing. And His enthusiasm rubbed off. I got to church a little bit later, and I would sit back in the back, though. And even though He wasn't singing out, I could hear Him through the speaker.

And He just couldn't carry a tune in the bucket.

He just didn't have that. And frankly, He never would have it. I knew that. But He always did a great job, and He was among the few that could lead songs at that particular time in the church area. But we can all make a joyful noise to God, and God loves hearing us sing. And you know what? Singing is soothing to us as well. It's interesting, when people are going through serious, serious trials, they tend to begin to sing to themselves.

Because it soothes us.

It can be comforting, rather than to us. And we're told in the Bible to sing cheerfully before God. I'm not going to go to the Scriptures. Let's go over to Ephesians 5. We're not very far from where that is. But in Ephesians 5, verse 19, you know, here Paul says that we ought to be speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making melody in our heart to the Lord. It's amazing how, in fact, you know, the hymns that we sing in the local church, every Sabbath, they're stuck in your brain. If you don't notice that, that you can be somewhere. I find myself sometimes I might be, you know, anywhere. And in my mind, I'm singing to him. I'm not singing aloud. I don't want to scare half the people to death. But you sing. And those psalms stick in your mind. Embedding your mind. And hopefully, brethren, that's exactly what God is seeing happen to us. It's getting embedded into our minds. So this word is a lamp to our feet, brethren. You know, we're living in a world that is filled with turmoil. It's going to, again, sadly, increase.

We need, of course, not to be filled with the problems of the world and the sins of the world, but we need to be full of something else. We need to be full, brethren, of God's words. We need to be full of God's way of life so that we can get rid of the anxiety that most people have. We don't have the stress that a lot of people have in this world. The reason why is we have a private program of spiritual growth that keeps us steadfast, keeps us stable. In the face of terrible trials, brethren, we can be stable. We can be firm in our convictions. You know, if we're doing these things, brethren, you know what God's going to give us, that peace of mind even more, is going to give us the strength to go through whatever it is. That we must go through. So we need a regimen, brethren, a program of growth, and I want to encourage you to do that. I want you and me to be encouraged to do what King David did. He said, I arise before the dawn of the morning, and I cry for help. I hope in your word. My eyes are awake through the night watches that I may meditate on your word. That's what David was doing. Well, brethren, if we hope for success spiritually and physically, make sure that we are practicing all seven of the laws of success. Which makes sure, in fact, that we're going to be successful. And let's make sure, above all, that we are all practicing the seventh law of success. And that is to have contact with Almighty God.