The Purpose & Power Of Writing: The Discipline Of Practicing The Word
Study The Word
Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
These spiritual principles of writing, faith, and the Name of Jesus are defined steps—precise, practical instructions that you must actively do. It’s not enough to just know about them or understand them intellectually. You literally have to say, “Okay, now this is what I’m going to do,” and then execute. And after you’ve diligently done that first step, you move to the next step, and then the next, consistently.
When you embark on this journey, you must be aware that these are not one-time applications; these are things that you must practice daily until you get the result. Having worked in ministry, serving many people, I’d ask them if they had applied the Word I’d shared with them to help with their challenge. Some would say yes, but what they meant was that they had done it for two days, or maybe a week. Because they didn’t understand that they had to consistently put that Word into practice over and over again—and also because most of the “doing” of God’s Word doesn’t feel spectacular—they’d stop. They didn’t understand that you have to press with discipline. You have to come back daily, show up daily, when you feel like it and when you don’t feel like it, and press consistently in applying that principle until the results show up. Stick with it, don’t stop, and don’t wonder if it’s working; yes, it is working as long as you’re consistently doing it.
הגה hâgâh meditate – growl, murmur, utter, roar
Now, in light of the principles that I’ve been teaching from when we started with this series; I want you to look at our opening scripture again. If I’ve done a good job at teaching thus far, then your previous understanding of the portion of scripture should be upgraded. Let’s break it down quickly; firstly God is talking to Joshua and He says “there’s this book.” In other words “you need this book.” So God has a book written, about the things that He wanted to come to pass in the lives of the children of Israel, how about you? I showed you how God Himself even insisted on writing the second copy by Himself. So, where is your book written about the things that you want to see come to pass in your personal life? Lets continue, so God says to Joshua “Moses is gone now, he won’t be able to rehearse in your ears what’s in this book (Exodus 17:14) anymore; so now you have to do it yourself.”
That’s secondly: meaning, this principle is going to work with your mouth, OK. In your mouth to do what? To speak! Kayaa! You see, the Hebrew word translated meditate doesn’t mean meditate in the sense of the meaning of the word meditate; but the Hebrew word is Hagah, which means to growl and murmur like a lion. My goodness. He is saying there must be emissions of these sounds from your mouth, like a lion that’s growling, murmuring as it is focused on its prey, but they’re sounds of growling that can be heard externally. (Isaiah 31:4) You see why they translated it meditate. But meditate is another Hebrew word that speaks of pondering, musing, that happens internally, but both Hebrew words are similar in that they share the same root word. So hâgâh has outward expression and hâgı̂yg is of internal contemplation.
הגיג hâgı̂yg meditate – muse, ponder, think, meditate
And then thirdly, in light of what we’ve been discussing, He says what is it that you’ll be growling on releasing sounds with you mouth? He says, “all that is written therein.” You see that? This is God Almighty Himself now teaching Joshua how to work with the principle of writing so that it works. There’s a lot at stake here, its been 40 years now. He has to do this if he is to enter into the promise land. You see how God employed these principles. How He emphasized on them everytime, why? Because it works. And because that’s the only way God knows it is going to work. So with you, and in your own life you are going to employ the same like your Heavenly Father, as you do what you see with God your Father.
Fourthly, which is the one I want to focus on today, he says “day and night“. That’s talking of discipline, routine and consistency.
What am I telling you today? What I’m telling you as we see from the Word is that the only way you can ensure that it’s working and that it does work is if you do it until it works. That’s the mindset and mental toughness that you need to build. You say, “I’m going to do this Word for as long as I have to until it works! I won’t stop until I get the results!” You come back to it repeatedly; you do the same thing; you practice it. You keep putting it to work consistently. It’s a continuous, deliberate process of application, like an athlete practicing their stamina or a musician refining their skill every day.
There were people who’d come for counseling over the years, and I shared this with them. They’d have the discipline to put these principles to work to deal with their challenge, and oh boy, the testimonies, the results they’d come back with! My goodness! I myself would have to compose myself because I’d be shocked at the result. Haha!
I remember a young man they sent over to me who was sleeping on the streets—no job, no money, only the clothes on his back. I looked at the young gentleman, and from the human point of view, there was no hope. But then I said to myself, “Shingi, you’ve got the Word!” Hey, I’ve got the Word, nothing is hopeless because I’ve got the Word!
I said to him, “I’m going to teach you something, but you have to commit to it until the end, in order for things to change.” He agreed, and I taught him this principle. True to his commitment, he kept showing up, practicing the Word. And one Friday afternoon, he came to see me at the church office and said, “I’ve got a job interview in Hermanus,” and he needed some bus fare to get from Cape Town to Hermanus. We got that sorted out, and he was on his way. About two weeks later, I received some pictures of the young man at the airport that he sent to my phone. I said, “Patrick, where are you going, what’s going on?” He said, “Sir, I wanted to thank you for teaching me the Word. I got the job in Hermanus, they trained me to make Italian pizza, and now they’re sending me to go train the staff of the new restaurant in Dubai! On my way, I’ll keep you updated.”
When he was in Dubai, he’d send me photo updates of the resort and restaurant he was staying at, hehe! Hey! From being homeless on the streets to catching flights across the globe! After just a few weeks of putting this to work. A few months later, he’d come back and tell me all about it, and he’s been working there in Hermanus ever since, glory to God! This is just one, there are many. Just imagine in a few weeks, a young man’s destiny went from being a street guy to, with a few weeks of applying the Word, catching flights and now being a restaurant manager. That’s something only the Word of God can do for you. A classic case of 1 Samuel 2:8: “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them.”
Your situation isn’t even as hopeless-looking as this guy’s did. So what are you going to do? You are going to have to be disciplined with this thing, do it until it produces the results; don’t stop until it works! That’s the key. Like I’ve told you before, the reason why this works is simply because God Himself uses them. He employs the same principles; they were established by God and form the very fabric of His operations. We see throughout the Bible that God Himself put these principles into practice, and they worked without fail. Like the story of the young man Joshua in our opening scripture; you know the rest of that success story-after 40 years they entered the promise land. And so these principles will not fail for you either.
If you truly master these things—if you learn them thoroughly, understand them deeply, and then begin practicing them diligently, putting them to work in every area of your life—your life will transform so dramatically that people won’t recognize you. It was a matter of weeks and Patrick was unrecognizable; the before and after was drastic and dramatic. That’s how God does it, all the time. And the most exciting part? It won’t take long for the transformation to begin! The key, the non-negotiable factor, is consistent, active application. It’s not about just hearing the Word, or even just agreeing with it intellectually, but becoming a diligent doer of the Word.
You have to actively engage with these principles, put them into motion, and consistently apply them to your daily life. This consistent, deliberate practice is what makes them effective, what causes them to yield undeniable, tangible results. Don’t just intellectualize; no, mobilize! Practice, practice, practice! And stick with it until it works.
Pray The Word
Heavenly Father, I thank You for revealing the critical importance of consistent practice in applying Your powerful spiritual principles. I pray for an increased grace for divine discipline, unwavering commitment, and unceasing consistency to put writing, faith, and the Name of Jesus into active, daily, and effective practice in every area of my life, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Speak The Word
I am a diligent practitioner of God’s unchanging Word! I do not just hear; I do. I actively and consistently put spiritual principles to work in my life, knowing that unwavering, consistent practice guarantees undeniable results and supernaturally transforms my reality and circumstances! My spiritual senses are continually being exercised daily by reason of use, glory to God!