There is a commercial lately that talks about the three “p’s”; I’m sure most of you have seen it.  This post has nothing to do with what the commercial talks about, but I do want to talk about four “p’s” in our lives that we need to consider.  They are: plan, prepare, practice and perform.   In order to be successful in any area of our lives we need to be working these four principles.

Whatever our goal is we need a plan; a method for accomplishing that objective.  It begins with thinking how to reach a certain goal or desire in our life.  If we want a college degree, we need to think about what field we want to study and which university to attend.

Then we need to prepare; close to a plan but different in that to prepare means to make ourselves ready for accomplishing something. After we decide which field to study and university or college, we then need to make preparation – send in an application, find housing, etc.

Then there is the practice; the effort to bring it all together.  After receiving the letter of acceptance and getting a place to live, we must carry out the steps to move and attend classes.

The perform part is putting the reached-goal into action; in other words, using the degree/knowledge to acquire a good job, etc.

As you can see, we need these four steps in every area of our lives; even to learning and cooking a meal.  It’s one thing to think about a meal you’d like to cook; it’s another to plan the menu, prepare a trip to the store to buy the ingredients, learn to make the recipe, and enjoying the performance—eating it!  Even an athlete must prepare by learning the different plays for a game and practice on the field with the members of the team before the actual game for their performance to be optimal.

This leads us to our witness for Jesus our Savior.  We need to plan or schedule time to pray, and to study the Bible. The preparation time would include our Bible, having paper and pen or a computer for writing our own notes as we study and receive God’s insight and revelation.  It might also include some books that give us teaching and encouragement on how to apply the truths of the Bible in our lives.  Then we practice what we learn by monitoring our thoughts, our choice of words, movies and TV shows, etc. The next step would be the performance –giving our testimony of what God has done for us and who He is to us; being a good witness to our neighbors, co-workers, friends and family, and volunteering in our church or other ministry.

Many of you might be saying that these steps are a no brainer, and you might be right because many of us use these steps and don’t always realize it.  However, without securing the first three steps, the achieving of the fourth step will be hindered.

My point is to encourage us to think about how to incorporate these steps in our life, and especially in studying the Bible so we will live a life pleasing to God and have the optimal blessings of God in our life.

2 Timothy 2:15, be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 4:2, be ready in season and out of season…

Titus 3:1, be ready for every good work…

1 Peter 3:15, be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in your