of honor. i listen for the sound of honor. it is impossible for you to study somebody 20 years before you discern their character. you don't have that kind of time to waste. you must know who they honor. boaz looked at ruth and says, "everybody is talking how you take care of naomi. the way you honor her." i want you to put this down in your spirit, because i want you to remember this as long as you live. if you fail with your life... if you fail... if you fail with your life, it'll be because of a person you chose to dishonor. and if you succeed with your

life, you'll succeed because of a person you chose to honor. i cannot change your world until i change who you choose to honor. i hear the scorn about preachers and christians. i hear the sound of sarcasm, about those who believe in the bible and want prayer in their public schools. america will not unravel... because of the taliban or al-qaeda. america will not come apart because of abortion or the homosexuality. there is one reason america could fail, and that's if america refuse to honor the god of this universe. the god... [applause]

dishonor is the seed for loss. dishonor is the seed for tragedy. it's why absalom hung, because of dishonor. i'm asking the holy spirit to teach me the law of honor. i've always been taught to be polite and to be gracious. you can have behavior... from a heart that has no honor. you can learn how to say nicey words to people and still not have a heart of honor. honor protects. honor corrects. honor submits. honor yields.

honor is willing to listen. honor. your reaction to an instruction from your boss reveals your understanding of honor. something as simple as opening the car door for a lady reveals your code of honor. something as small as taking care of your elderly mother... is the proof of honor. i can create through honor what i cannot create with knowledge and intelligence. and what i lack in experience and what i don't have financially i can create through the code of honor. honor is a seed that will outlast my lifetime.

if no one taught you how to honor someone because of their achievements, and there're seven reactions that reveal honor. your reaction to greatness. your reaction to the weakness of another. your reaction to pain. i wanna know your code of honor. what do you consider worth honoring? a church deacon board called me in and said, "talk to us about a salary for our pastor." they told me what he made. and they said, "what do you think our pastor ought to get as a salary?" i said, "well you, your children -- have your children come to god

under his ministry?" "oh yes, all of us. we were saved and da da da." i said, "so this man has driven back the darkness. this man is your intercessor. this man is the one who has developed your conscience. this man is the one who protects you from hell. can you put a price... can you put a price on the anointing of a man who has driven back the demon powers around your home?" honor. honor. write this down. number seven: the law of the seed. and i wanna pray in about three or four minutes over your life. the law of the seed. write this down, the law of the seed. if i put corn in the ground, corn comes up. if a husband puts a seed in the womb of his wife, a baby is

born. god had a son... but he wanted a family... so he planted his son to create a family. words are the seeds for feelings. forgiveness is the seed for relationship. honor is the seed for access. gratitude is the seed for more. according to the scriptures, god looks at our offerings to him as a seed that produces a harvest. in 1 kings 17 elijah looked at the widow and he said, "i'm hungry." she said, "i hadn't met a preacher who wasn't."

he said, "i would like one of your pancakes." she said, "all of you preachers want my pancakes." and he looked at elijah... or elijah look at her... and this is what he said. "if you will bring me a little meal first, throughout the famine your meal barrow will never run dry. your ácrews of oil will not fail. god will miraculously sustain you through the famine, from this one meal." isn't that incredible? he gave her a picture of her harvest. why didn't he pull out a picture of the dead bird and said, "do you remember i told you how god was feeding me miraculously with a raven?" "uh-huh." "it died. here's a picture. it died. here's my newsletter. my little bird died, yeah.

remember the miracle water i told you about? it dried up on me. yeah." no. he didn't talk to her about the brook. he talked to her about the harvest from her seed. and he painted on her mind a picture of her future. in mark chapter 10 jesus heard peter muttering something. and he says -- this is what he said. "we've given up everything to follow you." and jesus could have said, "right. three catfish and a boat," but he didn't. jesus looks at peter and he makes an incredible statement. he said, "anything you give up for me you will get it back 100 times." what was he doing? he was giving him a motive for sowing.

motive means reason for doing something. motivation. he painted a picture. "whatever you give up for me will come back 100-fold during this lifetime, and life everlasting." malachi 3 is a fascinating chapter. as god begins to paint a picture about bringin' him an offering... and notice that he didn't say -- have you read malachi 3? i know you have. he didn't say, "bring me an offering." "why?" "because the angels were eating more than we ever dreamed. >> ossie: [laughter] >> the cleaning bill for the robes is astounding. the gold streets ran over budget." please bring the offering so we can pay the angels off. here's what he gives for

bringing a tithe and the offering. "see if i won't open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you don't have room enough to receive." the apostle paul, the brilliant explainer of the gospel transition of the human heart said in 2 corinthians 9:6, "if i sow bountifully, i will reap bountifully." i have never met a christian who did not believe in sowing. it is as natural as breathing to a believer to believe in sowing. i've never met a farmer who did not believe in sowing. i've never met a preacher who did not believe that god was worthy of our seed. but i've only met a handful that believe in reaping.

only a handful. now we sow to god based on his qualification to receive. but we can only reap proportionate to our confidence that we're worthy to receive. there's a little catch. "mike, is it possible for somebody to sow seed and not get a harvest?" yes. yes. because if all i needed to do was to sow seed... a rich man could purchase god in his favor, and a poor man wouldn't have a chance. but god added something to the seed and harvest equation. he added the word "expectation." it's not enough to plant a seed. that seed must have an instruction.

it must be wrapped with expectation of a harvest. "what do you mean?" "he that cometh unto him must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." without faith, not without a seed, without faith -- faith is confidence in god. without faith it's impossible to pleasure the heart of god. does your seed impact god? no. faith for the harvest from the seed. my seed is what i sow. my faith is why i reap. my seed decides what i'm sowing for. but my expectation decides what i will reap. we have all been taught to plant seeds. but we have not been trained to expect.

i had a man come up to me. he says, "brother mike, when i give to god i expect nothing in return." and i said, "i wrote a little song for you." ♪ how dumb ♪ thou art ♪ how dumb ♪ thou art [laughter] "brother mike, i don't like you saying dumb." "well, i don't like you bein' dumb." that's why there's teachin'. you can bring me a rolls-royce and i take off one tire and nothin' else works. you can do everything exactly right... and leave out expectation and die broke. until you realize the jehovah jireh of this universe said, "if

you being evil know how to give good gifts, how much more does your heavenly father want to give good gifts to those..." [applause] i want to pray for three harvests to happen in in your life. i wanna tell you what happened in mine, and then i wanna pray for you there at your house... on your recliner. i do believe that the next 90 days... can be the most powerful 90 days of your life. the lord spoke to me about four months ago that we were entering an investor's paradise. that every christian should claim a debt-free home. and people who put great value

on a financial anointing should believe god for seven homes. seven homes. that will be your retirement fund in your latter years. i really felt strong about that. i cannot change your life 'til i change who you trust. if i know who you believe i can predict your decisions. and every decision schedules a season. there are three harvests i want the holy spirit to give your life. number one is a debt free home. and i don't mean one that nobody wants to see. i want god to give you a home that your enemies can't quit takin' pictures of. you're nobody 'til somebody hates you. if you're enemy has not thought about you in a month, you got a problem. i do believe it's the will of the lord to have a home for

safety of your children, to nurture a godly family. a home where you can study and read and feel safe and protected. god wants you to have a debt-free home. i really believe that with all my heart. the second harvest is that god would give you, and i wish you would remember this, god would give you uncommon financial wisdom. wisdom is more important than a miracle. a miracle has a conclusion. wisdom is a factory for the product. i'm not gonna ask god to give you a financial miracle. that's a one-time experience. i'm gonna ask god to give you a financial anointing. a mantle for financial wisdom. that every decision you make, for 90 days, will create increase and not decrease. that god would give you wisdom toward the people who have failed you or owe you. and third, that god will put one person in your life who decides to bless you.

you don't need everybody likin' you, just the right person likin' you. you are one person away from everything you're wanting. those three harvests, it can happen in 24 hours. many years ago i came out of a very troubled situation. i lost my home, my marriage. i lost my desire to live. i lost everything. i didn't even have a kitchen table or kitchen chairs. a friend had given me an old black sofa. i put my head, weeping like a baby, on luke 6:38: "give and it shall be given back to you, good measure, pressed down." i was crying like a baby and i said, "god, according to this bible, i can sow my way out of trouble. if you lied in luke 6:38, i

don't believe what you said in john 3:16. if you lied about money, i'll never believe you about heaven." if god lied to me about sowing seed for a harvest, he's a liar. and the last person i wanna be around for eternity is a liar. i cried and cried and wept like a baby. and i said, "according to this, i can sow my way out of trouble." and i began to sow everything i could. there's three times in my life god told me to give away everything i had. three times. a check comes in for $5,000, i'm ecstatic 'cause i'm gonna buy me a kitchen chair and kitchen table. i'm gonna buy me draperies, 'cause i had sheets tacked over

the windows. and i was called here to charlotte, north carolina to participate in a telethon. i didn't know a whole lot about telethons. they were raisin' money for somethin'. and i'm sitting there and suddenly the preacher says, "i want all of our partners to pray about planting $1,000 seed." and i had never... i'd never heard of somebody sowing $1,000 in my life. i was $100 man myself. my father said i'm the only murdock in the history of the murdock family who ever gave an offering as big as $100. and i'm sitting there just like you and i are sitting here and i'm thinking, "lord, i hope some millionaires are watchin' this program." i really did. 'cause i thought you had to be a

millionaire to sow $1,000. good night, who could do that? and suddenly i felt a sickening sensation in the pit of my stomach. and the holy spirit said, "i want you to plant one of the five thousand dollars you just got from your songwriting royalties." of course, you know when something like that happens you, "hallelujah, praise god. hallelujah, praise god. devil, you will not get my money. in the name of jesus', devil, you will not get my money." but i knew his voice. i sowed $1,000 that day. went back to the hotel room. "mike, did you feel good?" not really. not really. i wanna say this. i don't understand all you preachers who feel so good when you give big offerings. i... it just -- maybe i'm not spiritual. when i give a large offering, i

feel sick for days, hopin' i did the right thing. i mean, i really do. i think, "lord, i hope that's god." 'cause sometimes i feel like i get carried away. you know how they're playin', singin'... and the music, the drums... and then the service ends and you get out in the parking lot and you're sitting there in the car staring at the steering wheel. and they've all gone home and you're sitting there. "man, they took me. why did i do that? they took me. they took me." oh, i never feel good after i give a big offering. i feel horrible for days, asking god, "confirm that. if this is really, let three camels walk in this building right now, in the name of... if this is really you tellin' me." well, the camels didn't walk in. >> ossie: never do. >> but i knew his voice. the following sunday morning --

i did. i sowed another thousand the next day, in the television station. the following sunday went to preach for a preacher in dallas and the holy spirit spoke to me to plant another thousand in their church that morning. and all that afternoon i was just like, i was just in a state. i was. i was just like a melancholy. and at 5:00 that afternoon, they had started church, and i was kneeling, at bert allbritton's church, first family church, and i was kneeling in his little office and this is what i said to the holy spirit. i said, "five days ago i had $5,000. i felt like that was my harvest. i felt like you had blessed me with money to buy a sofa and some chairs and some draperies. i now only have $2,000 left. if this is not you... inspiring me to plant seed, stop me now while i have $2,000 left." and he spoke back to me about five wisdom keys that changed my

world. and these were the wisdom keys. "when i talk to you about a seed, i have a harvest on my mind. nothing leaves heaven 'til something leaves the earth. when you open... your hands, i will open... my windows." and then he spoke a wisdom key that blew me away. i was like 36 years old. i didn't even have a kitchen table. i'd lost everything i had to my name. and this is what he says. "the seed that leaves your hand will never leave your life. it just leaves your hand and goes into your future where it will multiply." i remember thinkin', "i hope so.

i hope so." when i finished preaching that night, a man walked up with a book of rare automobiles. he turns, and i've told this everywhere i go. he points to a book of rare automobiles. he said, "read that." sixteen of those automobiles made in the world, only sixteen. nineteen. excuse me, nineteen. only nineteen of those automobiles. he said, "i have serial number one of those nineteen. it's my favorite car. while you were speaking god told me to give you that car." the next day a man walks in my office said, "i here you need a van for your ministry." i said, "desperately." he said, "the holy spirit spoke to me to buy you the best van available. order the best you can buy and i'll pay for it." tuesday -- a lot of jealously here tonight. i've never seen so much jealousy in one place.

on tuesday a man walks, calls me and said, "meet me for lunch." i sit down at a restaurant. he said, "i couldn't sleep last night. in the middle of the night. the holy spirit woke me up and said, "bless mike murdock's ministry." and he pushed across the table a check for $10,000. my life... [applause] my life has never been the same. my life has never been the same. i broke the back of poverty. i broke the back of poverty. i broke the back of poverty with $1,000 seed. there's another part of the story i won't go into except to tell you that my songs went around the world. "i am blessed." "you can make it." "god will outlast your storm." "he's a healing jesus." i wrote the theme song for the oral roberts ministry. and every time i turn on the tv i'd hear one of my songs. thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars of royalty

and my songs went everywhere around the world. god blessed me beyond my wildest dreams and imagination. when i let go of what's in my hand, god will let go of what's in his hand. and god gave me another wisdom key. what you're willing to walk away from determines what god will bring to you. i was willing to walk away from $1,000. i've looked back many times and thought what if... what if i'd have sat here in charlotte, north carolina, in a television environment, what if i'd have sat there and said, "you're not gonna get my thousand?" but i let go of what i could see and god let go of something i couldn't see. we signed contracts. bill gaither sent me an incredible check. nbc, they made a movie using some of my songs. and i liked that check.

the difference between seasons is often a seed. a seed is not losing. it's investing a part of today into my future. it's moving a piece of now into tomorrow. i have no idea why i'm so stirred to pray for 300. but in the next 17 minutes, and i want them to do a countdown for 17 minutes, after i finish my prayer. i have no idea why that's so electrifying to my spirit. but i feel like there's gonna be a 17-minute window. and god is going to prove who he is in your life. if you can't trust god with your money, why would you trust him with your life? if god would lie to you about your money, why would you even believe the word of god?

everything i have -- a man asked me one time, he said, "mike, what got you sowing thousand dollar seed?" i said, "i realized that my dreams were a lot bigger than a thousand anyway." a thousand's not enough for my dream. i can't buy a good car for $1,000. i can't buy a good house for $1,000. so i take what i've been given and i plant it, wrapped with expectation. oh, we could tell you about the people that's gonna be saved and healed and set free and homes healed. i could talk to you for about 2 or 3 hours on how many people have been changed through inspirational ministries. i could talk for hours on how many miracles this ministry has created around the world. but my focus is your harvest. 'cause when i get involved with god's dream, he gets involved with my dream.

when i get involved with god's family, he gets involved with my family. in fact, i'm going to add a fourth harvest for the $300 people that i pray for. and do not, we're not gonna put up the clock until i have finished my prayer. but i'm gonna add a fourth harvest. and that is household salvation. i was standing in front of a lady one time and the lord said, "tell her because she's planting a seed to spread the gospel, every member of her family will be saved." and i had never heard of anything like that and i just stopped. and i had everybody to praise the lord. and then i went over to the side and i said, "god, this is crazy. i can't tell this woman 'cause she's writin' a check to spread the gospel that you'll save the members of her family. that's nuts." and the holy spirit said, "haven't i told you in isaiah 58 and ephesians 6 that what you make happen for others i will make happen for you?