© 2007 by Joyce Meyer
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First eBook Edition: April 2007
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Contents
Copyright
Introduction
1: Lord, Teach Me
2: The Simple Privilege
3: Just Like Breathing
4: The Power of Prayer
5: Praise, Worship, and Thanksgiving
6: Consecration and Commitment
7: Petition and Perseverance
8: Intercession and Agreement
9: The Word and the Spirit
10: Keys to Powerful Prayer
11: Above All
12: Fourteen Hindrances to Answered Prayer
13: Sure Victory in Prayer
14: Staying Strong through Prayer
In Closing . . .
Notes
About the Author
Introduction
If someone asked me, “Joyce, if you could make only one comment about prayer, what would it be?” I would have to respond by talking about its simplicity. I have been praying for many, many years and I can say a great deal about prayer, but if I could only emphasize one thing, I would tell people that it is so much easier than we think.
As God began to teach me to pray, I was surprised to learn that He has not made prayer complicated, but that it really is simple. Sometimes people make prayer dry and difficult; sometimes our religious mind-sets and “systems” present prayer in such a way that it seems out of reach for many of us. I tell you the truth when I say that God desires our prayer lives to be natural and enjoyable. He wants our prayers to be honest and heartfelt, and He wants our communication with Him unencumbered by rules, regulations, legalism, and obligation. He intends for prayer to be an integral part of our everyday lives—the easiest thing we do each day.
I suspect many people pray much more than they know and that they have more effective and successful prayer lives than they realize. They do not always recognize when they are praying because they have been taught that prayer requires a certain environment, a certain posture, a certain form, or that it must strictly adhere to certain principles. Prayer is simply talking to God. The truth is that we can pray anytime, anywhere—even just directing a thought toward God qualifies as silent prayer.
Whether you have been praying for years, are just learning to pray, have hit a “slump” in your spiritual life, or simply want your prayer life to improve, know this: God wants you to learn to pray more effectively and He wants your prayer life to be more fulfilling. Because you have opened this book, I am sure that something inside you wants to increase your intimacy with God through prayer. I believe you know that prayer is powerful, and that you long to see its tremendous power released in your life, the lives of those you love, and the situations that concern you.
Short, simple prayers can be mighty beyond description, but that does not take away from the fact that prayer is also a grand mystery. Watchman Nee, a Chinese Christian who wrote many profound books while imprisoned for his faith, writes, “Prayer is the most wonderful act in the spiritual realm, as well as a most mysterious affair.”1 I believe the greatest mystery of prayer is that it joins the hearts of people on earth with the heart of God in heaven. Prayer is spiritual and it goes into the unseen realm; it brings things out of that unseen realm into the realm we can see and into the world around us, right where we live. It ushers spiritual blessings into our natural, everyday lives and brings spiritual power to bear on our earthly circumstances. We human beings are the only creatures in our known universe who can stand in the natural realm and touch the spiritual realm. When we pray, we connect with that spiritual realm, which is where God is, and which affects our daily lives more than we often realize.
The fact that we want to pray—and that we believe that our prayer lives can be better—is evidence that we know the spiritual realm exists and that we believe what happens there affects what happens on earth. It proves that we know deep in our hearts that there is more to life than meets the eye and we value the things that are invisible more than the things we can see, just as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:18: “We consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.” When we understand that there are invisible, everlasting spiritual realities that affect our earthly lives, we long to comprehend those things. We begin to perceive that God is inviting us to interact with Him, to perceive things spiritually and to partner with Him to accomplish them on earth—and that only happens through prayer.
I like to say that prayer opens the door for God to work. As we partner with God in the spiritual realm through prayer, we bring things out of that realm into our lives, into our world, into our society, and into the lives of other people. These things that come from heaven, these gifts of God, are already stored up for us, but we will never have them unless we pray and ask God for them. He has put together so much for us in the unseen realm; He is doing such wonderful things for us, things we cannot see with our natural eyes or perceive with our natural minds—and we receive and enjoy those things through the power and the privilege of prayer. The Bible says that “eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed]” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Prayer is part of an obedient lifestyle. The Bible says that we do not have certain things because we do not ask God for them (see James 4:2), and part of the great mystery of prayer is that He requires us to ask for what He already has in store for us. God—who is sovereign and can do anything He wants to do, anywhere, anytime, any way He wants to do it, and does not need anyone’s permission—wants us to ask Him. He has set in motion a spiritual law, which He Himself abides by, that says He will not do anything on earth unless someone prays and asks.
God has always said to His people and is still saying to us: “You and I are partners. You are My body in the earth today.” What does that mean? We are His body; we call ourselves “the body of Christ.” Jesus Christ does not have an earthly body anymore. We are the representation of Who He is and what He does on earth. We are His mouth, His hands, His feet, His face. We are the ones who express His heart, demonstrate His love, and reveal His power to those around us. And so, we need to pray. We need to access the wisdom and the resources of heaven for ourselves and for others. We need to partner with God so that His purposes will come to pass in our lives and in the lives o
f those around us.
I believe you will find within these pages some extremely helpful encouragement for your prayer life. Everything in this book is related to prayer; not everything is necessarily specifically about prayer, but it pertains to developing and maintaining an easy, fulfilling, effective, never-ceasing lifestyle of communion with God.
I encourage you to begin this book by asking God to teach you to pray more effectively, and I pray that He will use these pages to help answer that request. As you go along, you will find out how to pray as an individual before God, free to express yourself to Him in ways that are natural and that suit the unique person He has called and created you to be. You will realize that prayer is not only an enormous privilege, but that it is indeed much simpler than many people think. You will discover how to uncomplicate your prayer life and understand how to be set free from any preconceived notions that prayer has to subscribe to any “rules” or that it must sound a certain way. In addition, I hope simple prayer will become so much a part of your daily life that you will be liberated from ever again feeling that praying is something you have to do, but something you can look forward to and enjoy.
I will also share with you that prayer is as easy as breathing and help you learn how to develop a lifestyle of prayer—praying all the time, everywhere you go, in the midst of your daily routine. As you read this book, you will be reminded of the awesome power of prayer, which is unlike anything else known to man, and you will be encouraged to experience its power in your everyday life, in your ordinary circumstances. As you read about the many aspects of prayer, you will learn that different seasons and situations of life call for different kinds of prayer—and you will learn about those various types of prayer so that your effectiveness in prayer will increase.
As a quick preview, here’s an example: you will discover that simply saying “Thank You, God” is a type of prayer when you realize you could have been in a car accident, had you reached an intersection one minute sooner. Other types of prayer about which I will share include: consecrating your life to God, committing your problems to His care, asking God for what you need and want, persisting in prayer until an answer comes, interceding for others, agreeing with others in prayer, praying the Word of God and praying in the Holy Spirit. In addition, you will discover and begin to understand the keys to effective prayer—some of the heart attitudes that pave the way for your prayers to be answered. Finally, I will address fourteen hindrances to answered prayer so that you will know what to avoid if you want your prayers to be successful. All in all, I have endeavored to present you with not only a thorough look at prayer, but also with teaching that will really help you as you pray.
I believe you are reading this book because you really want to know your prayers make a difference, you want to see God’s power at work in your life and the lives of those around you, you want to enjoy your communication with God and grow in your relationship with Him. I assure you, that’s exactly what He wants too and He is eager to help you. Be blessed as you embark on this journey toward more intimate, more exciting, more effective prayer!
—Joyce Meyer
1
Lord, Teach Me
I want to ask you a question: do you believe your prayers are really making a difference? Think about it: deep in your heart, do you ever wonder if God is hearing you when you pray? When you finish praying, are you convinced that your prayers have accomplished something? Are you satisfied with your prayer life? Do you really know how to pray? Are you longing for a deeper, richer, more dynamic relationship with God through prayer?
If you are like thousands of others I have encountered in more than thirty years of ministry, you are saying, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” As I have traveled and interacted with people, I have discovered that people really want to pray; they want to know that God hears their prayers and that their prayers are being effective. People want to grow in their prayer lives and to see their prayers become more powerful as they pray for others and for themselves. In fact, a 2005 survey of more than eight hundred pastors in the United States revealed that only 16 percent say they are “very satisfied” with their prayer lives. That leaves an overwhelming 84 percent who feel their prayer lives could definitely be better. Like the pastors in the survey, there are countless others who are not satisfied with their prayer lives.1 They are not sure God is really listening when they talk to Him; they do not understand why some prayers seem to go unanswered; they wonder if they are praying “right” or praying enough. They are generally frustrated in their prayer lives, eager to know what to do to feel more connected with God and to gain confidence that their prayers really do make a difference. If ministers feel this way, what must their congregations say?
One of the most important, most life-changing prayers a person can ever utter is: “Lord, teach me to pray.” It is not just, “Lord, teach me to pray,” but, “Lord, teach me to pray.” You see, knowing about prayer is really not enough; we have to know how to pray as individuals who are in an intimate, dynamic personal relationship with the God to whom we pray. Although there are principles of prayer that apply to everyone, we are individuals and God will lead each of us individually. I attended many “prayer seminars,” and then attempted to duplicate in my prayer experience what I heard others say about their own prayers. Eventually, though, I realized God had a personalized plan for me—a way for me to communicate most effectively with Him—and I needed to say, “Lord teach me to pray.”
I believe many people today are asking the same questions Jesus’ disciples asked almost 2000 years ago: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Even though they spent a great deal of up-close and personal time with Him, listening to Him, learning from Him, and watching Him work miracles, they still felt the need for His instruction on prayer. The disciples went to Jesus as a group asking Him to teach them to pray, but as I made that same request as an individual, God answered me in a powerful way and brought wonderful improvements to my prayer life.
For example:
• I have moved from praying panic-based, carnal, soulish prayers (prayers that come from a person’s mind, will, or emotions) to praying Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, faith-based prayers.
• I no longer focus primarily on prayers for my “outer life” (my circumstances, the activities I am involved in, the things that happen around me). I now pray for my inner life (the condition of my heart, my spiritual growth, my attitudes, and my motives). As God has taught me to pray, I have learned that my job is to pray to be strengthened internally and to ask Him to help me live out of a pure heart from the right motives; and His job is to take care of the externals.
• I have gone from laboring and striving to pray for five minutes every few days to enjoying—and actually personally needing and wanting—beginning my day with prayer, then to praying throughout the day as things come to my heart, and finally ending my day communicating with the Lord as I fall asleep.
• I have moved from a sporadic, irregular prayer life to regular times of prayer that are disciplined without being legalistic.
• Where I once thought I was fulfilling an obligation to God by praying, I now realize that I absolutely cannot survive a day and be satisfied and content if I do not pray. I realize that prayer is a great privilege, not a duty.
• I no longer approach God in fear, wondering if He will really hear me and send an answer to my prayers. I now approach Him boldly, as His Word teaches me to do, and with great expectation.
I believe if you will ask God to teach you to pray too, that you will also experience great changes in the way you pray, increased effectiveness in your prayers, tremendous satisfaction in your relationship with God, and a refreshing freedom and enjoyment in prayer.
In this book, I will provide you with a substantial amount of teaching on prayer. I hope you will learn from these insights, but I know that God is the only one who can take this information and cause it to spring to life so that prayer becomes exhilarating, exciting, and effective for you. I am praying a
nd believing that He will do that for you in an incredible, life-changing way.
God is the only one who can
take this information and cause
it to spring to life so that prayer
becomes exhilarating, exciting,
and effective for you.
God will take the biblical information I will be sharing and help you apply it in ways that will be just right for you, your personality, and the particular season you are in at this time in your life. For example, a mother with four very young children may not be able to spend the first hour of each day praying. She has many duties to attend to and some of them won’t wait. She is in a season of her life that won’t last forever and God will lead her to pray in ways that work for her during that time. She can begin her day with prayer and pray throughout the day, but not necessarily in the same manner as a woman who no longer has children at home and can make her own time schedule.
I remember attending a prayer seminar and listening to an elderly woman speak about how she prayed every morning from five to nine. She had been doing that for many years and had the grace from God to do so. I did not yet understand the special abilities that God gives each of us, so I went home determined to do the same thing she did. All I did was get bored and sleepy after about the first fifteen minutes! Through that experience and others like it, I learned that we cannot compare our prayer lives with those of other people. We are all unique and God has a unique plan for each of us. The Bible teaches us that He gives each of us grace to do something and we should do whatever that is with our whole heart. The woman at the prayer conference had the grace from God to pray for hours each day. Similarly, I have grace to study for a very long time because I am called as a teacher in God’s kingdom. I encourage you to be all you can be, but don’t try to be what only someone else can be. God will never help you be anyone but you!