I was standing on the television studio set of Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) chatting with some of the crew while waiting to go on for my interview. Some of them were asking why I felt led to write my new book, “The Missing Ingredient: The One Thing that Changes Everything.” The conversation was interrupted by the producer echoing, “five minutes to start time.” Everyone started scurrying to their positions. Tom Newman, the host of the show that day, introduced the show, and the first interview question for me was something like, “What was the motivation for writing this book?”
My mind immediately went to where it all started, to what I had heard in so many of my travels, particularly the following: “there’s a difference between what I say I believe and what I actively experience. Why? Is it God’s will to prosper us? Why are so many Christians struggling? If it’s God’s will to see people set free, why are so many Christians still bound?”
I had just read accounts from Martin Seligman’s book “Learned Optimism” stating that 80% of people – believers or unbelievers – have learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is when people feel helpless to change their circumstances. In other words, 80% of people feel like they are stuck in their circumstances and helpless to change them.
I started asking myself some very difficult questions like is success elusive or is there something we don’t know? In John 10:10, Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” The word “abundant” means superabundant in quantity, superior in quality, excess, surplus, extreme, superfluous, too much. Whatever abundant means to you, it means having your needs met and excess to help others – financially, emotionally, physically, etc.
About that time, I had lunch with Tom Newman, the President of Impact Productions and the programming director for TBN. We talked about the church, the world, and suddenly, in between bites of fried rice, he leaned in and asked, “What do you think God is doing in the world right now?” I interjected, “I believe God is showing us keys to access to Kingdom of God, its resources, and its provision more than ever before.”
Moments later as I walked to my car, I asked myself, “Do I fully understand what I just proclaimed?” When I returned to my office, I felt led to read Matthew 16:19: “I will give you complete and free access to God’s Kingdom, keys to open any and every door (to its resources and provision). No more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A “yes” on earth (is already) a “yes” in heaven, and a “no” on earth (is already) a “no” in heaven.” (MSG) (Emphasis mine based on the amplified version.)
God began to reveal the powerful meaning of this verse to me. A key opens something, like in this case, the Kingdom of God. According to the finished work of Jesus Christ, when I obey Kingdom Laws (principles), I say “yes” on earth (or start the manifestation of God’s Kingdom) to whatever heaven has already said “yes” to for my life. That in turn says “no” (or stops) what the devil is doing on earth.
Here’s the key I don’t want you to miss. It doesn’t matter how hard you pray or how sincere you are; you can’t open the door if you don’t have the right key.
Once this came alive in me, I wanted to demonstrate this to my staff. While sitting at a conference table, I looked to the end and said to my staff member, Liz Taylor (everyone should have a staff member named Liz Taylor), “Liz, I need you to do something for me.”
She bounded to her feet and, perfectly in tune with her perky personality, said, “Of course. What do you want me to do?” I said, “Liz, here’s a key. I want you to walk out the door of the conference room, and I’m going to lock it behind you. Once on the other side, I want you to unlock the door and come back into the room.”
She looked at me and said, “What?!”
“Just do it,” I said.
Once she was outside the room, I told her, “Now put the key in the door, unlock it, and come back in.” She put the key in the door and after several minutes of trying to unlock the door, she replied, “I can’t get the door to open.”
“Try harder,” I told her.
She tried to get the key to respond for a while longer with no results. So, I encouraged her to make a bigger effort. Exasperated, she responded, “I am making more effort. It doesn’t work. I think you gave me the wrong key.”
“You’re absolutely right,” I told her. “I gave you the wrong key.” When I opened the door and let her in, I had the attention of the entire staff, though some of them were looking at me like I was a hamburger short of a Happy Meal. Regardless, everyone’s interest was piqued, and I related to them that this exercise was a picture of what the church is experiencing today. They believe God wants to open the door and bless them because they are sincere and pray hard. They go to church twice a week, read their Bible on occasion, and they tell themselves, “I’m making the effort.”
But without the right key, you can’t open the right door.
This begged the question: what is the real key to unlock the Kingdom of God? Is there a Missing Ingredient to success, prosperity, and the abundance Jesus promised? It launched me into over a year of study, and then I discovered the missing ingredient.
The missing ingredient is heart beliefs (what you believe in your heart).
The word “heart” is used 837 times in scripture. By comparison, the word “faith” is used 247 times! Even when you add “to believe” to “faith,” it comes out to 390 times, less than half of the number of times the Bible references the heart.
Heart beliefs are the missing ingredient not because they’re not there in scripture, but because they’ve been overlooked.
Look at a couple of key passages:
- “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” The term “think” here in Proverbs 23:7 means “doorkeeper or gatekeeper (Strong’s 8137, Hebrew). In other words, dominant thoughts get in your heart, and what gets in your heart is what you’re going to do. Not maybe, not probably, buy definitely. It’s what you’re going to do. You manifest what you believe in your heart.
- “Above all else, guard your heart, for out of it comes the issues of life.” Born-again, Spirit-filled believer, I can’t tell you anything more important than this true out of Proverbs 4:23. “Above all else,” out of your heart come the issues of life. The term “issues” used here means “boundaries” or “limitations” (Strong’s, 8444, Hebrew). Your limitations in life are no what your mommy said, what your daddy said, what your race, background, or your education dictated to you – unless they created an image in your heart. Your boundaries in your life are determined by what you believe in your heart.
The results of this revelation have been amazing: Judge Lee and Bev Carter were healed of cancer, Janine was healed of fibromyalgia, Mary Anne was healed of ulcerative colitis, Omar was healed of lymphoma, Wayne had a complete financial breakthrough, Jonathan had a breakthrough in success, Liz learned to feel loved, and the list goes on and on. Each was the result of them learning to believe in their heart.
In short, you’ll either learn to believe what you believe in your personal belief system – your heart – by default or on purpose. “The Missing Ingredient” is a systematic, spiritual journey to learn to write on the tablets of your heart, to determine heart beliefs that will determine your future successes.
I am humbled to be able to offer the new book, “The Missing Ingredient,” to help serve as a launch pad to the success and breakthrough you’ve been looking for in your life.
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