Joyce Meyer - Why Doesn't God Give Me What I Want? (08/24/2019)
Joyce Meyer tackles the common frustration of why God doesn’t just give us what we want when we want it, showing that the real key is building a habit of faith—choosing to believe God’s Word and love no matter what. Drawing from Romans 1:17 and Hebrews 4, she explains how faith leads us from faith to faith into God’s rest, trusting His wisdom and timing even when answers are delayed or different. True peace comes from believing in Him, not just believing for things, replacing fear and worry with confident trust.
Developing the Habit of Faith
The last thing I want to talk to you about today is the habit of faith. You say the habit of faith—I want to tell you something. Believing, just simply deciding that you are going to believe God, that you are going to believe His Word, that you are going to believe that He loves you, believe that He has taken care of you—just deciding to believe does such amazing things in your soul.
The Bible says in Hebrews 4 that those who have believed do enter the rest of God. There are a lot of things the Bible tells us not to strive over, but it does tell us to strive to enter the rest of God. So that means in every situation that I am in, the best way that I can get relief from worry, anxiety, fear, tension, stress, or anything else is just to believe.
Maintaining Confidence in Ministry
I had to learn to do that even when I am preaching. Sometimes I would be preaching and somebody would be fidgeting around, looking at their watch, yawning, two or three people would get up and leave, and all of a sudden I would start thinking, oh, this message must be terrible. They do not like my preaching. And I mean, I would just start going down the drain.
God began to show me, if you do not maintain your confidence when you are in that pulpit, you are going to give the meeting to the devil. You have to be confident. You cannot wait to feel confident. You have to be confident.
From Faith to Faith
The Bible says in Romans 1:17 that in the Word, in the Gospel, there is a righteousness revealed that leads us from faith to faith to faith. If you guys have it, can you put up Romans 1:17 for us so everybody can see this?
In the Gospel there is a righteousness revealed. For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith, disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith. I love that.
So, in the Bible there is a righteousness, a right standing with God that is revealed. If you do not know that right standing with God, you are not going to be able to have this kind of faith. Because you are going to think that everything in your life is dependent on you. But it is not. It is all dependent on the grace of God coming to you. You receive that grace through faith.
Receiving Forgiveness and Grace
If you have sinned, you do not have to do something to pay back now for your sin. What you need to do is say, I believe that God will forgive me if I ask Him. I receive that forgiveness. There is no condemnation. Because the Bible says there is no condemnation. God still loves me. I am still right with God.
That enables you to just have faith that everything is going to work out right in your life.
Believing Even When Answers Don’t Come
You say, well, what happens if I believe for something and I just do not get it? Well, then keep believing anyway. Just keep believing. Just say, I am not going to stop believing. I may not get it the way that I want it. I may not get it the way that I thought it was going to be. But I am going to keep believing.
I do not have to believe for something—I need to believe in somebody. There is a difference. We have always got this thing that we are believing for. Well, you know what? There is a faith that is so much greater than believing for something, and it is a faith that believes in someone, especially when you do not get the thing that you are expecting to get.
Trusting God’s Wisdom
Come on, we need to understand that God is smarter than we are, and He knows better than we do what we need. Thank God that He will not give us what we want but will make us wait until we are smart enough to receive what He says is going to be the best for us.
When you trust God... Listen, I ask God for all kinds of stuff. A lot of my prayers are answered right away. Some of them are not. Some of the things I have asked for, I have never gotten, and I have seen other people get them. I just have to trust God. If that is what I was supposed to have, then You would have given it to me.
Avoiding Jealousy and Envy
Do not look at other people and be jealous. Do not look at other people and be envious. Just say to yourself, God loves me. I am in right standing with God. That righteousness has been revealed to me through the Word. God would never hold out on me because I am the apple of His eye. He has His eye on me all the time. He would not hold out on me. He would not keep any blessing from me.
Maybe you do not understand what God is doing right now. There were a lot of things I did not understand what God was doing. But I look back now, and I understand it.
Living Forward, Understanding Backward
Sadly, we live life forward, but we understand it backward. When we are going toward things, we are like, what is going on? I do not understand. This makes no sense. This is so hard. Then you get over here, and it is like, oh my gosh. If I had not gone through that, I would not be the person that I am today. If I had not gone through that, I would not know what I know today.
So, here is the thing that we have got to do. While we are over here living life forward, we say, I believe. I believe. I believe. I do not care how I feel. I believe. I do not care what it looks like. I believe.
Entering God’s Rest Through Faith
I trust that God has taken care of me. I know that I am God’s child, and I am going to live from faith to faith to faith to faith to faith to faith. Faith is going to become a habit in my life.
You know what happens when you have the faith habit? Then the fear habit cannot get in. The worry habit cannot get in. The anxiety habit cannot get in. The stress habit cannot get in. You know why? Because you have entered the rest of God.
You frankly do not care what God does or when He does it because you know that His timing will be perfect and whatever He does will be 100% right. Come on, give God praise. From faith to faith to faith to faith to faith to faith to faith to faith.