Must I Work Hard To Be Successful?

Mark Virkler's picture

Hmmm, what does the Bible say? Seems like my constant pushing produced internal stress, which led to a heart attack three months ago. So is there something I need to learn about living in rest, and living stress free? Obviously stress is a killer. Below is my story, followed by some key biblical principles.

My experience with stress, a heart attack and returning to rest

My stress came by taking on false responsibility. Here is what happened. I am the president of Communion With God Ministries and Christian Leadership University, which employ 27 people (most part time). I never set out to build such an entity. I set out to learn how to make Christianity work in my life and since I learn by writing, I wrote books. People have enjoyed the books and Communion With God Ministries has grown, adding Christian Leadership University and CLU School of the Spirit. Trust me: God built Communion With God Ministries. My passion is to research and write on topics which will make Christian spirituality work in my life and I am thrilled my writings have been a blessing to others.

So when I came up for air, I looked around and discovered we have a staff of 27 to whom we need to pay salaries. Since I am the founder and president, I feel I am responsible to see that this need is met. I feel stressed. How can I pay 27 salaries? I never took courses in college on business development or accounting, so stress sets in. Looking back now, I understand that I was feeling I am responsible to maintain that which God has built.

The truth is, if God built it, He will maintain it, and if He doesn’t, then it is time to dismantle it. I can occasionally forget such simple truths, and look to self rather than looking to God. Then stress takes over and I have a heart attack. Do I know better? Of course I do. I was just not operating in the revelation knowledge God had given me. Is it OK to make mistakes and suffer the consequences?  Of course it is. Does God pick us back up, brush us off and set us back on the path of life? Of course He does. Is this all acceptable? Of course it is.

I fully understand I am weak and frail (Psalm 103:14) and can and do make mistakes, but that in no way alters God's love and grace toward me. I am back on the right path, listening to God, trusting His rhema and resting in a confident belief in His abilities to perform His works in and through my life. The bottom line is that it is if fine to make mistakes, learn lessons and go on, and through this all we remain embraced in His loving arms.

I would say the principles below are clear. Don’t work on my own. Listen to God. Believe and obey what He says and I will enter into rest. Does this require diligence? Yes!  

Let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall (Hebrews 4:11)

Proverbs surely endorses a heart attitude of diligence (NASB)

  • The hand of the diligent makes rich (Proverbs 10:4) 
  • The diligent will rule (Proverbs 12:24) 
  • The soul of the diligent is made fat (Proverbs 13:4) 
  • The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage (Proverbs 21:5) 

The Bible says God does the work

  • Remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant (Deuteronomy 8:18).
  • The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, And toil addeth nothing thereto (Proverbs 10:22 JPS Tanakh 1917 - The Jewish Bible)
  • Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it (Psalm 127:1).
  • Whatever God has created through us promotes rest (Hebrews 4:10).

The Bible warns against laboring on my own

  • The flesh profits nothing (John 6:63) so looking to my strength to accomplish is futile.
  • One of the six foundation doctrines is "repentance from dead works" (Hebrews 6:2). A "dead work" is a work I do outside of God’s direction and empowerment.
  • Whatever we build on our own creates unrest as it must be constantly examined, reworked, defended, appreciated and approved of.

My job is to listen and obey

  • It is the Spirit who gives life … the words (rhema’s) that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life (John 6:63).
  • "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works (John 14:10).

I must BELIEVE God’s voice in order to enter into rest

  • TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS… There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. (Hebrews 4:7-10).
  • They were not able to enter because of unbelief  (Hebrews 3:17-19).

Journaling - Mark, see ME in the cool of the day. I have the way prepared for you. Set aside ALL stress and rejoice and celebrate ME and MY CONTROL over all things. All the other gifts which I have provided to you, such as nutrition, exercise and health equipment, are to be celebrated and enjoyed in Me, and not as some substitute for Me. All life and power flows from Me and returns to Me, so celebrate Me in ALL things, and you will do fine. Do not trust in these things as something separate from Me. Ask Me to flow through these things, bringing health and life to your being and all will be well with your soul.

Additional steps of action I am taking

  • Doing a healing prayer daily which includes journaling  – I am using this prayer encounter
  • A Spirit-led worship time each evening with my autoharp, which I dusted off after it being 35 years in the closet.

Cardiac Event Series

  1. How Could I Have Been So Wrong?
  2.  Biblical Truths Related to Heart Disease
  3. Causes of Heart Disease: Inflammation, Oxidation, Sugar and Stress 
  4. Drugs, Nutrition and the Lord 
  5. Is Stress The Number One Cause Of Heart Attacks?
  6. Ever So SLOWLY Learning About Blood Pressure
  7. Common Denominators of Great Diets
  8. God Says I’m Healed Yet Symptoms Persist
  9. Symptoms Go into Remission as I Speak to My Body
  10. Does Heart Surgery Cause the Heart to Pick Up A Spirit of Fear  
  11. Must I Work Hard To Be Successful?
  12. Which of The 10 Commandments Can You Break And No One Raises An Eyebrow?
  13. Experience Rest By Learning How To Delegate 
  14. Living In Rest Requires Living At Peace With Myself and Others 
  15. For Heaven’s Sake, Celebrate!
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4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 305 Pages | Retail: $16.99

Have you ever wished you could just sit down and have a long talk with the Lord? Wouldn't it be wonderful to move beyond having a theology that states that God loves you to actually hearing Him whisper words of love into your heart? When you're worried or confused, wouldn't you love to see the situation from His perspective and hear how He wants you to respond?


Price: $14.95

Dialogue with God

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 296 Pages

This top seller for 30 years from Bridge Logos provides a narrative, right-brain presentation of the principles of how to hear God's voice. Especially enjoyable for personal use, it makes a great gift for introducing a loved one to the voice of God. This book teaches the four keys to hearing God's voice in readable style, and also devotes two entire chapters to moving samples of people's journaling (i.e. their two-way dialogue with God).

Price: $17.95
Hear God's Voice Guaranteed Package

Hear God's Voice Guaranteed Package

9 Books | 10 CDs | 10 DVDs | Save Over 20%

Have you ever wished you could just sit down and have a long talk with the Lord? Wouldn't it be wonderful to move beyond having a theology that states that God loves you to actually hearing Him whisper words of love into your heart? When you're worried or confused, wouldn't you love to see the situation from His perspective and hear how He wants you to respond? When things don't seem to be going your way and your prayers aren't answered the way you had hoped, wouldn't it be great to hear Him tell you where He is in the midst of it, and what He is working out in your life? Are you ever just a little bit jealous of others who say with such confidence, "The Lord said...."?

Price: $175.00

How to Hear God's Voice

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 317 Pages

We recommend that you order the newest revision of this book titled 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice. It includes 95% of the content of How to Hear God's Voice but is reorganized so it fits perfectly with the 10 DVDs on this subject by Mark Virkler. In addition, it gets you started using the four keys earlier in the book and gives you more journaling samples and exercises. Since we have removed the large margins, it is a smaller and less expensive book.

Price: $24.95

Prayers That Heal the Heart - Revised & Expanded 20th Anniversary Edition

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 320 Pages

Prayer counseling that breaks every yoke! Everything you need to experience deep healing of your soul and spirit.

Did you know that you don’t need to be continually plagued by negative thoughts, feelings, pictures or memories?

It is not part of the "human condition" to feel the constant nagging of doubt, insecurity, or anger. No matter what sin you are trying to overcome, what lie you think you’ll always believe, or what traumas your heart has suffered in the past, you will receive total freedom and restoration by praying these prayers in faith. 

Price: $19.95

Twelve Weeks to Spiritual Mastery - Group Coaching

A group coaching experience with Mark Virkler

Because I could not find a Spirit-anointed teacher/coach, I spent ten extremely frustrating years seeking to hear God’s voice!!! Suggestions offered did not help me, things like: “You just know that you know. It is a still small voice. He speaks from your heart.” No one could give me the answer I needed which was: Hearing God’s voice is as simple as quieting yourself down, fixing your eyes on Jesus, recognizing His voice as spontaneous, flowing thoughts and writing down His flow as it is coming. Test what you have written after the flow is done, NOT while it is occurring.

Price: $1,200.00

Counseled by God

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 146 Pages

Have you ever been defeated by negative emotions such as anger, fear, guilt, inferiority, condemnation or depression? Have you tried to fight them off unsuccessfully? Is there an answer that is deeper than simply trying to mentally reason yourself out of these emotions? Is there a way that Jesus can speak a word of life into the depths of your emotional despair and bring healing on a deep level? Is there a form of Christian counseling that begins and ends with the movement of Christ within your heart, rather than simply with the words of man?

Price: $10.95
Hear God Through Your Dreams Workbook Cover

Hear God Through Your Dreams Workbook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 92 Pages

A newer book has been released that accompanies this workbook: Click here for Hearing God Through Your Dreams by Charity Kayembe and Mark Virkler (featured on Sid Roth's "It's Supernatural", with almost a million views just on YouTube).


Do you often wake up feeling there was a significant message in your dream, but you’re just not sure what it is? Like Daniel and Joseph, do you long to be able to help others understand their own dreams and win them to Christ as you explain His night messages to them? Wouldn't it be nice if you could receive mid-course corrections from the Lord while you sleep? Do you wish you could be receiving divine inspiration, creative solutions to problems, and direction from the Lord during that third of your life that you’re “just” sleeping?

Price: $11.95

Hearing God Through Your Dreams

by Mark Virkler and Charity Virkler Kayembe | 292 Pages

Learn How to Hear God’s Voice, Even When You Are Sleeping

It is always fun to be on the winning team. Well look what God has done with Charity's new dreams teaching. It has taken off like a rocket with a live TV interview on Cornerstone Network and her Sid Roth interview which has almost a million views on YouTube!

Price: $16.99

Everyday Angels

by Charity Virkler Kayembe and Joe Brock 289 Pages

You can partner with Heaven’s angelic hosts!

Do you have guardian angels? Does God want you to know them? Find out what Scripture reveals and how YOU can interact with the company of Heaven!

The supernatural realm permeates our natural world! Therefore, experiencing angels should be an everyday occurrence–we simply need to open our spiritual eyes to their reality and role in our lives.

Price: $16.99

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