…The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].— James 5:16

When people struggle in their prayer lives, they often think it is because they are unholy and unrighteous so they try to behave better, hoping that then their prayers will be answered.

The truth is that if we are born again, we are righteous. We may not do everything right; but we are 100 percent righteous through Christ. Second Corinthians 5:21 tells us He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (NKJV).

There is a difference between righteousness and “right” behavior. Righteousness describes our standing—our position or condition before God—because of the blood of Jesus. We cannot make ourselves righteous; only the blood of Jesus makes us righteous, as if we had never sinned at all. God views us as righteous even though we still make mistakes. Because He sees us as righteous, we have a God-given right to pray and expect God to hear and answer us.

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – God Answers the Prayers of the Righteous →

[Jesus] said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew 16:15-16 — Matthew 16:15-16

When Peter said that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, it was a statement of faith. In making this statement, Peter was displaying faith.

I don’t think Peter just casually or nonchalantly made that statement. I think he did it with a surety and a certainty that impressed Jesus because He immediately turned to Peter and told him that he was blessed. Then He went on to say that it was upon this rock-solid foundation of faith that He would build His church.

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – A Rock-Solid Foundation →

We have thought of Your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of Your temple. —Psalm 48:9

Positive minds—minds full of faith and hope—produce positive lives. Negative minds—minds full of fear and doubt—produce negative lives. In Matthew 8:13, Jesus tells us that it will be done for us as we have believed. This doesn’t mean that you and I can get anything we want by just thinking about it. God has a perfect plan for each of us, and we can’t control Him with our thoughts and words, but if we want His plan, we should think and speak in agreement with His will and plan for us.

I encourage you to think positively about your life and be thankful for the good things God is doing and going to do. Practice staying positive in every situation that arises; even if you’re going through a difficult situation, stand in faith, believing God will bring good out of it as He has promised in His Word.

Prayer of Thanks: Father, help me to keep my thoughts and my words focused on You. I thank You that You have good things in store for my life. I trust You today.

From the book The Power of Being Thankful by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.—James 1:2-4

Too often people stare at me with a blank look when I urge them to decide to believe. It’s as if I’m asking them to do something they can’t do. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God (see Romans 10:17), but it also involves a decision.

We enter into a relationship with God through believing in Jesus Christ, but that’s only the beginning.

Believing doesn’t end there. As I understand the realm of the Spirit, if we follow the Lord, we live with a growing faith. That means we learn to believe for bigger things. We learn to trust God for things we would never have thought of in our earliest Christian days.

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – Decide to Believe →

But the meek [in the end] shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.—Psalm 37:11

We can learn to get along with people. It is especially important to learn to get along with our immediate family members and coworkers. There are many informative books about personality differences to help us understand why people feel and act the way they do. Understanding helps to smooth over strained relationships.

People make decisions differently. Some give an immediate answer, while others want time to think about things first. Try to understand the people you will see today. Ask God to show you ways to get along with them. He will give you favor as you trust in Him.

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another. —Galatians 5:26

According to the world’s system, the best place to be is ahead of everyone else. Popular thinking would say that we should try to get to the top no matter who we have to hurt on the way up. But the Bible teaches us that there is no such thing as real peace until we are delivered from the need to compete with others.

Even in what is supposed to be considered “fun games,” we often see competition get so out of balance that people end up arguing and hating one another rather than simply relaxing and having a good time together. Naturally, human beings don’t play games to lose; everyone is going to do his best. But when a person cannot enjoy a game unless he is winning, he definitely has a problem—possibly a deep-rooted one that is causing other problems in many areas of his life.

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – Avoid Worldly Competition →

Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages).—Hebrews 13:8

Studies show that 10 percent of people will never like you. This means we won’t have a perfect record with everyone and we should celebrate who we are. A person who knows how to do this does not allow the moods of other people to alter theirs.

A story is told of a Quaker man who knew how to live independently as the valued person God had created Him to be. One night as he was walking down the street with a friend he stopped at a newsstand to purchase an evening paper. The storekeeper was very sour, rude, and unfriendly. The Quaker man treated him with respect and was quite kind in his dealing with him. He paid for his paper, and he and his friend continued to walk down the street. The friend said to the Quaker, “How could you be so cordial to him with the terrible way he was treating you?” The Quaker man replied, “Oh, he is always that way; why should I let him determine how I am going to act?”

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – Break Free from Other People’s Expectations →

He who despises his neighbor sins [against God, his fellowman, and himself], but happy (blessed and fortunate) is he who is kind and merciful to the poor. —Proverbs 14:21

Helping the poor and those who are less fortunate than we are is not only a nice thing to do, but according to the Bible, it is our responsibility. God cares deeply for the poor and needy and seems to have a special place in His heart for the widow and the orphan because they are alone and unable to meet all their needs. God gives us hearts of compassion, but when needs arise we can’t close our hearts—we need to open our hearts and our hands wide to help the poor.

When we give to the poor, the Bible says that we lend to the Lord. Anything we give to help hurting people, God will always return many times over. Not only will He meet our needs, but our joy will increase as a result of giving in love. I urge you to share what you have with those who are less fortunate than you are.

Power Thought: I am always merciful and generous to the poor.

From the book the book Power Thoughts Devotional by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied); and her husband boasts of and praises her, [saying], Many daughters have done virtuously, nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness], but you excel them all. —Proverbs 31:28-29

A virtuous and worthy wife [earnest and strong in character] is a crowning joy to her husband…(Proverbs 12:4). She enjoys the praise of her children and husband. They rise up to call her blessed. Her husband says that many daughters have been virtuous and noble but that she exceeds them all. In other words, he says that she is the best wife anyone could ever have. He applauds and celebrates her strength of character and goodness.

One year my birthday happened to be during one of our conferences, and my husband, Dave, stood up and read Proverbs 31 to me in front of a room filled with people. Then my children one by one rose up to say kind and edifying things to me. There is no better feeling than to spend years raising your children, and then have them tell you that they honor you, love you, and don’t believe they could have had a better mother. Or to have your husband say you are the best wife in the world. Those comments certainly were confidence boosters for me.

Lord, whether anyone ever gives me these commendations, I want to live my life in a way that brings joy and blessing to others. Build strength into my character. Amen.

From the book The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer

http://www.joycemeyer.org

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.—Psalm 121:1-2 NKJV

We should be maturing in our faith to the point that we don’t run to someone else every time we need to know what to do. I am not implying that asking for a word of counsel from people we feel are wiser than we are is wrong, but I do believe asking for people’s opinions excessively and relying on them too heavily is wrong and insulting to God.

As you can tell from today’s verse, David sought God first and knew God was his only help. The same is true for us, so we must be like David and always look to God first. We need to develop a habit of seeing God as our “first choice” for advice, not as our last resort.

God may use a person of His choice to clarify things, offer additional insight, or confirm what He has already told us, so seek Him first and if He leads you to a person, follow His leading.

In Numbers 22:20-28, God even used a donkey to speak to someone. He wants to speak to us so much that He will use whatever means is necessary. You can be assured that if you are trusting God to speak that He will find a way to get His message through to you.

From the book Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good.—Romans 12:21

We must not use our personal problems as an excuse to be grouchy and unloving with other people. Always remember that we overcome evil with good. This is why it is so important that we trust God, and while we are waiting on a change in our circumstances, we should remember to do good, do good, and do good!

In the Bible, the apostle Paul shares how even in times when he was suffering, he believed that God would take care of those things that he entrusted to Him (see 2 Timothy 1:12-14). We can be grateful that, like Paul, we are called to give our problems to God and refuse to worry.

A simple formula for victory is trust God, don’t worry, do good, and keep meditating on and confessing God’s Word, because God’s Word is the weapon we have been given by which we can overcome evil and do good.

Prayer of Thanks: Thank You, Father, that no matter what I may be going through, You give me opportunities to do good for those around me. I don’t have to focus on myself; I can choose to help others. Let me be an encouragement and a blessing to someone today.

From the book The Power of Being Thankful by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

I know what it’s like to live under the burden and pressure of stress, and I know what it’s like to have God’s peace. I can honestly say that I will do whatever I have to do to have God’s peace in my life, because it is not God’s will for us to live with stress all the time.

It’s easy for us to feel like we can’t avoid being stressed-out because it’s just the way the world is today. But the truth is just because stress is a disease of our culture doesn’t mean we have to adopt the ways of our culture and live the same way.

We have two options: We can continue to be stressed-out until we fall apart, or we can learn how to receive the peace Christ gives in every circumstance, rather than letting stress get into us.

The Cure for Stress

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – Don’t Let Stress Get the Best of You →

Then the Lord said to me,” Arise, begin your journey…”—Deuteronomy 10:11 NKJV

One way to love yourself is to keep your physical body in shape, and one of the best ways to do that is to be committed to some kind of exercise. I often say the toughest part of a new exercise program is getting started. Following are some extremely simple ways to begin exercise programs that stick.

1. A Daily Walk. Something as simple as walking thirty minutes every day is very beneficial for your health. Do what’s manageable, not what leaves you gasping!
2. Indoor Exercise. You can exercise in the privacy of your own home using a video, or you can take an exercise class.
3. Strength Training. Strengthening your muscles can be done quickly and at home, without any special machines. Sit-ups, push-ups, or lifting simple weights doesn’t take long or cost much, but these things are good for you!
4. Running or Biking. Running and biking are good options, but riding a bicycle is easier on your joints than running.
5. Swimming. Swimming provides a good, gentle cardiovascular workout and works many muscle groups at once.

Start slowly, do your best, and keep it up. Soon you’ll find yourself in better shape!

Love Yourself Today: Take care of your physical body through regular exercise, and do something to get yourself off to a good start today.

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org