Joyce Meyer - The Mystery of Prayer - Part 1

TOPICS: Prayer

Well, welcome to Enjoying Everyday Life. Thank you for joining us. I always appreciate it when I’m sharing the word if there’s somebody on the other end listening. I’m going to talk today about something that is important to all of us and something that we need to be reminded of every once in a while. I want to talk to you about prayer. In particular today, I want to discuss the mystery of prayer. I want to start with James 5:16, the last half of the scripture. It says, «The earnest, heartfelt, continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available, dynamic in its working.»

Now, I think it’s best not to rush through that. So, I want to slow down a few words here and have you think about them. The earnest. Our prayers need to be really sincere, heartfelt. They need to come from our heart. Continued. Sometimes we have to pray for a while about something. Prayer of a righteous man and good news. A righteous man is not someone who’s perfect, but someone who is in Christ. Because the Bible says that He who knew no sin became sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

So we’re not righteous in ourselves. We’re not righteous in our behavior, but we are righteous in Christ. And as He works with us, the Holy Spirit works with us. Because we are righteous, we begin to do more things right. Over a period of time, we do change and change and change, and we’re not going to reach perfection where we never sin as long as we’re in this fleshly body. But we can definitely thank God that He has made us right with Him.

Well, what is prayer? Well, Watchman Nee says prayer is the most wonderful act in the spiritual realm as well as a most mysterious affair. Interesting. Prayer really is a mystery. I’ll tell you throughout today why I think it is. Prayer is a privilege. It’s not an obligation. It’s not a have to. I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t want to, when you realize what’s available to you if you do pray. Vine’s dictionary says prayer is to ask, to make a request, to beseech, to call to one’s aid, a wanting, a need, and then an asking. I wonder how many times we wish for something but never get around to asking.

I like to lie in bed in the evenings and watch TV. But a lot of times when I lay down, I fall asleep. If I sleep too long, then it affects me going to sleep when it’s actually time to go to sleep. I have probably wished a thousand times, «I wish I could stay awake at night. I wish I could stay awake when I go in there.» But I prayed about it yesterday, and last night I didn’t get sleepy at all. I thought that’s so amazing. All the times I’ve wished but never asked. The Bible says in James 4:2, «You have not because you ask not.» That is one of my favorite scriptures on prayer. Very simple. You have not because you ask not. The Webster’s Second New College Dictionary says it’s to require or to make a demand. Now, that sounds funny because we’re not going to God with an attitude of demanding.

But the point here is that we’re making a demand on what is already ours. You see, Jesus has already died. He’s already paid the price for all of our blessings. He’s paid the price for us to have joy and peace and to be right with Him and has paid the price for us to be blessed in life. But there are some things that we need to do to take advantage of those blessings. It would be like if you knew you had a bank full of money and you took a check there; you’re making a demand on what is already yours. There will be untold blessings remaining in our account when we get to heaven because we simply never ask. We did not make a demand on what was already ours. What would be the point in being a billionaire and living like a pauper because you never went to the bank to cash a check? So, you need to start cashing your prayer checks and asking God for what you want and need. You have not because you ask not.

James 4:2. Let me read you the whole scripture. «You are jealous and you covet what other people have.» That means you want what other people have. «Thou shalt not covet» is actually the 10th commandment. And your desires go unfulfilled. So, you become murderers because to hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned. Now, you may think, «Well, I don’t hate anybody.» But God is talking about in comparison to loving people. When we see someone who has something that we really want but don’t have, sometimes our attitude toward them can be one of jealousy or dislike. You burn with envy and anger, and you’re not able to obtain the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek. So, you fight and you war. You have not because you ask not.

And what happens if we don’t ask? We end up trying to get things ourselves. We have to trust God to give us the things that He wants us to have at the right time and in the right way. Why pray? Isn’t God all-powerful? Doesn’t He already know everything? Why does He not work until we pray? If He already knows everything, why must we tell Him? Being Almighty, why doesn’t He act directly? Why does He need our prayers? Now, I want to just preempt a lot of what I’m going to say by saying this: God obviously can do anything He wants to anytime He wants to, but He has a principle of trying to partner with His people if at all possible.

Now, sometimes you may receive something from God, and you don’t know it, but somebody else has prayed for you. God can even put you on people’s hearts that don’t really even know you closely. Or God may do something for you just because He wants to. But generally, I think we miss a lot because we don’t partner with God in the work that He’s trying to do. We just sit back and expect God to do everything, and we won’t even bother to pray. Why is it only those who knock the door opened? And why is it that only those who seek find and why is it that only those who ask receive? Matthew 7:7 says, «Keep on asking, and it will be given to you. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking reverently, and the door will be opened unto you.»

So, you see, sometimes you’ve got to keep it up a little bit. You’ve got to show a little determination and let God. Sometimes I tell God, «I’m not going to be quiet until I get what Your word says I can have.» That doesn’t always mean something material. Matter of fact, it shouldn’t usually mean something material. If you look at the prayers of the Apostle Paul, he never prayed for one material thing for the people. He always prayed spiritual things for them. «May you be strengthened with all might and power in the inner man through the Holy Spirit indwelling your innermost being and personality.» He prayed for them to have revelation.

He prayed for them to know what was excellent to prize that-to put that first and many things. He prayed for the church on a regular basis. He loved them, and I’m sure that they were part of his everyday prayers. But I can’t find any place where he said, «Give him a new camel. Give him a new donkey.» You know, that just wasn’t what he prayed for. Not that it’s wrong to ask God for things. If you need something, ask Him. But it is important not to just get greedy in your prayers. Why doesn’t God just do His own will without requiring us to knock, seek, and ask? Well, that’s the mystery. I guess I find that to be the mystery of prayer — that God needs me to ask before He will act.

The mystery is that God’s children must pray before God will work. He has chosen, even though He’s sovereign and can do anything He wants to, He has chosen. Normally, His principle is that God works with His children. Sometimes, you’ll just have somebody on your heart, or let’s just say it’s somebody and they just kind of stick there. You think about them four, five, six times that day. Don’t ever let that pass you by without praying for them. Or maybe God wants you to call them and encourage them. But He definitely wants something if He keeps putting something on your heart over and over and over.

Matthew 18:18 is interesting. In the New King James Version, it says, «Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.» Now, you know that sounds like a lot of power to me. It’s pretty amazing the power that God has invested in His children. He’s the head, we’re the body. We should always follow His leading. But it is important that we do our part. And prayer is our part. Mark 1:35 says that Jesus got up before daylight and went to a quiet, set-apart place by Himself to pray. You know as well as praying anytime, anywhere, about anything and praying your way through the day, because the Bible says to pray without ceasing. So that means we can just pray as we go along.

I strongly encourage you to also have a set-apart time of prayer, and morning is best if at all possible. It’s better to get God working in your behalf than to wait for the devil to tempt you or for your own flesh to get in your way. But I like the amplified translation of Matthew 18:18. It says, «Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven.» So, He’s saying that you can’t just call down anything you want. It has to be according to God’s will. And whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven.

I think something we need to learn to do is not just rush right into time with God and just start praying. I think we need to be quiet for a little bit. Quiet our heart. Ask God if there’s any sin in our life that we need to repent of. David even prayed that God would forgive him for unconscious sins. I do that quite often because the Bible says that we are not to sin in thought, word, or deed. I find it hard to think that anybody could get through a whole day and not have one wrong thought or say one wrong word. So, I’m going to ask God to forgive me for what I know about and maybe what He sees that I don’t see.

I think it’s important to realize that prayer is serious business and to think about what you’re going to pray about and to get a sense of what the Holy Spirit wants you to pray about because the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God. The Holy Spirit knows what God would like to use you to pray about. If you quiet yourself and listen, He’ll put that on your heart. Just take a little more time and don’t be in such a hurry. Don’t ever have the attitude that you want to just pray and get this over with and just pray out of obligation. My goodness, what a privilege to be able to go to the God of the whole universe and to ask Him for anything that we believe is His will for us. It’s amazing: binding and loosing. To bind means to hinder, and to loose means to release. Think of what power God has entrusted to His children.

A train has power and can go places, but somebody has to lay the tracks for the train to run on. Well, prayer is a lot like that. God has things that He wants to do, but we need to lay down the tracks in order for Him to get those things done. Prayer is a blueprint for what God does. Matthew 6:10 says, «Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.» Part of what we call the Lord’s Prayer. The disciples said, «Teach us to pray.» One of the things He said is, «Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.» So it kind of goes back to Matthew 18:18, bringing. See, we have the power through Christ to bring the will of heaven down to earth. Your will be done on earth even as it is in heaven. My goodness, how wonderful it is to be able to partner with God by praying.

As believers, we are asked to put His will into our hearts and thoughts, and then we are to pray His will in the earth so it can be released from heaven. We don’t know why, but God has determined that normally He will not act independently. Always remembering He can. He’s sovereign. He can do whatever He wants to, but there’s no telling how many people God has praying for you. You know, I’ve thought about my life often and why I became a teacher of the word. I would have been the last likely candidate, and somebody had to be praying for me with the mess I was in and the abuse in my life. I was sent to church with some neighbors to a Lutheran Sunday school when I was a little kid. I think that did have some effect on me. But it wasn’t because my dad believed in going to church. They were just trying to get me out of the house, I think.

I didn’t have much training, but I had a grandfather who prayed all the time. He was a little round guy, so sweet. He ended up with stomach cancer. Back then, cancer was pretty much unheard of, and he did die from that. I remember sitting by his bedside and reading him his Bible. He always sat in a rocking chair, had his Bible in his lap, and prayed and read that Bible all day long. For all I know, he’s the one that prayed me into the pulpit. But somebody obviously prayed for me. 1 John 5:14 and 15 says, «This is the confidence.» I love that: the assurance, the privilege of boldness, which we have in Him. We are sure that if we ask anything, make any request according to His will, in agreement with His own plan, He listens to and hears us.

I think sometimes we believe that God can do something, but we’re just not sure He’ll do it for us. By thinking like that, you’re basically saying, «I don’t believe that my works are worth God doing that for me.» But God doesn’t do things for you because of your works. He does them because of His grace. All He wants you to do is have the nerve or the boldness to ask. Hebrews 4:15 and 16 are wonderful scriptures. It says we have a high priest who understands our weaknesses and our infirmities because He’s been tempted just like we have in all respects yet without sinning. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of His grace and ask for what we need in plenty of time to get the need met.

Well, you need to open that up and study it. Hebrews 4:15 and 16 says to come boldly to the throne. Now, that doesn’t mean with an irreverent attitude, but some of you just aren’t praying boldly enough. You’re praying little weak, wimpy prayers. «Well, God, if You’ll just do this, and I know I don’t deserve it, but if You’ll just do this.» No, you go in Jesus' name. When you go in Jesus' name, you’re putting before the Father everything that Jesus is and has done, not what you are and what you have done, but what He has done. Think of that. The name of Jesus is above every name. At the name of Jesus, every knee must bow in heaven, on the earth, and under the earth. We have power of attorney in Jesus' name.

And since we positively know that He listens to us, do you believe when you pray that God listens to you? Yeah. I don’t know; somebody might say, «I don’t know.» Well, do you believe He hears? Of course, He hears. Well then, He hears you. And He not only hears you, but He listens. He listens to us in whatever we ask. We also know with settled and absolute knowledge that we have granted to us as our present possessions the requests made of Him. So it can be mine in spirit before it’s mine materially. In Mark 11, it says that when you ask, you will receive. Believe that you have received, and you will get it. I love that you believe first that you’ve received it and that it’s on its way, and you will get it, but God doesn’t tell you when you’ll get it.

It may be two days, it may be ten years. So that’s like our testing time of faith. During that time, you just keep saying, «God, I believe You’re working in my life.» Well, what happens when we think that we’re praying God’s will, but our prayers are not answered the way we prayed? Well, obviously, without question, we have either not prayed God’s will, or the answer has not been released because it is not the right time. But the fault is never with God. You ask God for things and fail to receive. James 3 says because you ask with wrong purpose and evil selfish motives. Your intention is when you get what you desire to spend it on sensual pleasures.

Well, let’s just say that you’re praying for more income. You have enough to live on. You have a comfortable life, but you’re praying for God to increase your income. What do you plan to do with it? Are you going to buy some other trinket that you don’t need? Or will you use a good portion of it to give to support the preaching of the gospel, to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and all the things that God says we should do? You know, I personally still believe in tithing. I don’t think it’s a law. I don’t do it because I have to, but I do it because I want to. I think if they could tithe under the law, what should I be doing by grace? So, I would suggest that you don’t get stuck at that 10% number but give as much as you can and help as many people as you can.

To be honest, I love to give something away every day if I can. Most of us have enough stuff lying around that we can do it. You ask God for things and fail to receive because you’ve asked with wrong purpose and evil selfish motives. Or you ask God and yet fail to receive because you ask with wrong purpose and evil selfish motives. Your intention is when you get what you desire to spend it on sensual pleasures. Then Matthew 7:9-10 are interesting scriptures. It says, «What man is there of you, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will hand him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent?»

So God is making the point that when you ask for something, He’s going to give you something good. He’s not going to give you something bad. Let me turn it around a different way for a minute. However, I think sometimes we ask for a stone thinking it’s bread or we ask for a serpent thinking it’s fish. In other words, we ask for what we really think we need, but it’s really not what we need. Matter of fact, it’s something that if God gave it to us, it would hurt us. Many times, we may be confused about why we didn’t receive something, but it wouldn’t have been the best thing for us. I love when I pray, unless I’ve got scripture and verse to back up what I’m praying for, I love to pray, «God, please don’t give it to me if it’s not your will».