Did I check for spark properly? How do I trouble shoot my Sabb 2001, 9-5, for not starting?

Car has gone through periods of stalling at red lights. Some times won't start at all but will after sitting for an hour. Now it won't start at all. I have checked fuel related items. It has fuel pressure at the fuel rail of 38 psi's. changed fuel filter also. sprayed fuel into throttle body. After that I assumed it must be electrical. I took one side of the direct ignition cover off. I took a spark plug out and put it into the cover where it belonged. I pressed it against the exhaust manifold to ground it and turned it over, just like we used to do with plug and wire to check for spark, and didn't get any spark. Was this the right way to check for spark? Where do I go from here and how do I touble shoot further for getting spark? Thank you for trying to help on this.