Do you find yourself becoming discouraged because you feel like you’re not growing in the fear of God? Paul Washer suggests that the answer lies in how we prioritize each day. There are 24 hours in a day - how much of those hours are dedicated to personal Bible reading, spent in prayer, by listening to sermons and harvesting spiritual truths? How much of our days are wasted by idle talk or mindlessly surfing the internet when we should be eager to spend every waking moment meditating on Scripture? How we spend our time and where our priorities are is a key indicator of where our heart is. Are we truly desiring to live for God and to love Him and His Word with all of our hearts? Or is our allegiance elsewhere? Matthew 6:21 (NKJV) – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

There's, um, let's say that someone comes to me with a huge sore on their forehead. And they say, I've been to every doctor in the world and no one can figure out what's wrong with me. Brother Paul, no, you're not a doctor, but could you pray and just ask the Lord to give you some insight? And I say, well, sure. As long as you know, I'm not a doctor.

Let me watch you for 24 hours. Well, at one o'clock in the morning, they wake up in their bed as this clock strikes one and gongs. They get up out of their bed and they bang their head against a wall and go back to sleep. When it strikes two, they do it twice. And throughout the day, every time the clock strikes, they bang their head that many times against a wall.

Well, after everything's done, I'll come to them and say, look, I'm no doctor, but I think I figured out your problem. It's about that simple with regard to growing and sanctification. Honestly, it is when people tell me, you know, they don't I'm not growing. What's the key? What's the secret?

I go back to this. Just be honest with me, how much time do you spend quietly reading and meditating on God's word? How much time do you honestly sit quietly and converse with God? How much do you give by faith? How much do you listen to sermons and try to drain from them or grab from them the truths that are being communicated.

How much time are you with the body of Christ? Not talking about football, but talking about Christ. And in every case, it's very little, very little, very little. And you