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

by Joyce Meyer

Overview

Effective October 1, 2002, Joyce Meyer's bestselling backlist is available exclusively from Warner Faith. And look for the first of several new major books from Joyce beginning in April 2003.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446549103
Publisher:	FaithWords
Publication date:	11/16/2008
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	130,934
File size:	747 KB

Read an Excerpt

The Joy of Believing Prayer

Deepen Your Friendship with God

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By Joyce Meyer

Harrison House

Copyright © 2001 Joyce Meyer
All right reserved.
ISBN: 1577944461

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Chapter One

God's 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

For 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 don't 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 yet caught up in our own works concerning prayer. Sometimes we try to pray so long, loud, or fancy that we lose sight of the tact 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 he 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 comes straight out of the heart and goes straight to the heart of God.

God's 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 men-extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers-or 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 pretentiouslv, 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 people's 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 don't have to be perfect or eloquent or long. Keep them simple and full of faith.

We receive the grace of God by humbling ourselves before Him, casting all our cares upon Him, and trusting Him to take care of them as He has promised in His Word.

Continues...

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Excerpted from The Joy of Believing Prayer by Joyce Meyer Copyright © 2001 by Joyce Meyer. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Part 1	Simple, Believing Prayer	9
	Humble Prayer	11
	Authority Through Prayer	13
	The Habit of Prayer	15
	Pray Without Ceasing	17
	Prayer Produces Peace	19
	Prayer Produces Rest	21
	Prayer Produces Patience and Hope	23
	United or Corporate Prayer	25
	God Changes People Through Prayer	27
	We Are the Place of Prayer	29
Part 2	How to Pray Effectively	33
	Fervent Prayer	35
	The Prayers of a Righteous Man	37
	Short and Simple	39
	How Many Times Should I Pray?	41
	Believe God Hears You!	43
	Know God as Your Father	45
	Become a Friend of God	47
	Be Bold!	49
	Pray in the Spirit	51
	Pray and Fear Not	53
Part 3	The Types of Prayer	57
	The Prayer of Agreement	59
	The Prayer of Petition	61
	The Prayer of Praise and Worship	63
	The Prayer of Thanksgiving	65
	The Prayer of Intercession	67
	The Prayer of Commitment	69
	The Prayer of Consecration	71
	The Prayer of Silence	73
	The Prayer of Confession	75
	The Prayer of Rejoicing	77
Part 4	Why Prayer Isn't Answered	81
	People Don't Pray Boldly	83
	Iniquity in My Heart	85
	People Don't Pray in the Will of God	87
	Wrong Purpose and Motives	89
	Doubt and Unbelief	91
	Ingratitude	93
	Prayers Not Based on the Word	95
	Negative Confession	97
	Strife	99
	Unforgiveness	101
Part 5	Prayer in Jesus' Name	105
	His Name Takes His Place	107
	Jesus' Name Is Not Magic	109
	The Name of Jesus Is Power	111
	In Times of Crisis	113
	Obedience and the Name of Jesus	115
	To Use the Name, You Must Be "Married"!	117
	Exercising Authority in the Name	119
	Do Not Be Selfish With the Name	121
	Exceedingly, Abundantly Above and Beyond	123
	The Name of God Is I AM	125