Joyce Meyer - The Joy of Believing in Prayer: Deepen Your Friendship with God

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Amplified Bible (AMP). The Amplified Bible, Old Testament. Copyright 1965, 1987 by The Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament, copyright 1954, 1958, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Warner Books EditionCopyright 2001 by Joyce MeyerLife In The Word, Inc.P.O. Box 655 Fenton, Missouri 63026 All rights reserved.

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First eBook Edition: October 2002

ISBN: 978-0-446-54910-3

If we dont pray, the best thing that can happen is nothing, so that things will stay the way they are, which is frightening enough in itself. We all need change, and the way to get it is through prayer.

GODS WORD FOR YOU

And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. [I Kings 18:25-29.]

MATTHEW 6:7

SIMPLE, BELIEVING PRAYER

F or many years I was dissatisfied with my prayer life. I was committed to praying every morning, but I always felt something was missing. I finally asked God what was wrong, and He responded in my heart by saying, Joyce, you dont feel that your prayers are good enough. I was not enjoying prayer because I had no confidence that my prayers were acceptable.

Too often we get caught up in our own works concerning prayer. Sometimes we try to pray so long, loud, or fancy that we lose sight of the fact that prayer is simply conversation with God. The length or loudness or eloquence of our prayer is not the issue. It is the sincerity of our heart and the confidence that God hears and will answer us that is important.

We must develop the confidence that even if we simply say, God help me, He hears and will answer. We can depend on God to be faithful to do what we have asked Him to do as long as our request is in accordance with His will. We should know that He wants to help us because He is our Helper (Hebrews 13:6).

Simple, believing prayer coined straight out of the heart and goes straight to the heart of God.

GODS WORD FOR YOU

Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of menextortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterersor even like this tax collector here.

I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain.

But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am!

I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

LUKE 18:10-14

HUMBLE PRAYER

For prayer to be sincere, it must come from a humble heart. In this lesson on prayer taught by Jesus Himself, we see that the Pharisee prayed ostentatiously, meaning that he prayed pretentiously, making an extravagant outward show. There was nothing secret or even sincere about his prayer. It even says that he prayed before and with himself. In other words, his prayers never got two inches away from himself; he was all caught up in what he was doing.

The second man in the story, a despised tax collector and a wicked sinner in most peoples eyes, humbled himself, bowed his head, and quietly, with humility, asked God to help him. In response to his sincere, humble prayer, a lifetime of sin was wiped away in a moment. This is the power of simple, believing prayer.

Build your faith on the fact that humble, believing prayer is powerful. Believe that you can pray anywhere, anytime, about anything. Believe that your prayers dont have to be perfect or eloquent or long. Keep them simple and full of faith.

We receive the grace of God by bumbling ourselves before Hun, casting all our cared upon Hun, and trusting Him to take care of them ad He had promised in His Word.

GODS WORD FOR YOU

And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petrosa large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petraa huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven. [Isa. 22:22.]

MATTHEW 16:18-19

AUTHORITY THROUGH PRAYER

Since we are not only physical creatures but spiritual beings as well, we are able to stand in the physical realm and affect the spiritual realm. This is a very definite privilege and advantage. We can go into the spiritual realm through prayer and bring about action that will cause change in a situation. God is a Spirit (John 4:24), and every answer we need to every situation is with Him.

Jesus told Peter that He would give him the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. Keys unlock doors, and I believe those keys (at least in part) can represent various types of prayer. Jesus went on to teach Peter about the power of binding and loosing, which operates on the same spiritual principle.

Jesus was also speaking to Peter about the power of faith in verse 18, and we know that one way faith is released is through prayer. The power of binding and loosing is also exercised in prayer.

When you and I pray about deliverance from some bondage in our lives or in the life of another, we are, in effect, binding that problem and loosing an answer. The act of prayer binds evil and looses good.