5 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF

EFFORTLESS
CHANGE
ANDREW WOMMACK
 5 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF

EFFORTLESS
CHANGE
Kneeling beside my bed one day in 1968, I began to pray, “Lord, what do I have
to do to get from where I am to where You want me to be?” I opened my eyes,
and as I saw my Bible laying on the bed in front of me, I heard the Lord say this
in my heart: “Just put My Word in your heart, and it will do all the rest.”

Everyone I know wants to change and grow. I believe

that’s part of being made in the image of God. The Lord
created within every one of us an intuituve knowledge The question is, how does it happen? If you’re like a lot
that we were destined for more than we’re of Christians, you have probably tried to change many
experiencing. Both believers and unbelievers desire to times but find yourself falling back into the same old
achieve more, including those who have experienced patterns and experiencing the same old problems.
great “success” in the eyes of the world. That’s frustrating, and more importantly, it’s a breeding
ground for many of Satan’s most devastating lies and
However, for those who are born again, the desire traps. If we aren’t careful, we as Christians can feel
actually intensifies. The Holy Spirit will give us a holy more like failures than the lost. After all, we have been
dissatisfaction that drives us toward change. Once we told to be like Jesus, and that’s a big task.
realize that Almighty God lives in us and wants to
express Himself through us, it’s hard, if not impossible, Change really began for me on March 23, 1968, when I
to be content with how we allow Him to do so. had a glorious encounter with the Lord. I had seen a
glimpse of how awesome the Lord was and what He
Jesus was the only one who gave the world a perfect wanted me to be. I started changing rapidly, but was a
look at God living through a person. We will never be million miles from the victorious life He had revealed.
the express image of God in the way Jesus was, but we
all have the potential to express him in a much greater
way than we have ever realized. In order to do that, we "If you’re like a lot of Christians,
must change. Growth always means change. So if
we’re not experiencing any growth in our lives, it may you have probably tried to change
be because we aren't changing. Have you ever seen a many times but find yourself
plant that’s green and growing and not in a constant
state of change? For the plant, it’s effortless; it just falling back into the same old
grows, and the change is evident to everyone. Our lives patterns and experiencing the same
should be just like that—green, growing, changing, and
evident to the world. old problems."

EFFORTLESS CHANGE - ANDREW WOMMACK 1

At times, the process seemed so long and the goal so
far that I despaired of ever making any progress in this
lifetime. But then He directed me to focus on His Word. 2. Give the seed time to
That word from God has been my prime directive for germinate
the last forty years, and it has produced miraculous
results. And the change this has produced has been Second, the man in Jesus’ parable, who sowed the
nearly effortless. The only effort has been to stay seed, slept and rose day after day. It takes time for a
focused on God’s Word. seed to germinate. You can’t plant a seed one day and
expect to see it growing the next day. Just because
there’s nothing visible above ground doesn’t mean the
seed is not growing. If you dig it up every day to see if
1. Commit God's Word to anything is happening, it will never grow. You have to
have faith that the seed will do what it was designed
your heart by God to do: produce its fruit in its time. The Word of
God works the same way. When we meditate in God’s
Although the Lord spoke that to me in prayer, it was Word for one day, we can’t expect to see results the
important to see it in the Word. He revealed and next day. And we can’t meditate in His Word one day a
confirmed it to me through a parable in Mark 4:26-29: week and then live differently the other six days. That’s
like digging up the seed.
“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man
should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and John 15:7-8 says,
rise night and day, and the seed should spring and “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall
grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is
forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye
that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought be my disciples.”
forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the
harvest is come.” Next, Jesus shared one of the most important truths of
this parable. He said, “The seed should spring and grow
In this parable, Jesus used an example of seed, time, up, he knoweth not how.” This is an amazing
and harvest, which everyone understood, to illustrate statement. No one knows how a seed works.
truths about how God’s Word works, which very few
understood. Man, with all his understanding, has not unlocked the
miracle of a seed. Things can be made that look like a
First, He taught that God’s Word has to be planted like seed, taste like a seed, and have the exact chemical
a seed in our hearts. Just as a seed doesn’t release its elements as a seed, but if it’s planted, it still won’t grow.
life until it is planted in the ground, God’s Word will not For thousands of years, people have planted seeds and
set us free until we get it in our hearts. Having the Bible reaped the harvest without understanding how it all
on our tables, in our hands, or in our heads is not works.
sufficient; we have to commit God’s Word to our hearts.
I don’t understand how the seed of God’s Word planted
in our hearts works either, and I can’t explain how
"God's Word has to be planted like a reading God’s Word differs from reading the words of
seed in our hearts." some other book. I don’t comprehend it all, but I know it
works. I’ve experienced the supernatural life that God’s
Word imparts.

EFFORTLESS CHANGE - ANDREW WOMMACK 2

 3. The Word is the seed that
contains the very life of God
The word “transformed” was translated from the Greek
word metamorphoo, from which we derive the English
The Word is a seed that contains the very life of God.
word metamorphosis. It’s describing the miraculous
When it’s planted in your heart and left there, it will
change of a worm to a butterfly. If we want to be
release that life. The only effort on your part is to take
changed in nature and appearance as drastically as a
the time and make the effort to plant the seed. Then,
worm becoming a butterfly, the way we do it is by the
the godly change you’re looking for comes effortlessly
renewing of our minds. God’s Word is the primary way
as the seed of His Word takes root in your heart. This is
of accomplishing that.
such a simple truth that most people have missed it.
Many are looking for some spectacular encounter with
the Lord that will transform their lives instantly. They
want to microwave their miracle rather than allow the
"The Word is a seed that contains the
time for the seed to produce fruit. very life of God."

Some are even willing to spend hours in prayer asking

In the natural, we recognize that we can’t have a
for a miracle instead of planting the Word of God in
harvest without planting seeds. But in the spiritual,
their hearts, which in time would produce the miracle.
Christians try it all the time. Instead of going to the
Word and meditating in the Scriptures themselves, they
run to those who have spent time in the Word and ask
them for help. It’s an attempt to shortcut the process of
4. Prayer is water and fertilizer seed, time, and harvest.

Prayer is what water and fertilizer are to a seed. They Then, if they don’t see results, they get confused and
help the Word release its life. But if you haven’t planted offended. God can meet needs through the faith of
the seed, it doesn’t matter how much water and others, but it’s temporary and His secondary way of
fertilizer you apply, the soil still won’t produce fruit. It’s touching people. God’s best is for them to take the seed
the seed that has life! of His Word and plant it in their hearts where it will
naturally and effortlessly produce the changes they
Prayer is not a substitute for planting the seed of God’s desire.
Word in your heart. Prayer without the Word is religious
at best and complaining at worst. Romans 12:2 gives Have you ever seen an apple tree groan and travail to
us another key to effortless change: produce apples? Never! It’s the nature of an apple tree
to bring forth its fruit. It’s your nature to produce fruit as
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye trans- well, spiritual fruit, and it happens naturally.
formed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, "It’s your nature to produce fruit,
will of God.”
spiritual fruit, and it happens
naturally. "

EFFORTLESS CHANGE - ANDREW WOMMACK 3

 5. Our part is to tend the field

We do have a part to play, however. God has never

planted a seed or tended the field for anyone. That’s the "The Christian life is really not hard;
natural part that we must do. It’s up to us to consist-
ently plant His Word in our hearts, abide in that Word,
it is actually easy if we are abiding
and then water and nourish it with prayer. If we’ll make in God's Word."
that small effort, the miracle of the life in the seed of
God’s Word will do the rest. Our lives will naturally and This teaching is absolutely fundamental to the entire
effortlessly change. Christian walk. The lack of knowledge in this area is the
reason so many Christians remain frustrated in their
The Christian life is really not hard; it is actually easy if walk with the Lord. To help you, I have just released my
we are abiding in God’s Word. The Word will transform new book, Effortless Change. The message in this book
us so that His perfect will for us comes to pass. That’s has changed my life, and I know it will dramatically
the promise of God’s Word. Romans 8:6 says, “To be impact yours as well. You can also order my teaching
spiritually minded is life and peace.” on this subject as a CD album.

Being spiritually-minded is being Word-minded (John Just as there isn’t growth in the natural realm without
6:63). The seed is God’s Word. The soil is our hearts. first planting a seed, there isn’t spiritual growth without
And the fruit that we all long for is godly change. planting the seed of God’s Word in your heart. This
book or CD album will help you understand the power
of that seed to produce the change in your life that you
have always desired—effortlessly.

EFFORTLESS CHANGE - ANDREW WOMMACK 4