“ And so faith, hope, love abide [faith—conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope— joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love—true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:13 AMP MODULE 4
CEMENTING THE 3 PILLARS TOGETHER
“ ...A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” – Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV
Let’s move onto our next section, where we will be putting the foundational pillars together. We talked about the three foundational pillars of The Business System That Never Fails. Now, how do we put them into place and put them into action in such a way that ANY business can implement them—that ANY business person can implement them and get results?
As we have established, the three foundational pillars are these: love for God, love for yourself and love for your customer. For you to put everything together, you have to use the two most important assets in life and business.
The two most important assets in business
The two most important assets in business are RELATIONSHIPS and TIME. Surprisingly, money comes AFTER these two assets. Without relationships and the investment of time, you cannot make money.
Many business transactions can be completed without money, but no business transaction can be completed without the involvement of a relationship and the investment of time. For example, in a barter transaction, one or more relationships are involved, and time is involved, but there is no exchange of money in the transaction.
Some people think that money is always needed to complete a successful business transaction. That is not true, as we can see with the example above. Yes, money has its place in business, but relationships and time are the most important assets in business.
Therefore, to cement the foundational pillars together, relationships have to be nourished and time has to be used efficiently. Let us explore how to nourish our various business relationships.
Asset # 1 – Relationships We are going to talk about nourishing your relationship with God, nourishing your relationship with yourself, and nourishing your relationship with your customers.
The key to nourishing any relationship is consistent and frequent communication. Any relationship that has no ongoing communication will soon die. In good communication, dialogue is better than monologue.
The most important part of any communication is questions. Questions make dialogue possible. In your communication with God, yourself and your customer, you should aim to listen more and to talk less. Asking questions enables you to listen more and to talk less. That is why God gave you two ears and only one mouth, so that you would listen twice as much as you talk.
Ask God questionsx
x Ask yourself questions
Ask your customers questionsx
One of the foundational scriptures for this process is found here: “ Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” – Matthew 7:7 NIV
A – Ask S – Seek K – Knock
How to nourish your relationship with God As already mentioned, consistent and frequent communication is the key to nourishing any relationship. Therefore, in order to nourish your relationship with God, you have to communicate with Him consistently and frequently.
Before we talk about activities that will enable you to communicate with God frequently, I want to remind you that the Holy Spirit is your helper. You are not in this alone. He will help you undertake the following activities:
1. Study and meditate on the word of God “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth...” – John 16:13 NIV
Why should you study the word of God?
x To demonstrate your love for God.
x To know the truth that will set you and your customers free.38
38 Ibid
x To make your way prosperous.39
x To have good success.40
x To nourish yourself, because the word of God is spiritual food. Allocate time on your calendar to study and meditate on the word of God daily. For me
and for most people I“Those who take have talked to, the notes are notable.” best time to study and meditate on God’s word is in the morning. At the start
of the day, you are still fresh, there is less distraction, and it is a good time to listen to God before you start your day.
As you open your Bible to read, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into the truth that you need to know. Just read. Stop to meditate occasionally on what you have read and take notes on the material.
What should you study? Study about the things you are praying for, or select topics you want to deepen your understanding on and then study them. You can study topics such as finance, marketing, or management.
39 Psalm 1:1-3 NIV 40 Joshua 1:8 NIV Yes, all these topics are in the Bible. You need to know what God has said about those topics in order to make your prayers more effective. I will talk about praying effectively in the next point.
2. Prayer Some people find it hard to pray because they are always condemning themselves. If you are one of them, please stop condemning yourself. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
You are unique. You are gifted. You are talented. Focus on all the amazing things God has deposited in you. When you start valuing the gifts and talents God has placed in you, they will become useful to you and your customers.
The usefulness of a thing is determined by the VALUE you place on it. Today, I encourage you to accept God's love and love yourself. God did not make a mistake when He created you. God loves hanging out with you because you are very important and valuable. He loves you so much that you do not need to set an appointment to meet or talk with Him. You can talk to God at anytime, 24/7. Isn't that amazing?
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
“You cannot pray away problems; ask for wisdom to solve
those problems.” understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
When you encounter problems in your business, do not allow anxiety or worry to overwhelm you. Commit the problem to God in prayer, so that you can be at peace. Being at peace is the best state of mind to receive solutions for problems you will encounter.
However, you should not only pray when you have problems. Prayer enables you to tap into the power of God to make wealth.
“But thou shalt remember the L ORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” – Deuteronomy 8:18 KJV
I am going to take a very practical approach to prayer here. When you follow this approach, you will get results. I am going to use the acronym STARTER to illustrate how to pray and get results. This approach will enable you banish those vague and frustrating prayers forever.
The acronym STARTER stands for:
x S – Specific and scriptural
x T – Track able
x A – Actionable and Accountable
x R – Relevant to your purpose
x T – Time-bound
x E – Expect and Evaluate
x R – Rejoice Let us look at each letter in the acronym: S – Specific and scriptural
Be Specific
For you to pray and get results, your prayers must be specific. For over 23 years, I have listened to thousands of prayer requests, and I am sad to say that most of them were vague. The conversation goes like this:
Me: What can I agree with you in prayer today? Person: I am trusting God for money to grow my business. Me: How much money do you need God to provide for you?
Person: Hmmm...I don’t know. I just need enough money.
Me: How much is enough money? Person: Let us just p
ray. I have to think about it.
Praying to God for money is one of the most common vague prayers I hear often. Let me ask you a question. If I wrote you a check that read: pay to the order of your name the amount of “money needed.” What are the chances you will be able to cash that check? None! Why? The check is not specific. The amount of “money needed” is too vague.
How can your prayers for money be specific? Simply state the amount, just as you would state an amount on a check. Be specific in asking God for money. Determine the amount you need before you ask. If you need $50,000, ask God for $50,000.
Scriptural For your prayers to be effective, pray according to the word of God. Let’s go back to our example. Is asking God for money scriptural? Absolutely! However, for you to pray with faith, locate the scriptural basis for your prayer. In this example, there are many scriptures you can use. Here is one:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” - Matthew 6:33 NIV
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” – James 1:5 NIV
When you put your relationship with God first place in your life and business, He will make sure that all other things are added unto you. However, you need both to ask and to be specific. A specific and scriptural prayer will go like this:
“Lord, thank you for the gift of life. There is no God like you. Lord, thank you for the grace to continue to give You first place in my life and business. Lord, I am asking for wisdom to generate $50,000 to grow my business. Thank you for the wisdom. Amen.”
That is a simple, specific and scriptural prayer. That prayer incorporated the scriptures above. There are many other scriptures you can use to pray. Just make sure your prayers are specific and scriptural.
Why ask for wisdom? There are many ways that God can use to supply $50,000 to you, so you need His wisdom to follow the instructions He will give you.
What do you do after praying? Listen! Listen! Listen!
Prayer is a dialogue. When you talk to God, listen to hear what He has to say. He will give you ideas on what to do to generate the $50,000. The ideas will come in the form of thoughts.
How do you know if the thoughts are from God? The answer is Peace! When God gives you ideas, they will come along with peace. The next letters in the acronym STARTER will deepen your understanding as we move along.
T – Track able Track the progress of your prayers. Sticking with our example, when you ask God for $50,000, you might not receive a lump sum of $50,000. If you receive $5,000, make a note of it and know that $45,000 is on its way.
Some people pray but do not pay attention or track what is happening because their entire focus is on the lump sum. They completely miss the incremental amounts that God is providing. How does God provide the $50,000 in this context? The next letter holds the answer.
A – Actionable and Accountable Some people pray and do nothing more, and then they wonder why nothing ever happens. When you pray and listen to God, He will give you an instruction that you need to act on.
In this example, act on the instruction God gives you to generate the $50,000. He might instruct you to create a new product or give you some ideas on how to market an existing product better. Whatever ideas you receive, take action on His instructions.
Look for somebody that you trust and share with them what you have asked God, and then give the person regular updates. Accountability helps you stay on track and not wander all over the place. Your accountability partner or partners will also help clarify your motives. When love is your motivation, your prayers will always be relevant.
R – Relevant to your purpose Is asking God for $50,000 to grow your business relevant to your purpose? Absolutely! As your business grows, you will be able to serve more people. Always ask: How relevant is this prayer to my purpose?
T – Timeframe When are you expecting to generate this $50,000? Is it in one month, two months or three months? Set a target time. If for some reason you miss your target time, evaluate your prayers and set another target time. The next letter explains how to evaluate your prayers.
E – Evaluate
Most people fall short here. They pray without evaluating or examining their prayers. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves...” – 2 Corinthians 13:5. NIV
As you continue praying, periodically examine yourself to ensure that you still trust in God for what you prayed for. Most often, after praying, circumstances will try to create doubt. Maybe God is not answering in the way you thought He would answer. Maybe the answer is not coming as fast as you want. All of these things can create doubt. Without faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE41 to please God, so keep your faith alive.
Evaluating yourself enables you to make course adjustments. If you reach your target date and you have not received the $50,000, evaluate what you have been doing, make some adjustments, and then set a new target date.
41 Hebrews 11:6 NIV What should you do all along as you communicate with God via prayers? Rejoice!
R – Rejoice “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV
Rejoice as God is answering your prayers. Rejoice, even if things are not moving the way you anticipated. Joy is a demonstration of your faith in God. When you rejoice, you gain more energy. A life of thanksgiving is a life of answered prayers. So, determine to live a life that is full of thanksgiving.
There are many things to thank God for, besides the things you ask in prayers:
Thank God for oxygen. You have beenx
breathing free of charge since you were born! x Thank God for loving you with an everlasting love.
x Thank God for your customers. Now you know how to pray for your business. When you pray as outlined in the acronym “STARTER”, you will get results. You can use this acronym to pray for your
“A life of
thanksgiving is a life of answered prayers.”
health, family members, friends, your spouse, or any other area of your life. How do you keep the stream of God’s resources flowing towards your life and business?
Giving is multiplication “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16 NIV.
Love is demonstrated through giving. I was very excited when I discovered that giving is multiplication not subtraction. Picture a farmer planting a seed into the soil. Is the act of planting multiplication or subtraction? It is multiplication. When a seed is planted, the soil multiplies the seed and returns it to the farmer in the form of a harvest.
When you give to God, you create an opportunity for God to multiply your seed just like the soil multiplies the seed for the farmer. Therefore, giving to God is for your own good. Giving guarantees a continuous flow of God’s resources. When a farmer stops planting, he stops harvesting. To keep the stream flowing, keep giving to God.
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORDAlmighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” – Malachi 3:10 NIV.
Many great businessmen such as William Colgate (Colgate-Palmolive), James L. Kraft (Kraft Foods), and Henry John Heinz (Ketchup) discovered and benefited from the principle of tithing (giving 10%). You can certainly give more than 10%. Allow God to lead you in your giving.
To build The Business System That Never Fails, giving is not optional just as planting seeds is not optional for a farmer who wants a harvest. Let your giving be motivated by love and you will be amazed with the increase God will bring to your life and business.
How to nourish your relationship with yourself “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your he
art to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”
– Ephesians 5:19-20 KJV
Allocate time to communicate with yourself. Ask yourself questions on a daily basis. Here are some sample questions you can ask:
x What kind of legacy do I want to leave? x What do I enjoy doing? x Who do I enjoy serving? x Am I living purposefully? x How can I add more value to my customers?
x How can I leverage my time so that I can accomplish more? x What am I afraid of? x Why am I discouraged?
You must allocate time in order to sharpen your mind.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” – Proverbs 27:17 NIV
x Sharpen your mind with books.
x Sharpen your mind through mentorship. x Join discussion groups to sharpen your mind.
The more you know the more you will be able to serve.
Take care of your physical body to stay fit. Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day tox
keep your body hydrated. x Sleep well to rejuvenate your body. Typically, the average recommendation is to sleep 6 – 8 hours a day. Do what is right for your body.
x Eat healthy food. x Dress the way you want to be addressed.
x Exercise regularly. There is a lot of excellent material out there on eating and exercising. Invest in those materials and learn more.
How to nourish your relationship with your customers To nourish your relationship with your customers and to increase your customer's lifetime value, you need to have a genuine and loving desire to know your customers.
When I started my business, I made the serious mistake of not taking the time to clearly identify my customers. I tried to reach everybody, and my efforts did not yield much fruit.
Targeting everyone is one of the most dangerous things you can do in business. To establish The Business System That Never Fails, you must clearly identify your target customers. Here are some questions that can help you clearly identify your ideal customers:
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