I’m not a fan of the prosperity message. For many years I have watched slick preachers who rarely preach about sin, righteousness, and judgment, and only exalt the cross as a means of gain, and it irks me. If planting “seeds” in bank accounts never fails to bring prosperity to the sower, why do I always have to plant a seed in their soil? However, underneath the preaching of prosperity, there is a legitimate biblical principle of sowing and reaping.

Psalm One tells us that if we do certain things, we will prosper. We tend to think of prosperity as being only in the realm of finances. However, I think that the Christian man or woman should prosper in marriage, in vocation, and also in the endeavor of evangelism.

Those who care about the salvation of the lost know the will of God. They, like John, are close enough to Jesus to hear His heartbeat. It was love for the lost that drove the Savior to the cross, and it’s love for the lost that should drive us to take the cross to a dying world. So if we want to reach this world with the message of everlasting life, we need to fulfill the requirements of Psalm One and meditate on the Law of God daily.

Do you do that? Do you read your Bible every day, without fail? I have, for nearly 40 years…and there’s been a simple key that has helped me to do that. Discipline. I open my Bible daily, no matter how I feel. I do it because I love God. I do it because I need to feed on the Word of God. I do it because I want to prosper when it comes to reaching the unsaved.

So here is some practical advice that has put my Bible reading on steroids. For many years I would wake up during the night and read my Bible. Turning lights on in the middle of the night while in bed can be annoying to your spouse, but I found a way around that. I have had an iPod for a couple of years, and because it has an inbuilt backlight I don’t need to turn the light on at all. But here’s what I did that has really helped me. I permanently unplugged my 18-inch adjustable goose-neck lamp and secured it to the table beside my bed. Then, using Velcro, I stuck my iPod on the flat bulb.

In the middle of the night, I pull the lamp around in front of my face, pull up the Bible app, put it on “scroll,” and feed myself in bed. So, if you have an iPod, you have no excuse. You can daily feed on the Word of God, keep your hands warm, your spouse happy and you can expect your endeavors to reach the lost, to prosper.