Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace…that we may receive mercy…and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]. —Hebrews 4:16

Prayer opens the windows of heaven and touches the heart of God. It is a beautiful and powerful privilege that brings many changes in both circumstances and people. Prayer is often the difference between confusion and clarity, hurt and healing, defeat and victory, and even between life and death.

There are many ways to pray, but the best way is to pray boldly and effectually. God loves you and He doesn’t want your communication with Him to be vague and unclear. He wants you to come to Him fearlessly and confidently, being specific in your prayers.

Exercise the liberty and privilege of prayer tonight, fully expecting to receive the promised help just when you need it.

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word. —Hebrews 10:23

Giving voice to your faith can actually increase your faith—because what you say out loud gets rooted in your heart. I have heard that we believe more of what we say than what anyone else says, so why not say things that we truly want to believe? Say frequently, “I trust God,” or “I believe God is working in my life and circumstances right now.” Say, “God loves me and will work through me to do good to other people.”

The Psalms are filled with confessions of faith: I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! (Psalm 91:2). You can make a similar confession!

The apostle Peter said we should resist the devil at his onset (see 1 Peter 5:9). Developing the habit of confessing your faith as soon as any negative thoughts, words, behaviors, and attitudes appear will increase your faith and your joy. Soon you’ll be living from faith to faith (see Romans 1:17), without wavering.

Power Thought: God is faithful; my hope in Him is unwavering.

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

Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them. – Romans 12:6

We are all gifted and graced differently to operate in the gifts God has given us. Today’s verse says we are to use our gifts according to the grace that is upon us.

Two people can be gifted to teach, yet one may be a stronger teacher than the other because he or she has more grace from God for that particular calling. One person may be anointed by the Holy Spirit to lead a huge, successful company, while another may be anointed and given grace to lead a thriving small business. Why? Because the Holy Spirit distributes gifts to whomever He wills (see 1 Corinthians 12:11). He has His reasons for what He does, and we need to trust Him in that. We should be thankful for what He gives us and not allow pride to cause us to become jealous of someone else’s gift. We cannot walk in love with people and envy their gifts at the same time.

My husband could be jealous because God has given me a preaching gift that He did not give him. Dave realized a long time ago that he would not be happy if he tried to operate outside of the grace that has been given to him. If he tried to be who I am, he would lose his joy. Dave is anointed in administration and finances, and his part in our ministry is just as important as mine.

If you want to be really happy, give yourself to what you are called and graced to do. The Holy Spirit will speak to you about what you are to do and help you understand the grace you have been given. Don’t be jealous of others, but walk in love toward them and in faithfulness to the calling and grace on your life.

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

May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love. – Ephesians 3:17

Each one of us is born with a “love tank,” and if our tank is empty, we are in trouble. We need to start receiving love from the moment we are born and continue receiving it—and giving it out—until the day we die. Sometimes Satan manages to arrange things so that instead of receiving love, we receive abuse. If that abuse continues, we become love starved and warped, so that we are unable to maintain healthy relationships.

Many people develop addictive behaviors of different types. If they can’t get good feelings from within themselves, they look for them on the outside. One of the things we must understand is that people have to have a certain number of good feelings. We are all created to have good feelings about ourselves. We cannot go around hurting, being wounded, and feeling bad all the time. We are just not designed to live that way.

To find those good feelings, many people turn to sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, food, money, power, gambling, work, television, sports, and many other addictive things. They are simply trying to get those good feelings they are missing from within themselves and their relationships.

The good news is that whatever may have happened to us in the past, whatever we may have been deprived of, we can get it from the Lord. He is our Shepherd, so we shall not want (see Psalm 23:1). He has promised not to withhold any good thing from us (see Psalm 84:11).

If we did not get enough love when we were growing up, or if we are not getting enough love now, we don’t have to go through the rest of our lives with an empty “love tank.” Even if there is not one other human being on this earth who loves us, we are still loved by God, and we can become rooted and grounded in His love.

From the book New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer.

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. – Colossians 1:28 NIV

As your relationship with God matures, you will find yourself living less by guidelines, rules, and regulations, and more by the desires of your heart. As you learn more of the Word, you will find His desires fill your heart with thanksgiving and joy. God wants you to know His heart well enough that you will want to follow the prompting, leading, and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Once you are free in Christ, stand fast in that liberty and do not become ensnared with the joy stealer of legalism, which is the yoke of bondage that you have put off (see Galatians 5:1). God wants to bring you into a new place that is full of freedom, so follow your heart, because that is where His law abides.

Prayer of Thanks: Thank You, Father, that the more time I spend in Your Word, the more I love it. I pray that Your Word would fill my heart so that my desires will begin to line up with Your instruction and direction for my life. Thank You that You are bringing me to maturity in You.

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

Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. – 1 Peter 5:6-7

It is important that we learn to humble ourselves and cast our care on the Lord. We shouldn’t struggle to believe that God wants us to lay all of our concerns at the foot of the cross, when He so clearly has told us in His Word to do exactly that.

The word casting refers to throwing, hurling, arising, sending, striking, thrusting, driving out, or expelling—all rather forceful terms. It seems to be difficult for some of us to believe that God considers worry or care a sin. So we may actually have to become spiritually violent about casting our care upon the Lord and abiding in the secret place of the Most High, under the shadow of the Almighty.

It literally took me years to be set totally free from the ¬burden of guilt and condemnation. I knew mentally and ¬spiritually that I had been made the righteousness of God in Christ because of what He had done for me on Calvary, but I still had a hard time accepting it and living in it emotionally. The devil kept attacking my feelings, making me feel guilty and condemned. I worried about my past—how could I ever overcome it? I fought against those thoughts for years until finally I got fed up. I told the devil, “No! I am not going to believe your lies! Jesus has made me the righteousness of God, and I have made up my mind that I am going to have what He died to give me!”

I knew from the Bible that I had been made right with God through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. I was doing my best to keep my mind set on all that Jesus had sacrificed for me. I confessed scriptures, but the enemy still attacked my mind and my feelings until there arose in me a holy anger that finally set me free.

I became angry enough to rise up against the principalities, powers, and wickedness in high places that tried to keep me from enjoying all the blessings God intended for me. Too often, we get mad at other people when our anger should be directed to the source of the problem—the devil and his demons.

Just as anger at Satan can be a form of righteous violence, so can casting our care on the Lord. We can resist Satan, worry and anxiety, and guilt and condemnation, until we get so fed up that we react with a holy anger. When he tries to force us to carry a burden of care, we can stop him in his tracks and say, “No! I will not carry that care. I am casting it upon the Lord!”

Every one of us has certain spiritual issues that must be settled once and for all. We need to cast on the Lord whatever issues we may have that hinder us from walking in the fullness of joy, peace, and rest the Lord intends for us.

Peter says to cast your cares on God. The Greek word translated care in 1 Peter 5:7 means “to draw in different directions; to distract.” Why does the devil give us care? His whole purpose is to distract us from our fellowship with God. When the enemy tries to lay problems on us, we have the privilege of taking those problems and casting them on God. If you throw them, God catches them and takes them away. God knows how to wipe away the cares that Satan lays on you.

God has provided two wonderful weapons you can use to overcome the devil’s plan. First, you humble yourself, turning yourself totally over to God. Then when the devil tries to burden you with worry or some other heavy load, you cast it on God—who is happy to take it away because He cares for you.

As I’ve thought about worry, I’ve also figured out that it’s an act of pride on our part. Those who worry still think they can solve their own problems. Isn’t that pride? Aren’t we saying, “I can work this out by myself”? Those who are proud or full of themselves still think they are strong and can defeat their problems themselves. The truly humble are those who know their weaknesses, but in their weaknesses, they know their strength is in Jesus Christ.

Paul understood that and wrote to the Corinthians: But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We fail God when we insist on shouldering our burdens instead of giving them to the Lord. Only God can deliver us, and He wants us to know that. In every situation, He wants us to first humble ourselves and then throw off the cares and worries the devil tries to lay on us. It is possible—in fact, it’s an order. I want to encourage you to place yourself totally into God’s hands and allow Him to be the Manager of your life.

Dear Lord Jesus, I thank You. Even before the problems come, You have told me how to defeat the enemy of my mind. You have also given me Your own example of defeating him. In Your name, Lord Jesus, teach me to humble myself and to cast all my cares and concerns on You. Amen.

From the book Battlefield of the Mind Devotional by Joyce Meyer.

Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape you, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.- 2 Peter 3:8

God moves in His timing, not yours. He is never late, but He is usually not early either. He is often the God of the midnight hour. He sometimes waits until the last second before He gives you what you need. Before He intervenes on your behalf, He has to be sure you are not going to take matters into your own hands and do something out of His perfect timing.

You must learn to trust God’s timing. But first your self-will and your spirit of independence must be broken so that God is free to work His will in your life and circumstances. If you are waiting for something, set aside your own timetable tonight. Trust God and believe that while you are waiting for your breakthrough, He is doing a good work in you for His purpose.

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer

To the end that through [their receiving] Christ Jesus, the blessing [promised] Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might [all] receive [the realization of] the promise of the [Holy] Spirit. – Galatians 3:14

I have written a great deal about the Holy Spirit and about being filled with the Spirit, and I want to make sure you have an opportunity to know the Holy Spirit in this way.

The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He will not force Himself into your life in His fullness uninvited. He will fill you, but only if you ask Him to do so. In Luke 11:13, Jesus promises that God will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. And James 4:2 tells us that the reason we do not have certain things is that we do not ask for them.

I encourage you to go boldly before God and daily ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit. Ask expecting to receive. Don’t be doubleminded or allow doubt to fill your heart, but ask in faith. Believe you receive, and thank God that He lives in you. God is not a man, that He should lie (see Numbers 23:19). He is faithful to fulfill His Word whenever anyone steps out on it in faith, so ask and receive that your joy might be full (see John 16:24).

Today’s verse says that we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Gifts cannot be forced on anyone; they must be offered by the giver and then received by those to whom they are given. God makes the offer of His Spirit, so all you need to do is relax and receive by faith.

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