Uk Conference - Q&a Session — Zac Poonen

These questions remind me of a dining table where there's such a lot of food and we can't eat all of it. So, I don't know whether we'll finish all these questions. So, the only way is to be very, very brief and if I had the time I would have sorted out the important ones first.

But, you know, there are there were two trees in the Garden of Eden, a tree of knowledge and a tree of life. And I find in questions that I've been asked in different parts of the world, there are questions related to knowledge and there are questions related to life.

And very often questions related to knowledge bring death and questions related to life is what we want to get an answer to. So, I'll try and concentrate on things related to life. I've also noticed another thing that sometimes people ask a question which is not for themselves.

They want to aim it at somebody else. And we don't want to hurt anybody through what we answer in these questions. The primary questions that I'd like to answer are related to life. There are things related to church doctrines and procedures which are secondary and important.

They're important if you had a lot more time we could answer them. Okay, at what point of time do we know material things become too much and are taking us away from God? What should we ask ourselves?

Material Possessions and Serving God

This is a very important question because Jesus said in Luke 16, 13 there are only two masters. There's God and money. So, we have to ask ourselves which of these two masters we are serving. If you feel that your conscience is calling you one way God is telling you to go this way and money is pulling you in another direction you would be able to know pretty quickly who is your master depending on which call you respond to.

It's very easy for everyone to know that. And at what point do we know that material things become too much? I have used an illustration for this. The Bible says set your mind on the things that are above.

Colossians 3. I won't have time to take those verses. You'll have to write it down and look it up later. Not on the things of earth. And the illustration I use is of a rubber band that's tied up here to the things above.

That means your mind is set on the things above. And you stretch that rubber band to the things of earth for 8 hours, 10 hours, 12 hours a day. You know, work, in our home, a mother with babies and cooking and all that to do.

But once all that is over and you release the rubber band it goes up back to heavenly things. So, if you find your mind is like that, it's okay. Even if your mind is occupied, stretched for 10 hours a day to earthly things.

A man who is in a secular job has to be occupied with those things. But once it's over, where does it go? Does it go back up to think about the things of God? Are you still stretched down here even after your work is over?

Very often, this rubber band is tied at this end in the earthly things. And they stretch it on Sunday morning for a couple of hours to heavenly things. Or maybe on a Wednesday evening for one hour. And then when it's released, it goes back to the earthly things again.

So, you have to ask yourself at which end your mind is set. Is it on heavenly things and stretched to earthly things? Maybe any extended time. Some people have to work 12 hours a day. That's fine. But the point is when you're released from that, where does your mind go to?

If your mind is on earthly things all the time, and you're always thinking of more and more. Now, there's a difference between earning money because I need it to survive, and earning money because I want to have a much more luxurious standard of living.

A lot of families, men and women, both work, not out of necessity. If it's out of necessity, God understands. It's God's grace. But if it is for luxury, God understands that as well. And then I'll tell you, your children suffer.

My wife is a medical doctor. And when our first son was born, we both decided that she would not work. She wanted to be a mother. And she's been a mother all these years. Result, all our children are following the Lord.

We didn't make so much. She could have made lots of money as a doctor, but that's okay. But she didn't neglect her profession to help poor people, which is what she's done for more than 40 years, freely.

But in honoring God in this financial area where we said, Lord, we need money, and we said that not because I was a rich man. We were very poor, extremely poor, so poor that in the first couple of years of marriage, we couldn't even rent a house.

I had to live in one room of my parents' home, and it was at that time that we decided that money will not be important for us. Our children will be important. You know, God takes note of these little decisions, and he sees I want to bring up my children to fear God.

I'm not making a law for anybody else, but I say to me, I did not want to live in luxury and lose my children. It didn't matter. I rode a two-wheel scooter for 45 years. I couldn't afford to drive a car.

That's okay, but my children are following the Lord. I'm not saying you can have two cars if you like. All I say is don't put money above your family and above the things of God. What are the right godly motives behind fasting, and what should prompt us, and how should we fast?

Fasting with Godly Motives

The first and most important thing about fasting is what Jesus said, that we should not tell anyone about it. I find lots and lots of people who fast, somehow or the other, make other people know about it.

The one thing Jesus said about fasting, we must never tell other people how much we pray, how much we fast. People in your house will know. I sometimes read of people about whom it's written they've spent two hours every day in prayer.

I say, how in the world do people know that? I mean, people in the house know, I can understand. But how do they advertise such things when Jesus said we must never tell anybody? It's like advertising how much you give to the Lord's work.

Nobody should know how much you give. Nobody should know how much you pray. Nobody should know how much you fast. People ask me, Brother Zach, how long do you pray? I say, do you want me to disobey the word of God?

That's what I tell them. So be careful about that. Fasting is, if you do it as a law, it can be a bondage. But if you do it as a discipline, it can be a very good thing. When I was young, I did it as a discipline, just to break the power of food.

We are all lovers of food. And I didn't want to be a slave to food. That's one reason I fasted. And sometimes when we had a burden for something in the church, we just decided to, we couldn't explain the logic behind it.

But since Jesus said it, we did it. And we found it brought some results, some clarity concerning how God wanted us to move forward. And if you have never fasted, start with one meal a week. Go to two meals a week.

Go to one full day. And if you have a particular burden, spend that day not always on your knees reading a scripture. Maybe you do it on a holiday and take a little time to listen to a message and alternate that with times of prayer.

And if you have a particular burden, that's the way to, and never tell anybody about it. And say, Lord, I'm seeking you for something, something specific. And see God answers. How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit every day?

Being Filled with the Holy Spirit

Whenever a person is born again, really born again, that means if he's really repented and turned to the Lord, when he says, Lord Jesus, come into my heart, it is the Holy Spirit who comes in. In the old days, they used to say, in the Acts of the Apostles, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive the Holy Spirit.

That's how it was in the Acts of the Apostles. Today, we combine the two and say, receive the Lord Jesus Christ. It means the same thing. Because Christ himself is in heaven. He doesn't come physically down.

There was a time when he was the second person in the Trinity, was on earth for 33 and a half years. Today, it's the third person of the Trinity who's on earth, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit. And when we say, Lord Jesus, come into my heart, it's the Holy Spirit who comes in.

If you're really born again, it's the Spirit of God who comes in. And it says in Romans 8, 9, if you don't have the Spirit of Christ, you're not even born again. So that's one of the clearest verses that tells us the moment you give yourself to Christ, Romans 8, 9, the Spirit of God comes in.

And it goes on in that verse to say, the Spirit of God cries out from us saying, within us, from cries out saying, Abba, Father, that which makes me call God Father is the Holy Spirit. But I may not be filled with the Holy Spirit.

My heart can be compared to a house with 10 rooms, and one room is the guilt room, guilty because of years of sin. And I want Christ to come in, and the Holy Spirit comes in, and light comes into one room.

But it's like a house in which one room is lit. And if you ask me, does that room, does that house have light? Yes. Is it filled with light? No, because nine rooms are dark. So I can receive the Spirit and not be filled with the Spirit.

So, and the Spirit of God doesn't force his way in anywhere. Wherever I open to him, he comes in. He's like sunlight. If you open the windows and pull the shades away, sunlight comes in. It doesn't take any time.

But if I pull the shades and block off the light, he won't come in. There's no compulsion. Sunlight is a beautiful picture of how the Holy Spirit comes into. Whichever room I open up in my heart, like Jesus says, I stand at the door and knock.

And the Lord says, can I enter into your television room and determine what all you watch and what all you don't watch? Many Christians say, no, Lord, there are certain programs I'd like to watch. Okay, the Lord says, I won't come in.

Fine, do whatever you like. That room remains dark. Can I come into your library and see what all books you read? No, Lord, there are certain books you may not like. Okay, I won't come in. The Lord is a gentleman.

He will never come into a room you don't open. I want to see how you're using your money, how you're earning your money. Yeah, Lord, I don't want you to come and check all that. I want you to see how I give and all that.

Okay, I won't come there. And yet such people can say, oh, Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit. They fast and pray. Nothing is going to happen because you lock every door and ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit.

It'll never happen. But you yield everything, every area of your life. You really surrender, and the Lord will show you without a doubt. I mean, he's more eager to fill you with the Holy Spirit than you are to be filled.

I have a definition of faith that I have worked out through the years. It's based on scripture, though I can't quote an exact scripture. But it's based on if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit or good gifts to those who ask him?

And that is this. God is more eager to give me what he has promised than I am eager to receive it. If you think of the Holy Spirit, God is more eager to fill me with the Holy Spirit than I am eager to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

If you believe that, you have faith. If you believe you are more eager to receive the Holy Spirit and be filled with the Holy Spirit or any other promise, God is not so eager. And a lot of people come to God with unbelief.

The unbelief is, God, I'm crying, I'm praying, and you're not answering. You'll never get it because you believe that you are more eager to receive what God has promised. It's a very simple thing. Switch that and say God is more eager than I am.

Not to give me things he has not promised. You may be eager to get a better car and a better house. God hasn't promised all that. That God is more eager to give you the Holy Spirit, divine nature, overcoming sin, the power of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, whatever he has chosen to give you, if you believe that he is more eager, that's faith.

And then you say, Lord, I believe you have answered my prayer. You have filled me. Now please give me an assurance that I am filled. Don't ever get that assurance from man. Don't get that assurance. I'll wait.

I don't want a cheap counterfeit. I don't want to boast that I'm filled. I want to be genuinely filled. And that's made all the difference. And every day I pray now, Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit.

If I keep my conscience clear all the time, confess sin as soon as it's known to God and men, and humble myself at every opportunity, I only say two things, keep your conscience clear and humble yourself at every opportunity and confess sin as soon as it's known to God.

Holiness, Temptation, and Victory Over Sin

If I work in an office where people blaspheme and use Jesus' name as a swear word, I'm not able to change them, even though I speak to them. What do I have to do? We cannot change the world. People will be evil around us.

People will be watching pornography at the next table and I can't do anything. I can't change them. But I have to be like a light, that's all. And my life will convict others, but I will not respond. Jesus could not convert everybody.

He moved around and a lot of people remained exactly as they were. But don't let the light in you get dim. How do I overcome adulterous and lustful thoughts? You know, we have to, it says by the renewal of our mind, Romans 12, 2.

The renewing of our mind is a very important thing. And renewing of our mind means thinking the way God thinks. I start my life thinking the way Adam thinks and all men think. And I have to change from there to the way God thinks, which is the way Jesus demonstrated or the way he thinks.

And as I read God's word, this is the mind of God in scripture. God shows me how he thinks and I say, Holy Spirit of God, renew my way of thinking to see the way God thinks. And I want to see things from God's point of view and look at people, circumstances, things, everything the way God looks at it.

And in this process of renewal, I can, you know, use some questions to ask myself to help me, to challenge me. For example, if I'm tempted to look at pornography on the computer or in a magazine, which is what stimulates a lot of thoughts, I could ask myself questions like this.

Would I like to see my sister or my daughter taking off her clothes and showing her naked body to somebody to photograph just because she wants to get money? I wouldn't want to do it. I don't think any of you would want to see your sister or your wife or your daughter do that.

But when you look at that, that's somebody else's sister. I couldn't care less for her. I say, are you a Christian? That you don't care for somebody else's daughter doing that? You would never allow your daughter to do that.

Take your Christianity more seriously. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Treat other people's daughters the way we want your daughter to be treated. If you don't want your daughter to strip herself for money, you should not be looking at other people's daughters photographing themselves.

And when you think lustful thoughts, if I discipline myself to detest something, I use pictures sometimes to help me and it may not help you. I used to say to myself, sin is a filthy thing. To have a lustful thought or look at a dirty picture is like putting my mouth into a toilet bowl and licking it.

I'm trying to give the word picture to detest it. Do I want to put my mouth into a toilet bowl and lick it? That's lustful thinking. That's looking at a dirty pornography picture. I want to have a revulsion to it.

Lord, give me the same revulsion I have to licking a toilet bowl to dirty thoughts and lustful thinking. It's a renewal of my mind to see sin in the detestable way God sees it and word and pictures and illustrations are a help for me.

If it helps you, well and good. And I used to also say, Lord Jesus, when you were in Nazareth, the Bible says you were tempted like me. You must have been tempted as a young man. When you were a 20-year-old young man, you were tempted like me.

How did you resist them? I want to walk in your footsteps and resist it and ultimately I ask God for grace. Lord, give me grace to keep me from falling. It's only Jesus who can keep you from falling. But he doesn't do it alone.

There's a cooperation in all victory over sin. He says, take my yoke upon you, a yoke upon two bullocks. He's the senior bullock and I'm the junior one. He says, Lord, it's a cooperation. If it was all of Jesus' work, we'd all be holy.

If it was all my work, we'd never be holy. Do all godly parents necessarily raise godly children? I'm not here to judge why some godly parents' children did not turn out right. I don't judge anybody. Judgment is God's business.

I can only judge myself. If I, my wife and I, have sought to live a godly life for many years now and if we, if our children went astray, we would take the blame. I told my children when they left home to go to college, they were all 18 years old then.

They were all baptized, born again. And I said, if you go astray, now you're going to be away from home for long periods of time, in a worldly environment, a college. If you go astray, I will not blame you.

I'll blame myself. I had you for 18 years at home and if I didn't do a good job in those 18 years, then I failed. I'm not saying you won't have a few ups and downs like that. You'll struggle in your thoughts and all that.

That's okay, but ultimately you'll come through. And I said another thing. If I ever hear that you're really going out into the world, I will pray to God that he'll do something drastic. Give you a road accident, break your legs, put you in a hospital with broken legs.

I don't pray that. Because to me, sin is more serious than a broken leg. Many parents will not pray like that. They say, oh Lord, please protect my children. I don't pray that. I say, please protect them from sin, even if you have to break their legs to protect them from sin.

If you were radical and serious, if you see sin as the worst possible thing that can happen to your children, you will pray like that. I've seen sin for the horrible thing it is. And that's what I've told my children.

I never had to pray for that, by the way. They haven't broken their legs yet. But what I mean is, I take it very seriously. And so don't judge others, but judge yourself. How old should they be before they can, before you can certain that you did a good job as a parent?

Raising Godly Children

It's very difficult to say because teenagers in the early 20s, they go through certain ups and downs. I don't mean gross sin, but it's a struggle. And I wouldn't take that seriously. So my paraphrase of train up a child in the way he should go when he's old, he will not depart from it.

This is not scripture. This is Zak Poonen's opinion. And is Zak Poonen entitled to give his opinion? According to 1 Corinthians 7, Paul says, this is not a commandment of God, but I give my opinion. He says that a number of times here, in my opinion.

You read 1 Corinthians 7. And my opinion is, train up a child in the way he should go when he's 30 years old, he'll follow the Lord. Don't quote me. But what I mean is, don't expect them to be perfect when they're 19 or 20.

Give them time. When they come through, they will be, if you've done a good job, you'll see that. What's the ministry of the bishop in the church? We don't have bishops in our church. The word bishop in the King James Version just means an elder, an overseer.

And he's to oversee the work of the church. He's the leader. His position is like that of a father. Bishop is the wrong word. It's elder or overseer. How do you interpret John 10 verse 34 and 35? John 10 verse 34 and 35 says, Has it not been written, as the Lord said, I said, you are gods.

I call them gods to whom the word of God came. And the scripture cannot be broken. You know, they were accusing him of blasphemy, saying, you being a man, make yourself out to be God. And Jesus had a way sometimes of quoting scripture to say, hey, your scripture says this.

Now, I don't know exactly what is meant in that quotation. He says, the scripture, doesn't it say in your law, I said, you are gods. Now, I don't know exactly where it comes, probably from Psalm 82, I think, where it says in verse six, I said, you are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High.

Now, I don't know what exactly he meant by the word God, certainly not Almighty God. So I wouldn't go too much into that. And some of these things, in relation to the Old Testament law, I don't know exactly what it means.

But I don't think we should worry too much if he can't explain. What is the proof that we are baptized in the Holy Spirit? Acts 1 .8, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit's come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts

I think it is power, exactly like it says there, to be a witness. Not to bear witness, which is with our lips, but to be a witness. I hope you know the difference between being a witness and bearing witness.

Bearing witness is like in a court, you speak about what you've seen and heard. Being a witness is your whole life. You shall receive power to be a witness for Jesus Christ. That means your life and your speech will bear witness to Christ in you.

And we can't do that without the power of the Holy Spirit. And it's an increasing measure. It's like a light getting brighter and brighter and brighter. The path of the righteous, Proverbs 4 .18, is like the sunrise when you're born again.

It gets brighter and brighter and brighter to the perfect day. So there will be a growth if you are continuously filled with the Holy Spirit. It's like, to use an illustration of rivers, when we are born again, it's like a cup full of water.

As we walk the way of the cross, the cup becomes a bucket. You need to be filled again because a cup can't fill a bucket. You need to be filled again. And as you walk the way of the cross, death to self, the bucket becomes a tub.

You need to be filled again. The tub becomes a pond. You need to be filled again. It becomes a river. It needs to be filled again. It becomes many rivers. So you start as a cup and end as many rivers.

But if you walk the way of the cross, death to self, your capacity increases and we keep on being more and more filled. If an unbelieving spouse rejects a believer wife, is the wife free to remarry or all cases of remarriage a sin?

Divorce, Remarriage, and Pastoral Compassion

Personally, I would never encourage divorce or remarriage. I would say try and avoid it as far as possible. Definitely. We have never had one single case in our church in 40 years where we have had a person divorcing someone.

But partly that's because in Indian culture it's more conservative. It's very rare, even among the Hindus. It's a backslidden Christian case, you know, where divorce has become so common. But because of this, I don't have had, I've not had experience with dealing with divorce and remarriage because you hardly ever come across a case like that.

So I don't like to speak much about it but from scripture alone I would say I would always discourage people from divorce and remarriage. But people come, if a person comes to our church he's probably already suffered much and we don't want to torture him even more.

You remember Jesus spoke to a five times divorced Samaritan woman and he never told her to go back to her first husband. He treated her with compassion and each case is different. So I tell people, sometimes people write emails to me on this subject and I say I can never deal with this by email.

Each case is different. I don't know how to deal with it. In a work environment how do I respond to those who constantly take the name of the Lord in vain or swear words? Well as I've already answered that we've just got to be a light and let the light shine.

We can't change others. You've got to ignore it. As a children, you know people speak evil and I can't do anything about it. If I'm a good friend of theirs and I'd like to avoid using that language but if they're not known to me I'm not here to go around correcting everybody around me.

Teaching Children Repentance and Sanctification

As a children's church teacher how can you best explain principles such as sanctification, repentance and justification? I think the best way to do it is by examples. Do you tell lies to your parents if you've done something wrong?

You need to feel sorry about it because sanctification is a progressive growth in holiness. You find your conscience is convicting you when you do something wrong. Children's conscience are very sensitive and listen to it and ask forgiveness.

If you found that you told a lie go to the person you did who you told a lie to and say I'm sorry. With examples like that he'll show you in the first grade more in the third grade. Say if you keep on obeying God he'll show you more and more of the things that are not like Jesus Christ in you and that is sanctification.

Church Life, Leadership, and the Narrow Way

Being in a church where the doctrines are all correct though sometimes incomplete but where the elders are satisfied with what they've already received from the Lord how can I change things from inside in both younger and older people times a week.

I think you must again let the light shine. I don't believe I can change anybody. The Holy Spirit alone can do that and I believe the way to life is very narrow and very few find it. So even in my own church back home I'm not one of the elders there now.

I was an elder there for more than 25 years but now with responsibility for many churches there are other brothers who are responsible but in the years when I was an elder there I felt that I could do my best to proclaim the narrow way of obedience that leads to life but I found that very few found it.

Everybody in our church back home is not walking the narrow way. The majority more than 50 I've never seen a church in the world where more than 50 are spiritually minded walking the way of the cross.

Somehow maybe it's possible but somehow worldliness and compromise gets in and seems to be comes in and the other thing is it was easier in the beginning when somebody's brother and children grow up and gradually the church increases in size.

The original people who came were wholehearted but the ones who come in by addition by friendship and relationships they're not necessarily so wholehearted. We can't say go away. Jesus said him that cometh to me I'll never cast out so we invite everybody and with the hope that they will change over a period of time so if somebody's not wholehearted today go to church and go to hell.

So we don't expect that everybody in the church will be wholehearted. It may take time for people to change so we are willing to be patient but we keep proclaiming the narrow way knowing always what Jesus said that very few will actually find it.

When someone is baptized in the Holy Spirit does the sign speaking in tongues always evident? No. Speaking in tongues I'll tell you honestly I speak in tongues almost always in private almost never in public.

The early days of our church we had a little bit of speaking in it but we follow what Paul said I speak in tongues more than all of you 1 Corinthians 14 but in the church I would rather speak in a known language so I speak in tongues in private.

To me it's a private love language between me and Jesus Christ my bridegroom but in public I always speak in English I use it in private especially when I'm tempted to get discouraged or some pressure comes upon me it's like a release from my heart it's a gift God gives it's not given to everyone I don't know why but he hasn't given it to everyone.

I thank God for it like Paul said. If you go to the CFC website cfcindia .com and look for articles there's an article that I've written there called the truth about speaking in tongues in A4 sheets and you can read it it will be more complete in detail on that.

The Lord's Supper and Servant-Hearted Worship

Is it important to wash feet when we break bread and drink wine at the Lord's Supper? No. The literal washing of the feet is not what Jesus commanded. What he meant was I have done a dirty job for you right now you know those days people wore sandals and socks if they were wearing shoes and socks that day I don't think Jesus would have washed their feet because they didn't need to the reason why there was a bucket of water or a basin of water kept in every house was because everybody wore sandals.

I wear sandals most of the time in India and I know how refreshing it is to have your feet washed with water particularly when you walk the village roads. And if I'm wearing shoes and socks I don't need that.

I've done a needful dirty job for you. It was the job of slaves to wash people's feet. I did it for you and you must be willing to do it for one another. So I say the equivalent of that today is if you're in a church building go and clean the toilets.

So I tell people everyone who joins our church must be willing to clean the toilets. If you're not willing to clean the toilets I don't think you're a disciple of Jesus. If there's a needed job if you open a toilet door that's the spirit of Christ.

So it's willing to do a dirty job. That's the meaning of it. Should offerings in the church be collected with someone collecting money with a bag and going to each person. We've never done that in 40 years in over 100 churches that we've planted we have never taken an offering with a bag anywhere.

And God has provided all our need. We have built meeting halls. No mortgage no loans from a bank. No loans from anybody. No advertising our need telling our heavenly father and he gives us when we need it.

We've had hundreds of conferences never asked anybody for money. People give voluntarily. I mean there's an offering box that we keep at the back. And those who want to contribute to it that's how we do it in every conference.

And I'm sure it's like that in this conference too. Those who want to give put it in the offering box. Those who don't want to give need not give because God is a cheerful giver. And if a person is a cheerful giver he'll look for the offering box and put it.

If he's not interested in looking for it he's not a cheerful giver and he should not give. So when you stick a bag in front of somebody whether he's cheerful or not he'll have to put something in because other people are watching him at least he'll have to put an empty hand in and pretend that he's giving something something or the other.

You're producing a hypocrite and someone who's giving reluctantly we keep an offering box. And so those who want to give, give. We don't know who gives, we don't know who doesn't give. It doesn't matter.

And I get some precedent for that in scripture because it says in Mark chapter 12 Jesus sat beside the offering box. Have you read that? And he saw a widow coming and putting in two cents. And I say Jesus sits beside the offering box even today.

And he watches how people give. It's your choice. And the reason I don't put a bag because Jesus when he preached even before or after preaching when he healed the sick he didn't pass a bag around either.

He didn't do that. And so we don't do it. And we have never done it. And we will never do it till Jesus comes. And we don't even send reports of our work here and there asking for money. We have never done it in 40 years we are totally unlike 99 .9 of Indian churches and missions.

We don't do it. What are the practical advice for overcoming anger? Well I'll tell you what it said in the Old Testament if you are not filled with the Holy Spirit and you don't have control over your tongue.

Overcoming Anger Through the Holy Spirit

It says in the Old Testament in Psalm 4 this is the basic ABC level kindergarten level. Psalm 4 verse 4 when you tremble with anger in the margin it says in my NASB margin it says when you tremble with anger.

Psalm 4 verse 4 don't sin. So what should you do when you tremble with anger. Go and lie down on your bed and meditate there and be quiet for a while. Practical advice. Rush to your bedroom and lie down and meditate on God's goodness to you.