Attend to God's Words
Proverbs 4:20-23 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture in the entire Bible. I teach on these verses quite frequently, because they show us how to walk with God so that His Word and His wisdom are continually being made life and health to our flesh. This is divine wisdom for divine health!

The first step is pay attention to God's words: "My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings" (v. 20). To attend means "to give attention to." For example, if you were a nurse attending to a patient, you would have to give your full attention to taking care of his needs.

Well, in order to get anywhere in our walk with God, we will have to give Him our full attention. We aren't going to hear Him if our attention is focused on something else. He's a Gentleman; He won't force Himself on us.

Wisdom will cry aloud, but if you don't hear her instruction, you'll suffer the consequences. And you won't hear God's wisdom if you don't give Him your attention.

So how do we attend to God's words? First, we are to incline our ear to the Word (v. 20). Then we must keep on hearing God's Word: "Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart" (v. 21).

You are to keep the Word coming in through your ears and your eyes so it stays in your heart. You see, you'll forget what the Word says if you don't constantly feed on it.

But as you hear the Word and keep it in front of your eyes, it becomes integrated into the very center of your being; it becomes an inseparable part of you. And as it becomes the motivator and the decision-maker of your life, you begin to walk securely and in confident trust, without fear or dread of evil (Prov. 1:33, AMP).

Keep the Word in the Midst of Your Heart
Do you want the Word to become life, and healing, and health to all your flesh? (Prov. 4:22, AMP). Well, the way you stay healed and whole, not only in your physical body but in every area of your life, is to keep the Word in the midst of your heart. How? By attending to God's Word. By keeping it in front of your eyes and going into your ears.

You see, you just can't let your faith take a vacation; you have to keep your faith strong. The only way to do that is to continually cause it to come into your ears and to keep it before your eyes. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing.

That's basically what God told Joshua to do. God said to Joshua, "Keep My Word in your mouth, and meditate on it day and night so that you do it! Then you will have good success" (Josh. 1:8).

Joshua had to keep God's Word, talk God's Word, meditate God's Word and continually act on God's Word. In other words, he had to keep the Word of God in the midst of his heart where it could talk to him.

The Issues of Life
You'll have to keep God's Word in the midst of your heart if you're going to fulfill the next verse: "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs forces or issues of life" (Prov. 4:23, AMP).

Let's find out what these forces or issues of life are that keep your heart full of God. These are the divine forces that make your life worth living: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, faithfulness, meekness, temperance, self-control, against such there is no law" (Gal. 5:22-23, KJV).

The fruit of the spirit help you walk in victory. If any of these forces of life are not manifested in your life, then in that area you have a weakness. The devil will target that weak area of your life so he can defeat you.

For instance, if you have developed every fruit of the spirit except self-control, then the devil will use your lack of discipline to hinder you. Self-control is a spiritual force that was given to help you keep yourself disciplined and your body under control so you can fulfill your God-given responsibilities.

Patience is a spiritual force that will keep you steady even under severe test and trial. It's the power that under girds your faith. Patience doesn't yield to circumstances and will keep you from giving up. It doesn't quit, no matter what's happening in your life.

All the spiritual forces God has given us are powerful. And if you will stay in living contact with God through His Word and in prayer, they will all issue forth from your heart like a fountain.

People love to be around someone who is full of love, joy, and peace. They love to be around a person who is patient and gentle. You can see how guarding your heart and allowing these forces of life to flow forth from you gives you favor with others. Besides that, you are so much happier yourself when you are joyful and patient!

Walking in love and joy improves your personality 150 percent. It makes you more personable. It makes people want to be around you.

The fruit of the spirit come forth from your heart. In fact, everything supernatural that you receive from God proceeds out of your heart - everything. That's where the Holy Spirit lives. That's where your deposit of the Word is. That's why you have to keep your heart pure and full of God.

You can't play around with the world's sin and expect to walk in these issues of life. You have to honor God and give Him first place. You must let Him have full reign in your heart and give the Word your full attention. You must talk to Him in prayer, listening for His confidential communion and secret counsel, which is so necessary if you want to walk free on this earth (Prov. 3:32, AMP).

So make wisdom the principal thing in your life. Incline your ear to God's Word, and keep it ever before your eyes. Above all else, guard your heart diligently, for out of it flow all of the divine forces of the life of God to bring you victory and make life worth living!