BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

The Most Time-Efficient Thing You Can Do “But Gloria, you just don’t understand how busy I am. My schedule is packed.” Then unpack it a little. Spend less time watching the news. Get up a little earlier in the morning or go to bed a little later at night. Do whatever is necessary to make time to fill your heart with the Word. What you consistently put in your heart will determine whether you walk in victory or defeat. If you’re continually putting in the Word by keeping it in your ears and in front of your eyes, you’ll be able to walk in victory. You’ll be strong in the Lord, and when the devil comes against you to steal, kill and destroy, you’ll be able to rise up in faith and put him on the run. If you’re not consistently putting the Word in your heart, however, you won’t be in that position. When difficulties arise, your faith won’t be ready. Although you can still call on the Lord and He’ll do as much for you as He can, but because of your weakened spiritual condition, you may have to rely a lot on natural help. Talk about taking a lot of time! The natural systems human beings have come up with can consume massive amounts of it. Think, for instance, how many hours people spend in the lawyer’s office or banker’s office trying to rectify some mistake they made because they weren’t operating in the wisdom of God. Think about the entire mornings, afternoons and even whole days people can spend lying in bed because they’re sick and they don’t have enough of God’s Word inside them to believe for supernatural healing. Clearly, when you look at it in that light, putting God’s Word first in your busy schedule is the most time-efficient thing you can do! I figured this out years ago when Ken and I first started learning about faith. I noticed, particularly in the area of healing, that as we began to put into our hearts what the Word said about it, we didn’t waste much time dealing with sickness anymore. The whole time our children were growing up we never had to take them to the doctor. We would have, if it had been necessary, but it wasn’t because they rarely ever got sick. If they did get sick, we’d pray for them, believe God and they’d receive their healing. They might not have received it instantly, but within a short time they’d always be well. Other than when John hurt himself on one of his wild adventures and had to be stitched up, I only took our kids to the doctor once a year to get their forms signed for summer camp. But on those annual visits I was always struck by how full of sick and hurting people the doctor’s office was. I knew that some had been waiting for several hours for their appointments and many would end up with a big bill to pay. As the kids and I quickly got our little forms signed, I couldn’t help but think of all the time and money I’d saved over the years, not having to go to the doctor. I couldn’t help but rejoice over all the benefits of living in divine health. Being sick is time-consuming and expensive! That’s why I never apologize for taking my time when I’m ministering in Healing School at our Believers’ Conventions. The way I see it, even if I preach for several hours, comparatively that’s not very long. Of course, not everyone always agrees with that perspective. Some people come to Healing School wanting a quicker fix. They don’t realize that it took them years to get into a sickly condition and it’s going to take God a little while to get enough revelation to them to get them out of it. One woman actually wrote us after a convention in Anaheim once and admitted she was so eager for me to finish preaching that she actually prayed, “Lord, don’t let Gloria give another scripture!” Her prayer didn’t work, though. I just kept right on preaching. She stayed to the end of the service, and because she hung in there she wound up getting healed. I’m telling you, it pays to hang in there with God! Every one of us, as Christians, ought to be eager to give Him as much time as it takes to develop our faith. We ought to be delighted not only to read our Bible and pray every day but to spend time filling our hearts with the Word in other ways—going to meetings to hear faith-filled preaching, for instance…listening to the Word on CD or MP3 when we’re driving to work…or spending an hour or so in the evening watching some on-fire man or woman of God minister the Word on the BVOV Network or on a DVD. You could do all those things on a regular basis and you’d still end up spending less time than you’d spend on most medical procedures. They’re usually a very long haul. If you’ve ever had to go in for an operation you know very well the hospital can’t get the job done in 15 minutes! You’ll spend an hour or more just getting registered. After they send you to your room, it will take another two or three hours for you to undergo the necessary tests. Then they’ll work on you for a few more hours to get you ready for surgery, and afterward you’ll spend anywhere from days to weeks to months recovering from it. Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful for medical science. It can be a great help, and when you need it, you should avail yourself of it. But if you really value your time, you’d be wise to avail yourself first of God’s Word. * * * * continues on pg. 30 * * * * * 28 : BVOV

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