The Day That Changed My Financial Life | Dr. Mike Murdock

I was thrilled that the Lord released me to share with you today the day that changed my financial life. Go ahead and start that, Prophet Marquez. The day that changed my financial life. The day that changed my financial life. Write that down. The day that changed my financial life.

Of all the seasons in my life that I've had over 66 years, there was a Friday night, 2:30 in the morning. It was actually a Saturday morning, but I was there praying in my garage, 11514 Eagle View Lane, Houston, Texas. It was the fifth day of a fast, and it was a Friday night, the closing day. And I was in my garage. I remember it like it was last night. I, I see a picture of the desk I had there because I did not have enough money to pay for a secretary. I did not have enough money to rent an office building or an office room. I had enough money for myself and the house I lived in, which was not necessarily a fancy house. It was a good house, but not necessarily a special, special house. But it was a day that changed my financial life, and I was thrilled this morning and last night that the Holy Spirit began to deal with me so strong about it that it would be time to impart this to you. I believe I could make anybody in the world a millionaire if they would listen to me. I could have make anybody in the world a millionaire if they would listen to me, if they would listen.

There comes God. God hides your future in moments. God hides your future in moments. The turning points in your life can be traced to a conversation at a given place, a given moment. Acts 8, when Philip talked to the Ethiopian eunuch. That Ethiopian eunuch's life was changed in a moment through a conversation. Philip explaining Isaiah and the life of Jesus. When Jesus was at the well with the Samaritan woman, we call her because she was at the well of Samaria. When Jesus said, "I must, I must go. I needs, I must go through Samaria." And a lady was there, and he asked about her husband. She said, "I have no husband." He said, "You're right, you've got five." She went back into the city and told, the Bible said she told everybody, "Come see a man that told me everything I ever did." History records that the entire city came to Jesus. The Ethiopian eunuch who talked to Philip brought 90% of Ethiopia to Christ. There will be a time in your life where God will connect you with a person. For Oral Roberts and Seed Faith, it was a farmer that knocked on his door late, late at night. For Raymond T. Richie, who won 1 million people to Christ from here in Fort Worth, it was a letter from his sister up north who said they're having a revival in Fort Worth. Go. And he was had literally an incurable something doctors could not change, and he was saved, gloriously healed, called to preach. It was one conversation with his sister that changed his life.

Over your lifetime, God will hide magical, miraculous, golden, glorious, life-revolutionary truth in a moment. And one single sentence becomes the key to unlock your prison and let you go free. Three miracles of healing. Billy Burke has stood on this platform more than once and shared when he was a little, I think nine-year-old boy, and Kathryn Kuhlman called him out, and God gloriously broke sickness and disease in his little body. And today he goes around the world unleashing the river of Divine Healing. Your future is hidden in a moment. A moment that a truth enters your spirit. A moment that a light turns on in your life. A moment that God sends somebody to you and gives you a word, and you embrace that word, and you receive that word. I want to tell you about the day that changed my financial life.

We know that Proverbs 27 says, "Wisdom is the principal thing." What is wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to recognize difference. Your difference from others, their difference from you, difference in a moment, difference in an environment. I've talked about the four things that I listen for in every conversation. I give all of me to every moment. There are no moments in my life where I use 10% or give 50%. I've said publicly, and some do not believe, but I believe this: I cannot remember a day in my lifetime of 66 years that I did not empty all of me into that day. When I was growing up, I felt like I wouldn't live long. I told Mother that several times. I'm shocked that I'm 66 because I really thought my life was going to be very short. I was stirred by an illustration I heard from Fred Hill in Lake Arthur, Louisiana, when he gave an illustration about a little boy that got killed outside of his church, 6 years old, on his way to school, after having prayer every morning for his family. And it so stirred me that I was radically affected. I also believe maybe I wouldn't live long, so I want to make my life count. My mother's favorite song that I've written is, "Make my life count, Lord, make my life count." This is an important season in my life. What's really important is that we look for difference. Difference in a moment, difference in a conversation.

Ephesians 6:8 is the focus for today. I'll tell you first what happened, and then I'll come back to this. I want to talk to you about the day that changed my financial world, and you want to write down what it's about. It's about problem-solving. Discerning problems near you as doors to significance. Your life is always connected to a problem because a problem is a secret gift from God. God that creates your entire reward system for your lifetime.

As I walked back and forth in my garage, my hands were uplifted. I was praying in the Spirit, and suddenly the Holy Spirit spoke to me these words: "What you make happen for others, I'll retweet you this morning, Tiffany. What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you." When He said that, I kept praying because I thought He was telling me the Golden Rule, and I knew it already. And once you've heard something, you sort of heard it. I kept praying. He came back again, and my hands are up, I'm praying in the Spirit. "What you make happen for others, I will make happen for you." God will make happen for you. Actually, He used the word, "I will make happen for you." And I stopped, and I thought, "There must be something special here." I wrote it down. I remember going around and pulling up some paper, opening my, my drawer, and I bought that desk from Mexico. And I pulled open the, the pen, or opened my drawer, pulled the pen, and wrote it: "What you make happen for others, I will make happen for you."

I keep a recorder with me every hour of my life. I keep one in the bed with me. Sometimes I wake up in the bed, and I have four recorders, four of my phone recorders, all around me. It is important that I document divine conversation. When God talks to you, it connects with your future. He talked to Samuel. God will talk to anybody at any age who will listen. I wrote it down, and I looked at it: "What you make happen for others, I will make happen for you." I did not know at the time that it was a scripture. My brother John was the one that told me, "Mike, what you've been preaching is in the Bible." I said, "Well, I knew it was scriptural, scriptural, but I didn't know it was scripture."

When God spoke that to me, I thought, "I know, I know." Mother said, "If I treat somebody good, they'll treat me good." And you, your mothers probably like my mother said, "What you make..." She said, "If you treat somebody good, they will treat you good." If I had a problem at school, she felt like it was always my fault. "You did something. It was you. You did it." Mama, if the teachers got upset, "What did you do? Uh, got to fight at school. What did you do? It was your fault." Now, my Daddy was opposite. Daddy always took the side of the children. Mother always took the side of whoever our enemy was, and that was just Mother. I have all kinds of memories right now about Franklin, my brother. He was in like three grades higher than me. He's three and a half. All of us three and a half years apart. My older brother, John. Somebody said something on the school bus about my brother, and I challenged him to get off the bus. Now, my brother was there, but he was a peacemaker. My brother John, he is really a, a peacemaker. And so I thought he would take my side of it, you know, I really thought he would help me because I was taking up for him. And, uh, so I, I invited off the bus somebody who was in his class, three and a half years older than me. And I'm a little, I didn't, I was 4'11" till I was in the ninth grade, you know, always very short. I just grew up suddenly. But, uh, so I invited the guy off the bus, and John wouldn't take my side. He said, "That's your fight. You're the one that got it." And, uh, I remember a lot of things, but Mother always said it was my fault. Always. It was my fault. "If you'd have done this right." So I thought that this divine conversation with God was about what Mother said: "If you treat somebody good, they will treat you good," which is not true. You've treated people good, they treated you like a dog.

So Jesus never even said that. What Jesus said was, "Do unto others as you would that men would do to you." He didn't say they would. He just said, "Do unto others as you would that somebody would do to you." Well, when He said this, I knew I had tapped into something. Every word of God is incredibly vital. You don't leave anything out. Remember that. Everything is in details. I often get up and tell people, "Would you jump out of a plane for a million dollars?" And I get up to about 10. "No." "No." "Would you jump out of a plane for 10?" "Two million, 3 million, 4 million?" And then finally, I tell them the missing part: "It's already on the ground. The plane is on the ground." I never said the plane was in the air. So we know the importance of details. It's the details. And you always, I really, really like precision. I like accuracy. I like exactness. And I knew that God was talking to me.

Turn to Ephesians 6:8, because I promise you this will change your world like it changed mine. Verse 5: "Servants, in our day we talk about employees, team members, staff. Be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ." He's saying here, "Just work as if you're working for God. Let everything you do as if you're doing unto God." And God's saying, "Treat the person over your life that's an authority." Remember, everything that arises from God will probably arrive from an authority over your life. That's the role of authority is to transfer divine blessing into our life. You cannot be promoted by anybody under you. You can only be promoted by someone over you. You can be blessed. You can be blessed by anybody, but the blessing of the Lord comes often through authority. "Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; meaning, don't do something just because some person is watching, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, not to men." This is the scripture: "Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doth, whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." It was that scripture, though I did not know that scripture at the time, that confirmed this.

Now, Isaiah 58 says, "If I reach out to the afflicted soul, God will turn on my life in my nighttime." Every known religion believes this. Every religion has this principle as the theme. Whether it's Hinduism, Buddhism, every religion believes that what you sow, you will reap. I don't know of any religion that I've studied. I haven't studied every religion on the earth, but many, they believe that something you do decides the events in your life. I've stressed to you not to believe that God arranges everything in your life. I've stressed to you the importance of making right decisions. That your decisions have created the quality of your world, the quality of your life. The Bible is a book about decisions, not mere destiny. Destiny is what happens when you make decisions. 331 references in the Bible similar to Deuteronomy 28, Leviticus 26, Isaiah 1:17, 18, and 19.

I got a hold of this that night. It was the day that changed my financial world because God suddenly showed me that He was involved in the events of my life, but that He would watch me and what I made happen for other people, He would duplicate that event in my life. I could schedule divine behavior through my conduct toward people. That what I made happen for a person, God would photograph that, videotape that, and whatever I did to that person, God would schedule that same experience for me. Not that person, not that person, not what I make happen for Brother Harold, but what I make happen for him, I will receive from God.

Now, why is that important? Because if I do good to you with the intentions that you will do something for me, I have indebted you to me. I'm going to do this for you, but you got to do this, this, this. That's business, man. That's why we have contracts. A contract is proof of distrust. We have contracts with people who rent houses because we don't believe they'll follow what was said, what was agreed with. They won't remember it. And so we have contracts for people who won't remember or don't believe or said, "You said this, I didn't say that." So we have contracts. If I do something for Miss Genie, now, do you owe me one? Don't you forget, you owe me. You owe me. You ever heard that? "You owe me." Now, I've made her feel indebted to me. Yes. And we don't like people we owe. None of us. You've never prayed for the president of any of your credit card companies. You don't even know his name. You don't even know his name. We hate situations where we owe somebody something. "I'm going to do this for you, Dale. I'm going to do that, but don't you forget, you owe me one." If I do something for her so she'll do something back for me, I have now created a flaw in our relationship. Every time she sees me, "Oh, brother, I forgot. I owe him. I owe him. I got to, I got to do something. I guess I need to cook him some cake or something." Another, make it this thing right. I am limited to what she can do for me, and if she wants to, and if she decides to. But if I bless her and then turn my expectation to God, now God is indebted to me because He is the one who talked to me about my reward system.

Now, there's a lot of misunderstanding about the word "greed" and the word "selfishness." And I agree with Abraham Lincoln, who was in a debate with Stephen Douglas. They were together. Stephen Douglas believed that everything people did was out of the goodness of their heart. That nobody did good things just for other people. They did them for themselves. Or, but they did it for other people. And Abraham Lincoln says, "I don't believe that. I believe that everything people do is for their own good, and there's nothing wrong with that." By the way, God expects you to take care of you. He didn't say, "Love your neighbor more than you loved yourself." He didn't say, "Love your neighbor less." He said, "Love your neighbor like you love you." Jesus never condemned you. In fact, James says, "Acknowledge every good thing that's inside you because every good thing inside you should be exchanged."

As they were riding along in the wagon, a little pig was stuck in the mud, couldn't get out, and it was squealing. And finally, they drove past in the, the wagon, the, the horses. And Abraham Lincoln said, "Hold it, hold it, stop." Went out and helped that little pig get out of the place where he was stuck. He was squealing and squealing. And Stephen and Douglas said, "See, that just proved my point. That pig could do nothing for you, but out of the goodness of your heart, you got the pig. Let it go free out of the little mud place where it was stuck." And Abraham said, "No, no, on the contrary, it proved I'm right." He said, "When we drove by, the squealing of that pig was in my conscience, and I could not keep going without making it right. And now my conscience is at peace. I did that for the pig, for me." We don't give two quarters to the beggar to change his lifestyle. We give two quarters so we'll feel better about having what we've got and him not having anything. Is there anything wrong with doing something good for others with expectation of something good happening to us? No. It's scriptural. That's why I use it as a motivation.

Now, the word "motive" is important here. Motive. I hear a lot of prayers about wrong motives, wrong motives, wrong motives, wrong motives. But remember that God wants you to experience good things for you. And He uses. If I tell my son, "I'll give you $50 if you mow the yard," why did I say $50? As an incentive to show him a picture of the reward. If you mow the grass, I'm going to do something good for you. It's going to be a blessing. Is there anything wrong with that? Of course not. When you got your job, did you ask them if they would pay you? Is that wrong? Did you ask them how much they would pay you? No. Is that wrong? No. The whole world runs by incentive. What, what's the reason? We call it motive. For instance, if a bank loses money and they said, "Something's wrong." They start looking at the people who work at the bank to see if they're involved in gambling. Do they have a gambling debt? And they're trying to steal money and embezzle money. What are they trying? And they begin to examine your background to look for a motive. Who would have a motive to rob from the bank, steal from the bank? A friend of mine just told me they found a lady that they just, that she had embezzled thousands and thousands of dollars from their ministry. And had it not been for an audit, they would have never caught her. Loving person, a grandmother in the church, and she got like something like $400,000 she had embezzled through the checking system of the church. They look for a motive. Who has a motive? They do it in court. Who has a motive for killing this person? For instance, if a wife is killed or a mother that was there, an insurance policy taken out that would give that person a reason. Motive means reason for doing something. Motive also involves motivation. For instance, God knew we would have a problem with the tithe, and so He gave us a motivation, a motive. He didn't say, "Give me tithe because the angels are starving. I can't pay for their, for their robes anymore. The, the streets of gold are just so expensive." He gave us a motive or a motivation: "I will open the windows of heaven, I pour out a blessing, I rebuke the devourer." When Jesus looked at the woman of Samaria, He said, "I'll give you water and you'll never thirst again." "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest." The reward system is a kingdom concept. Kingdom life, kingdom living, that it operates by a reward. We had marriage vows yesterday. "I'm going to be with you. I'm going to do this. I'm going to protect you." These are vows. Why didn't you say, "Boy, we like each other, let's just do it"? No. There was, there was the promise of a reward. Whoever makes you feel guilty for working for rewards is a total, absolute hypocrite. But because reward systems run the earth, all God did, He told us in Deuteronomy 28, all through the Bible, He says, "If you obey me, these are the things that will happen for you." God loves giving people rewards. That's why He described Himself as a giver. "If you, being evil, give good gifts to your children, how much more does your heavenly Father give gifts to those that love Him?" Is it wrong to want good things? You're perverted if you don't.

I never tire of the wisdom of God. Wisdom is the ability to recognize difference. Right and wrong, evil and righteousness, difference in people, difference in an accountant, difference in a moment, like the blind man crying out to Jesus. The dominant purpose for wisdom. And don't you love the wisdom of God? So thankful you're listening today and watching and being a part of the internet, telling others about it. And I hope you're getting, by the way, I hope you're getting my daily podcast every single day on your iPod or your MP3, every single day, two minutes of wisdom. Be a blessing. Sometimes I go a little over because I get excited. I want you to be a part of this ministry. I believe that when you get involved with God, He gets involved with you. I am one of the ministers of the gospel who believe the words of Jesus. I believe every word He said. When He told Peter that there would be a hundredfold return on any investment in the gospel in Mark 10:28-30, I believed Him. When the word of God says in Malachi 3 that if I bring the tithe, which is 10% of my income, and the offering back to Him, that He would open the windows of heaven and pour me out a blessing I don't have room enough to receive, I believe Him. Why would I believe God about heaven and hell and not believe Him about the blessing of the Lord?

I want to pray over the seeds that you have been planting in this ministry. And by the way, I have an incredible gift. You're going to love it. In fact, it's probably one of the greatest gifts I've ever offered. We're asking the Holy Spirit for 300 partners this week who will set aside a seed of $300 for our outreaches. I need your help. I want you to help me not just to feed a thousand children a day, which we do, or a thousand families, or underwrite the wisdom of Asia Bible College, or to underwrite the tent factory in South Africa, or the Home of Hope, but that we can go into 100 countries with the gospel. I'm holding in my hand the Wisdom Quick Scan Bible. The Wisdom Quick Scan Bible. I have never in my life found a Bible easier to read. As you know, for many years, I've read the Bible through 40 chapters a day, every single month of my life. There is no easier book to read than this Quick Scan Bible. When I found out that I could offer it to you, inside is some of the teaching that I've been doing, and I'll do today. I want you to have it. Call me right now. Plant your seed of $300 and watch God move. Is it wrong to want good things? You're perverted if you don't. It's as normal as breathing. It's a divine impartation for you to want to increase and multiply. Lift your right hand high right now and say, "I've decided to be a receiver of every good thing in my life." Say it again. "I've decided to be a receiver of every good thing in my life." Again, "I have decided to be a receiver of every good thing in my life."

We're talking about the day, the day that changed my financial world. The day that changed my financial world, built on Ephesians 6:8. "What you make happen for others, God will duplicate that experience for you." So here I am, like 31, 32 years old. "What you make happen for others, I will make happen for you." I'm walking back and forth. It's 2:30 in the morning, 11514 Eagle View Lane, Houston, Texas. I didn't have enough money to rent an office for $140 a month. I didn't have enough money to pay Sandy McDade, who was my first secretary, $600 a month. She was a school teacher, and I remember Sandy, a wonderful young lady, and I didn't have enough money to pay her. She wanted to work for my ministry. Didn't have enough money to pay her. And God speaks that word: "What you make happen for others, I will make happen for you." That registered with me. "Huh. That meant when I solve a problem for somebody, God owes me. That person does not owe me." Their reaction may show gratitude. Their reaction may show good, good manners. But if I do something for Brother Holton, God is the one indebted to compensate me.

I am fascinated by several parts of scripture. One is that my success is linked to people. That what I do for people goes in a memory book, a divine memory book. And there's a phrase that I have spoken that nobody else thinks really is important, but to me, it's electrifying: "God will leave no man unrewarded." If I believe that, I cannot be upset when somebody mistreats me. God will leave no man unrewarded. People may leave you unrewarded, but God will leave no man unrewarded. In eight weeks, I lived that principle. I poured myself out solving every problem in my environment that I could possibly solve. Every problem. Sometimes somebody just needed inspiration, so I spoke a word of inspiration to them. There were people who were sick and needed somebody to pray for them, so I just prayed for that person. There's people who couldn't pay a car note, so I tried to help them on their car note. I poured myself out for eight weeks into my world trying to solve problems. And I determined that I would become a master at solving problems. Not for the right people, not for certain people, because my reward would come from the Lord. Now, if you say, "I will solve problems for somebody who will bless me. I will solve a problem for somebody who's got some money." Now we've broken away from the principle, and now we are managing to deceive, and we're managed to manipulate, and we're managed to try to control somebody's behavior through a gift we give them. Now, if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I addressed that. Righteous people give to bless. Another, evil people give to control decision-making.

In eight weeks, the income to my ministry jumped 20 times. I had never received money at any level through the mail, and suddenly my mailbox began to fill up with offerings from people I did not even know. In eight weeks, my finances for my ministry jumped 20 times in eight weeks from one principle, one law: "What you make happen for others, I will make happen for you." Those were God's words to me. That if I would look for somebody who had a problem, and I strove to strive to take care of it, God was indebted to me. I'll give you, and my world changed. My financial life changed. My world changed. As I looked in scripture, I saw that was the secret of Rebecca, who became the wealth manager for Abraham, his daughter-in-law. She saw an old man with a problem, said, "Can I bring you some water?" Then she said, "Can I water your camels?" I see it with Ruth, who chose to be the armor bearer to Naomi, and what she made happen for Naomi, Boaz made happen for her. I saw it in Joseph's life when the butler and the baker had a problem, they were troubled over their dreams, and Joseph gave them a truthful interpretation. When he got back to the palace with Pharaoh, Pharaoh had a problem, Joseph solved it, and next he was number two in the kingdom. I saw it in Job when he prayed for his friends. The Bible said that's when his own captivity was turned.

The problem nearest you is your exit from your present season. A problem close to you is the secret gift from God that can give you every other blessing you're wanting. I'll give you two or three instances in my life, then show how to apply to your life. Wherever there's a problem in your life, that is an invitation to a reward system. Wherever there's a problem in your world, in your home, in your business, all success is linked to a problem solved. A problem solved. I know we want miracle money, but in the pattern of life, I have never seen Bill Gates write me and say, "Would you pray for my money?" Warren Buffett, the second wealthiest man in America, has never written me and said, "Pray for my money." It's people who have no money who say, "Would you pray over mine?" They have simply all solved a problem. When you solve a problem, you show honor. Everywhere there's honor, there's favor. Everywhere there's favor, there's money. Money is anywhere there's favor. Money is anywhere there's a problem. A problem is the secret door to all the finances of your life.

I received a phone call. I was preaching at First Assembly of God Church in Delaware on a Saturday. An evangelist called me. He was crying. Had four or five children, I think it was five. He had four or five children, and he was crying. He said, "Mike, I have no money. My kids have no food. We, all the doors are closed, and nobody will invite us for a meeting." He's just crying his eyes out like a, like a squalling kid. He said, "Would you help me?" I went over to the Sunday school room, and I handwrote on my secret, my stationery, I was just a young preacher. I handwrote 27 pastor friends and said, "Would you have this man for revival? He's worthy, and he'll bless you." 27 handwritten letters. He received 27 invitations, and his life was changed. Since that day, I have never lacked for an open door for my ministry. You could drop me in any country on the earth, and there's an invitation. I accept about one out of a hundred open doors. For every door that I say yes, there's a hundred I've said no to. There's a reason I'm telling you that. What I made happen for him, did he ever open a door for me? Never. Has he ever come back? Only to tell me he received 27 invitations. He doesn't give to my ministry. He doesn't sow in my ministry. He's not a partner. He's never been to this facility. I don't even know where he is today. But God has given me open doors. God has given me open doors.

This is why God wanted us to serve one another as unto Christ. That the quality of what you do at your job is what God does for you in your life. What I make happen for others, God will make happen for me. I either believe that or I don't believe it. Every five minutes you did not work on your job, you were a thief to receive the money from your boss for that five minutes you did nothing. Ten minutes late from the lunch, leaving early in the afternoon. Wherever there has been a problem that you refused to solve, there's been a loss in your life. I begin to give myself to problem-solving. I am that way to this day. I live solving problems every moment of my life. Every moment. Every moment. Pray it on the phone, answering a tweet, whatever it takes to make something good happen for somebody, writing letters, linking people, opening the door, accepting an invitation for a situation. That's why I'm flying out this week. Problem-solving. I see myself as a problem solver. Now, I've got entire books on this, as you know, but I want to show you the incredible hidden power of a problem.

A beggar, unkempt, I mean, hair straggling all over his face, and he was filthy and dirty. And I was sitting down at an Italian outside restaurant, very fancy, expensive, in Chicago. And the man leans over the iron rail and said, "Buddy, you got a couple of dollars?" I said, "You hungry?" He said, "I'm starving." I brought him inside, set him down at the table, and said, "Anything that you want." The manager comes running over, said, "Sir, sir." I said, "This is my new friend." Found out he's an old professor from college, a smart man, just had some bad luck. I said, "Anything he wants, I'm paying for." Why did I do that? I did that knowing that "What I make happen for others, God will make happen for me."

A lady is pushing her old husband in a wheelchair, then moving the luggage in Tampa airport. She pushed his wheelchair a little further, then moved their luggage. And I pulled out a $20 bill and I handed it to a skycap and said, "Go take that couple to their gate." He thought I was their son. He said, "Wow, they don't make sons like you anymore." I said, "I have no idea who they are. I'm not their son. They got a problem, I got money, I can solve it." We landed the other day here at the airport in Dallas, and a lady's there in her wheelchair outside. It's cold. Were you with me, Brother Ron? I don't know if you were with me that day. I know Michael was. Were you with me? And there's a lady out there, and she's cold. None of the taxis will give her a ride because she has no money. She had spent her money to come to see her father, I think, who was sick in the hospital. And nobody was talking to her, nobody saying. She just. And she said, "I said, have you been here a good while?" I think she had been there an hour outdoors, freezing in a wheelchair. I said, "What do you mean?" I said, "Do you have money for a taxi to take there?" She said, "Uh, no. I used all my money to buy the ticket." And of course, all the taxi cab drivers, they're just like this. So I pulled out a $100 bill and I walked over to one of the taxi cabs. I said, "She's my friend. Take her anywhere she wants." Oh, he's suddenly ready. He's ready now. He got, he saw a $100 bill, he was ready. To me, that's the reward system. I don't know her name, didn't ask her name. We gave her a phone number in case she had a problem to call one of the guys and say, "I wasn't trying to be a big shot." I don't know her name, don't know where she lives, don't know anything. But I had some money. I always have money. You'll never see me without money. Never, never, never, never. "What I make happen for others, God will make happen for me."

I don't owe everybody my harvest. You can't help. There's a whole little guideline. There's 46 facts about problem-solving, as you know, if you read my book. But the point is, wherever there's a problem in my life is an opportunity for me for divine favor. And I want God to like me, and my behavior to others, my attitude, all of that matters. I won't give you all the details except to tell you that I believe there's not one out of a hundred people understanding this law. Not one out of a hundred. But if it ever gets in your spirit that a problem closest to you is an opportunity to send a message to heaven, "You've been good to me. I'm thankful. I'm grateful." What is your reaction to a problem? If your wife has a problem, what is your reaction to that wife?

Now, the Bible gets very plain about sexual gratification and its value and its importance. The Bible comes back: "A man that won't make love to his wife, a woman that withholds from her husband, there's a curse on them." There's a curse on what I make happen for my wife, God will make happen for me. There will not be one man in heaven who robbed his wife of sexual gratification. There won't be one wife in heaven who stole that experience from her husband. Not one. Not one. There's a problem, and scripturally, you're the only one authorized to solve their problem in that arena. I'm talking about problems people have around us. I'm talking about problems. Do something for people with all expectation that they owe you back. You're going to have the saddest, most miserable life on the face of the earth. But if you bless people with expectation from God, you're going to have the most glorious life anyone's had on the face of the earth.

One of my proteges called me. He had flown and he had done a lot of things to help a ministry, and they had given him almost nothing. He said, "I don't think I'll go back." I said, "Did you bless the people? Did you help the people?" Okay, this is where the law of the seed is so vital. They didn't pay you. They didn't bless you. I was thinking the other day, I saw all the pictures of people that used to attend the church here, people I bought, I bought cars for, paid their house notes, paid lawyers for them, thousands of dollars, and they're not here. A gift is intimidating to the unholy. They won't stay around people they owe. That's why people have left your life. There's people that's left your life because their conscience won't let them stay in your presence. They owe you too much. Yes, they owe you too much. Don't bless others to build a relationship with them. Bless others to build a covenant partnership with God. With God. With God. The people that I have blessed the most leave the first. They leave quick because their conscience is big, being provoked and pricked. You will become very discouraged if you use money to build relationships. It will be disheartening to you to do something for somebody financially or in any way, in any way, expecting gratitude to be equal to your gift. It will not happen, hardly ever. But if you bless others for several reasons: bless those that need the experience of receiving, bless those that God puts in your heart because there's a love when you want to bless somebody, there's a love for that person, and your gift is documentation. Dr. Mike Brown bought me the most beautiful ostrich cover for one of my iPads, and every time I touch that ostrich, something comes alive in me, and I think of Dr. Mike Brown. There's just something. Whatever I make happen for others, God will make happen for me. And I never see that. Now, gratitude from a human is extra blessing from the Lord. If you find somebody who's truly grateful, you know what I looked at last night and held in my hands? Remember the incredible Bible that you gave me, the, do you remember that beautiful, with my name all through it, personalizing the Bible? You think I thought of Harold and Beverly? I sure did. I sure did. Givers are always thankful. It's the non-giver who has a problem with thankfulness. A person who is a seed-seer knows the value of a seed. That's a whole another message. It's a whole another principle. I'm not going to preach today on being grateful. I'm preaching today on sowing all of you into the world around you. All of you into the world around you. All of you. Who should you sow into? Obviously, those the Lord impresses upon you. Those God speaks to you. Sow into you. Sow into those that you have a responsibility over. You sow to your boss, who is the financial channel chosen by God. Out of everybody in your life, there is one person who writes you checks more than anybody else, and it's the person where you've planted your time and your energy, and he writes you a check every seven days or every 15 days. He writes you a check. You sow upward. I sow outward. I sow downward. Now, everything I sow has a different future. I sow down for my health, Isaiah 58, Psalms 41. I sow down to the poor, someone less than me financially. I sow up according to Ezekiel to the priest of the house, so that the blessing will come down on me. Every seed that I sow has a different assignment, a different future. I'm thinking of other parts of this. I'm going to try to today stress to you, if I never see you again, if I never see you again, what you need to know to succeed financially. I will not take up valuable time in your life explaining where the Antichrist is coming from while you face an empty bank account. I will not teach you something that does not apply to your daily life.

If you are a husband, document, inventory what you have received that can bless your wife. Let's start with how can you bless your wife. Remember that you're a walking collection of seeds. Listening is a seed. Every woman needs a quality listener in her life. When she walks in, say, "I'm tired." You don't say, "Well, lay down." You said, "Well, talk to me about the day. Tell me, what was the happiest part of the day? What was the struggle for you?" You don't talk to her like she's a child. You talk to her like she's the rest of you, the rest of you. Because the wife is the rest of you, the part that's missing in you. Eve was proof God couldn't do it all. Whoever tells you God can substitute for a wife is a liar. God himself knew He couldn't be a wife to you. Say it right now: "I will exude and lavish seed into my home. I will be the number one problem solver at my house." Say that again. "I will be the number one problem solver at my house." Lift your right hand high, close your eyes, and sit with me in the name of Jesus. "I will master the art of solving problems." In Jesus' name.

I'm going to take you one more little bit because this is big to me. It's so big. This truth is more important than the meal that you're going to eat today. God got me. Set my focus is Ephesians 6:8. "What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you." I'm talking about the day that changed my financial life. The day that changed my financial life. Now, I've never met a human that I could tell all of my blessings to. I've never met a human that I have been free to share every blessing with. I know the burden of hearing about somebody's blessing when you don't have one, so I spare people of that. But I want to talk to you briefly. The fact that you are a walking seed system. Esther, those notes you write me of how much you care about my life, they bless me. They bless me. I have never doubted your love, your caring heart. That note is a seed into my spirit. Those words are seeds into my heart. Monica Melgar brings a gift to me from every country she goes to. If she comes back from Guatemala, there will be a gift. It may not be a gift that I've been, "Oh God, this is the gift I've been mourning." It's proof of honor. So start your seed-sewing life in your present environment. What do I have to give? It may be warning and protecting and intercession, but you're a walking seed system. You're a walking seed system. And everywhere there's a problem, there's opportunity to plant seeds of your life.

I never tire of the wisdom of God. Wisdom is the ability to recognize difference. Right and wrong, evil and righteousness, difference in people, difference in a countenance, difference in a moment, like the blind man crying out to Jesus. The dominant purpose for wisdom. And don't you love the wisdom of God? So thankful you're listening today and watching and being a part of the internet, telling others about it. And I hope you're getting, by the way, I hope you're getting my daily podcast every single day on your iPod or your MP3, every single day, two minutes of wisdom. Be a blessing. Sometimes I go a little over because I get excited. I want you to be a part of this ministry. I believe that when you get involved with God, He gets involved with you. I am one of the ministers of the gospel who believe the words of Jesus. I believe every word He said. When He told Peter that there would be a hundredfold return on any investment in the gospel in Mark 10:28-30, I believed Him. When the word of God says in Malachi 3 that if I bring the tithe, which is 10% of my income, and the offering back to Him, that He would open the windows of heaven and pour me out a blessing I don't have room enough to receive, I believe Him. Why would I believe God about heaven and hell and not believe Him about the blessing of the Lord? I want to pray over the seeds that you have been planting.

In this ministry, and by the way, I have an incredible gift you're going to love. In fact, it's probably one of the greatest gifts I've ever offered. We're asking of the Holy Spirit for 300 partners this week who will set aside a seed of $300 for our outreaches. I need your help. I want you to help me not just to feed a thousand children a day, which we do, or a thousand families, or underwrite the Wisdom of Asia Bible College, or to underwrite the tent factory in South Africa, or the Home of Hope, but that we can go into 100 countries with the gospel.

I'm holding in my hand the Wisdom Quick Scan Bible. The Wisdom Quick Scan Bible. I have never in my life found a Bible easier to read. As you know, for many years I've read the Bible through 40 chapters a day, every single month of my life. There is no easier book to read than this Quick Scan Bible. When I found out that I could offer it to you inside of some of the teaching that I've been doing, and I'll do today, I want you to have it. Call me right now. Plant your seed at $300 and watch God move.

A prayer intercession, perfect. Thank you. Thank you. A prayer intercession. I consider everything I do to be a seed. Everything God does for me is the harvest from that seed. Now, you can get messed up in that a little bit if you're not careful and said, "Look to the law of God." 'Cause when something bad happens, you can say, "Wow, what did I do? Who did I do something bad to? What did I do to reap this?" Everybody, Job made a flawed conclusion. He said, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away," and he was wrong. Because God had not taken anything away. It was Satan who had taken away. But Job is the oldest book of the Bible, and he had no previous teaching. You can only live what you believe. Believe you can only believe from somebody you trusted. You must inventory.

There are several things that I can do. I can pray for people, and God answers my prayers. I can pray for people. I can encourage someone. My presence. My presence. I turned down a major, major conference of 30,000 people to be able to have a wedding yesterday for two key people I love in this church. And I walked away from thousands and thousands of ministry because of a young couple I love, because they wanted me in that wedding. That was my seed into their life. How many understand that? Presence is a seed. Presence is a seed. Love is a seed. Just patting someone on the shoulder to communicate that you care is a seed. Is a seed. I know this woman loves me. She's loved me since I was 33, 34 years old because she gave her life to Jesus watching me on TV, moved from everything comfortable for her, just to be a part of this Wisdom Center family.

A gift is a seed. Money is a seed. Stopping slanderous remarks against somebody is a seed. Public credibility is a seed. Public credibility. Letting others know you believe in somebody, that's a seed. Everything you do is a seed, and it contains a future, a possibility. What I make happen for others, God will make happen for me.

I'm walking out of a hotel, and a man shouts my name. I didn't know him. Never had met him. Knew nothing about him. Walked over, and he said, "I've been watching on television, etcetera," and tells me about his business, and it's such bad shape, he's going bankrupt. I said, "Maybe I can help." He said, "You couldn't help. I've had the best of the best. I've had major people in my life. I've had counsel. I had everything, and it won't help my business." I said, "I'm free. I have a jet. I have two pilots. I'm free." "Won't," he said, "you won't charge?" "No," I said, "nothing. God uses me in different ways. Let me come try to bless you." I flew. He said, "You take you what? Two or three weeks at the business?" I said, "No, give me a couple of hours. Just give me a couple of hours." He called me a few weeks later and said, "I don't know how to thank you for what you did." I said, "You owe me nothing." He said, "Can what can I do? What can I do?" I said, "You owe me nothing. God has blessed me. I'm so glad." He said, "I've never been so blessed in my life. You've changed my whole business. Everything has changed." He said, "The least I could do is give you $130,000."

$130,000. Oh, Mike, that's because you're a Mike. That's because you're a preacher. Ask all the preachers you know, how many people write them checks for $130,000? We were on the plane. I'm in Africa, and when we get to the hotel, Pastor David Eomi said, "I have a young protégé that wants to honor you." And he got, he moved everybody out of the room. This was in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. And the young man, crying like a baby, knelt down at my knees, and he said, "You changed my world. You changed my business. He said, my whole life changed because of you, and I wanted to show you honor." And he hands me a little, little packet of newspaper wrapped around it. I thanked him and prayed over his little seed. He walked out of the room, and I opened it up. $20,000 bills.

$20,000. What I make happen for others, God will make happen for me. I live by it. That's why I don't touch a penny of the tithe and offerings that this church brings every service. I don't touch one penny for me. I have a Jehovah Jireh, and I work the law of the seed. I'm shocked sometimes, aren't you, Miss Lenell? This is one of the most trustworthy people I have in my whole life. I will trust her with my life. With my life.

The last two and a half years have been the roughest of my life because I've been impacted strongly by people I've trained who don't receive. And I got off track mentally, and it really affected my head. Thought I'd lose my mind because it had to do with the law of the seed. People I trained so thoroughly, and I realized in one meeting how they had none of my passion, none of my compassion, nothing. Nothing I had taught was being used by them, and it tore me apart. It was during the time I was adding to my home, 5,600 square feet to my present home. And I'm saying this for a reason. I want to show you God will leave no man unrewarded. You must believe that. Family, people will leave you unrewarded. All of you that have children know you hardly ever get anything back from your kids for what you invested. God didn't say you would reap where you sowed. He said you would reap what you sowed.

And I'm walking, and I'm in a terrible state of mind. I can't hardly talk to anybody because my mind is so messed up. I had no life, no desire for anything. I looked through magazines trying to find some picture that would trigger me, and I was lifeless in my spirit, lifeless in my heart, hated every book I had ever written, felt like everything I had done for my lifetime. This didn't go on for a day. This went on for months. And God would touch me at times where I had a responsibility to speak. In fact, I watched the other night, me at Inspiration Networks, and it's a program they play over and over and over and over, and they told me it has raised them millions of support. But God touched me because that was one of the days that I literally hated everything. But God touched me to teach what I believed, though I didn't feel it. I taught what my persuasion. And I walked out, and Buck Aini, who built the Wisdom Center, the son of Dr. John Aini, had given me a proposal for the wood for 5,600 square feet. That's a lot of space. That's actually twice the size that was going to be my bedroom, by the way. That's twice the size of most houses. And as I walked out, I thought, "This, this is crazy. I'm one guy in this huge place. Place. I must be sick. Something's wrong with me. All I need is a one-bedroom apartment with some books. Why am I doing this? This monstrosity. This beautiful."

And the Holy Spirit began to talk to me. He said, "This is majestic to you? You call this majestic? You call this first class? You think this is world-class? This is what you think is so fancy? This is what you think is so nice? This, this impresses you?" And he's beginning to talk to me. He said, "You have no idea my mindset and how I think. This is nothing comparable to what I have in the glory." And God began to speak to me. Of course, I'm on a downer. I mean, I'm on a real downer. I mean, I don't want to live. I mean, dear, I told my sister, I would long for the day I didn't wake up, and I'd stay in bed till 3:00 in the afternoon because there was nothing to get up for. Now, if you think having a dream is burdensome, wait till you don't have a dream. If you think being excited about building a house that's taken you for two years, wait till you don't want to live anywhere, you don't want to be anywhere.

And I would call different preacher friends of mine, and I could sense from their reaction, they had no concept of what I was experiencing. Nothing. None at all. They had no idea what I was experiencing. None. None. I hope you never go through something like this over a period of time. If it, I hope it lasts less than two or three days. But month after month. And I thought, "I am a fool. What kind of man would add 50, 5,600 square feet to his house when he was his most depressed?" I didn't want to decide chandeliers. I didn't want to decide what. I didn't care. All I knew is I had to finish what I started.

I flew to England to preach for Bishop Matthew Ashima, 10,000 people. I'll be back there this year, Gathering of Champions. And while I'm preaching, the Holy Spirit said, "Sign books for, I think, 10 minutes or 15 minutes." I thought, "Oh, no, no. I can't. I cannot do that. I cannot do that. I cannot sign books. Not today. I'm doing good to be here. Just doing good to be here." I didn't even want to go. Try to get out of it. But I told the people, "I obey God, no matter how illogical and ridiculous it seems." I, I obey the imprints of God, no matter how ridiculous it appears. I said, "I will be signing my book, The Law of Recognition, after church." I signed right up to the time, one after another. And then I got up, and I'm walking back to the bank, just trying to get back to a little room where I could finish my obligation and come back home. Pastor Ron Bowman walked in the room. He said, "The man that just hugged you, there was a man that grabbed me, smiled, didn't say a word to me, just hugged me, gave me this to give you." I got back to the hotel, and I counted out $100 bills, and almost to the penny, the dollar amount exactly what Buck Aini was charging me for all the wood framing of my 5,600 square foot house. Ridiculous stack, and a glorious stack. I love $100 bills. I actually like $20 dollar bills too, but 100 is a little extra special. And God reminded me, "You think I don't know you? I can fly you 5,000 miles and put someone in the middle of 10,000 people that decides to bless you."

So who do I trust? Who do I believe? I have lived this life of sewing. I have lived it. I don't know what I did to reap the bad stuff. I just assume that when Stephen began to brag on who God was, and they stoned him, that's part of the thing. But I say this from my heart: lavish excellence into your environment. Lavish excellence. When a boss gives you an instruction, follow it with with maximum excellence. Maximum excellence in every conversation. Family, listen. Listen for a problem. When you can solve it, solve it. If you can't solve it, link them with someone. Recently, a young man in the church had a problem, and it concerned me. I knew he didn't have any money at all, too young to have any money. But I said, "I can link you to somebody. I've got a lawyer friend here in the church. She's a master seed sower. I'll link her with you, and we'll get you some help." And we begin to help him through this problem. Why? It was a problem I could solve. It's a problem I could solve.

This week, I've been on the phone with numerous preachers who are walking through the pits of their life, walking through great sad times. "Brother Mike, what would you do?" And because of what I've gone through, because of what I've experienced, I begin to tell them, "Try this. I believe this will work." And I get back news, message after message, "Thank you. You saved my life. You saved my ministry. You made a difference." Not doing that to brag on me. I'm doing it to show you, develop a lifestyle of problem-solving. If after church, you see or hear somebody with a problem, there should be a reaction to you. Last night, I stopped on the way home after the wedding ceremony. I stopped at a little Thai restaurant. I really like Thai food. And I stopped at a little restaurant, and I thought, "Well, nobody's here. It's in the afternoon, like 5:30, 6:00." And I think there were three people there, four, four, four people there. And I begin to hear the names of people I know as they begin to talk about people with problems. And I'm sitting there alone, just eating my little meal, and my heart just rose up. To be anointed to solve problems is a gift from God. It's a privilege from God.

Remember when you made the statement, "Thank you for how..." What was that statement? "Thank you, Dr. Murdoch, for giving me the opportunity to please you." I was getting in my car when Jeannie said that. Jeannie, stand. I want. There's people I've been getting.

Donna, you know, you know Donna, don't you, from California? I'll tell you about what she did yesterday. I'll tell you privately. Donna, this is Jeannie, in case you didn't know it. All right. This week, I called Italy, and this man says, "I have never prayed a prayer in my life. I have never been to a church in my life. I was through the channels, and I saw this man called Dr. Mike Murdoch." He said, "Now," and they showed me, "he was going to be coming in a few days again." Now I have a secret place. Now I pray, and I can worship.

God. Praise God. Praise God. I asked Jeannie to call all special people in my life 'cause she's, she knows the ministry, loves the ministry. Her whole life is a life of ministry. I don't want you to grasp this 20 years from now. I want you to see it right now that the problems in your environment, the problems in your environment are doors to blessing. Everywhere there's a problem, there's opportunity to prove honor. David did it for King Saul, and the rest is history. I have a lot of problems in my life. A lot of problems. There's not a day in my life I don't have problems to solve. It's why we decided to speak last week. We didn't get to do the last day because of some problems here, but I have a passion to help people solve problems. I need people beside me who solve problems, who want to solve problems for me so I can solve problems for others. Harold Herring, you know Lester Suell, his nephew. Dr. David Somra runs 30,000 in his church, Cathedral of Praise in Manila, Philippines. I still remember his words when he and Dr. Rob Thompson would not allow me, after they bought all my clothes, would not allow me to carry the bags. And his words were, "It's an honor to take care of the man of God who's taking care of the people of God." I still, that registered so much with me. When you're focused on taking care of everybody, you need somebody focused on you.

This sounds small. I'm going to bring you to this just to show you the smallest problem you solve has a divine harvest. Jesus said, "If you use just a cup of cold water in my name, you will get a profit reward." It is very important to me that you get this truth that whoever has a problem near you, if you will solve it, you will create a river of remarkable favor. Take somebody's hand next to you. And you sitting there at your home. Where's the closest? Is this the right one? Here? No, that's too far. Is this close? Good. This is close.

When I pray, you'll often hear me say, if I preached something about sowing and reaping, and how that if you're a partner with God, he'll bless you, I'll often say something like this: "If what I have said about sowing and reaping is just for Mike Murdoch's personal gain, may a curse be upon me and my ministry, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth." Tammy F. Baker told me one day when she was here at the Wisdom Center, she said, "Michael, always calls me Michael because she is like a sister, was like a sister to me. She said, 'Michael, you scare me to death every time you say that, 'cause I think, oh God, what if his tongue cleaves to the roof of his mouth?'" I said, "Tammy, whether I say it or not, if I teach sowing and reaping to get money out of God's family to buy myself some cold drinks and some food and buy clothes, if I do that for me, a curse is already on me." I said, "Whether I say it or not, there'll be a curse on me." I say it to let people know the seriousness of this law and this principle.

Pray this prayer: Precious Holy Spirit, make me a master at problem-solving in the name of Jesus. Show me how to solve problems for my family, for my children. Teach me how to teach my family, and make me the number one person, number one in my present job, in Jesus name, amen.

Before we go, I'm going to talk to you for a little few moments before they can get my things ready, and then we're going to go straight from here. We normally have a little after time for first-time visitors, but we're going to go straight today instead. Wherever said, "Okay, we're just going to go straight so we can all go together at the Golden Corral." Are you hungry?

The day that changed my financial life, my financial world. What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you. I could tell you my testimony of an instruction God gave me at 4:30 on a Wednesday afternoon and said, "Do this by 10:00 tonight," and in 30 days, heaven had opened on my life. I never tire of the wisdom of God. Wisdom is the ability to recognize difference, right and wrong, evil and righteousness, difference in people, difference in a countenance, difference in a moment. Like the blind man crying out to Jesus. The dominant purpose for wisdom. And don't you love the wisdom of God? So thankful you're listening today and watching and being a part of the internet, telling others about it. And I hope you're getting, by the way, I hope you're getting my daily podcast every single day on your iPod or your MP3, every single day, two minutes of wisdom. Be a blessing. Sometimes I go a little over because I get excited. I want you to be a part of this ministry. I believe that when you get involved with God, he gets involved with you. I am one of the ministers of the gospel who believe the words of Jesus. I believe every word he said when he told Peter that there would be a hundredfold return on any investment in the gospel in Mark 10:28 through 30. I believed him when the word of God says in Malachi 3 that if I bring the tithe, which is 10% of my income, and the offering back to him, that he would open the windows of heaven and pour me out a blessing I don't have room enough to receive. I believe him. Why would I believe God about heaven and hell and not believe him about the blessing of the Lord?

I want to pray over the seeds that you have been planting in this ministry. And by the way, I have an incredible gift you're going to love. In fact, it's probably one of the greatest gifts I've ever offered. We're asking of the Holy Spirit for 300 partners this week who will set aside a seed of $300 for outreaches. I need your help. I want you to help me not just to feed a thousand children a day, which we do, or a thousand families, or underwrite the Wisdom of Asia Bible College, or to underwrite the tent factory in South Africa, or the Home of Hope, but that we can go into 100 countries with the gospel. I'm holding in my hand the Wisdom Quick Scan Bible. The Wisdom Quick Scan Bible. I have never in my life found a Bible easier to read. As you know, for many years, I've read the Bible through 40 chapters a day, every single month of my life. There is no easier book to read than this Quick Scan Bible. When I found out that I could offer it to you inside of some of the teaching that I've been doing, and I'll do today, I want you to have it. Call me right now. Plant your seed of $300 and watch God move.