Joyce Meyer - Facing the Impossible

Joyce Meyer: Well, we're so glad that you've joined us today, and we're gonna do something new and unique for our TV viewers. And so, I just wanna let you know that we're always looking for new ways to share God's Word and to help you apply it in your life. And many of you have been watching and listening to my podcast for years, and we appreciate that. Today, we share another of our podcasts with you, it's called, "Talk It Out". And you are invited to join this group of friends as an important part of the fun, and the impactful Bible study. I've had a lot of fun being a part of this and I think you will too. So, now, because Ginger normally hosts this show, I'm gonna turn it over to lovely Ginger.

Ginger: Well, thank you so much. This is really fun for us because we always get to pummel miss Joyce with our tough questions and ask her a lot of hard things. And this time, we get to do it the whole show. So, this is how the podcast always goes. Hi, welcome everyone, come on in, get comfortable because this is, "Joyce Meyer's Talk It Out podcast", where Joyce teaches the Word of God in her practical, no-nonsense way, and my lovely friends and i, talk about the real stuff of living it. And we don't hold anything back, we talk about all of it. I'm Ginger stache with Jai Williams, and Erin Cluley, we're three wonderful friends who are in very different stages of life, but we know the importance of having honest, loving women around us. When we need a little bit of extra help, we call up miss Joyce and we ask her, and like I said, today, we get her the entire time, she's all ours. Because sometimes, you need to talk about life with your girlfriends. So, consider yourself one of us now, definitely, and let's Talk It Out together.

Joyce Meyer: Okay.

Ginger: Welcome everyone.

Jai: Hello.

Ginger: We have loved, well, we've been doing this for over a year now, believe it or not.

Jai: Can't believe it.

Ginger: Yeah, and it's been so fun to have all of our friends, who are part of this Bible study, to be listening with us, and to just be able to share what we're learning in God's Words, and how our lives are changing. We've faced a lot of changes in this year that we've been doing this.

Erin: Jai and I were just talking, a little while ago, this morning, about how much we've seen God move in the past year, and how grateful we are to have these friendships right here, and how vital they've been for us. I mean, it's truly remarkable.

Ginger: Yeah.

Jai: It's definitely been a Godsend. Like, who knew that this year would be all it's been?

Ginger: Yeah, for everyone.

Jai: It's been a lot for everyone, you know? And so, I was just telling Erin like, seriously, I'm so grateful for this group of friends. I was like, we all loved each other before, but you know, being able to meet and talk about God's Word and just be really honest, and transparent, and also, having Joyce to be able to whip us into shape...

Joyce Meyer: I think it's good to hear. You know, reading the word, knowing the word, it's great, but if you don't apply it in your daily life, it's pretty well wasting your time. And so, it's interesting to see how everybody's got something going on, but it's all different. And different people apply the word in different ways depending on their situation. And so, I think the value of the, "Talk It Out show", other than just getting the word to people is, is that you know, there's a lot of different kinds of people watching but this gives them a variety of, "Oh, yeah, that's what I would do", or, "Oh, yeah. I can really relate to that". So, what are we gonna talk about today Ginger?

Ginger: Well, we are going to talk about something that God put on your heart really toward the end of 2019. And when that happened, none of us had any idea how vitally important it would be. And that is this promise: "That with man, it may not be possible, but with God, all things are possible". So, we're talking today, about facing the impossible, cuz we all do. We all face things in our life that we could say, with man, this is impossible. But I remember, Joyce, when you called me toward the end of last year and you said, "You know, this is what I really feel will be important for this year. This is the verse that I feel like God's putting on my heart". And I remember thinking, "Great", you know? That's encouraging, it's inspiring, but had no idea what it would all look like because this has been a year of a lot of impossible things.

Joyce Meyer: It's been a really challenging year, and to be honest, I'm like, "Wow, that's impossible", but, with God all things are possible. And I know like, the way we're able to share the Gospel with people is so different now. I mean, I was used to doing conferences and being there with the people, and you know, now everything is through screen, and it's a little bit different when you're talking to a camera rather than the people. So, I had to really believe God to be able to do that in a way that people would enjoy. So, we've all had our challenges in different ways, but I'm sure that you've got some particular things you want to talk about.

Erin: Always.

Ginger: Well, I would love to hear what everybody has dealt with in your life. What are some of those things that you have faced that have felt impossible at the time?

Jai: Well, I can start.

Erin: You jumped in pretty quick. Got it.

Joyce Meyer: Jump right in there.

Jai: Yes, because honestly, I mean, I've really just been living by the whole, "We overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony". And although, I'm still going through a lot of things, literally, walking through a lot of the things that have been pretty earth-shattering for me, you know, in this year. Like, I've faced a lot of things in my life, but this particular year, the enemy really attacked my family. And you know, I found out that my husband was unfaithful to me, and with that, it just shook me. You know, you go from being a virgin until marry and then, you know, then have something like that shake your whole foundation? That felt, it feels, and even still now, it still feels, with me alone, it's impossible. But thankfully, I do know that God is with me, and I know that all things are possible. And that possible, what I've leaned on is understanding that, that possible, might not be the picture that I think will be the manifestation of possible. I have to trust that God has an impossible, beautiful plan for my life, that's bigger and better than I could ever imagine.

Joyce Meyer: In situations like this, it's really important to have friends like this. This is a season for faith. Now really, we need faith every single day whether times are good or whether they're bad. God wants us to live by faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. And so, I just wanna share the definition of faith: faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So, faith, when you really have faith in your heart, you see something that you can't see with your natural eyes yet, and you believe for things sometimes, that don't even make any sense to your natural mind. And so, just before, you know, we get too far into this, I want everybody to realize that everything that we receive from God we receive by faith. Faith is not the price that buys it. It's the grace of God that buys our blessings. But faith is the hand that reaches out and receives what God wants to give us. So, whether you talk about faith, or trusting God, or believing God, they all kinda get the job done. And so, I wanted to get that in there before we go ahead and hear everybody's, cuz I think sometimes we forget that faith is important, and faith needs to be activated. And you activate it by... I've got a simple little formula: by praying, by saying, or by doing. You release your faith. It has to, it's a gift that God gives us. Unto every man is given the measure of faith, which means you have all the faith you need for your life.

Ginger: So, say that again, that's so important. So, when I don't know what to do to activate my faith or to be stronger in trusting God, to...

Joyce Meyer: You pray in faith. You ask God to get involved and help you. You say what you believe that God is going to do. You don't pray for God to say, change your husband, and then talk about him with your friends, like he's never gonna change. You know, or for your children, like, you know, I've got a child that so hard to raise, and so, you're praying for God to change 'em. But then, when you talk with other people, it's like, "This kid's driving me crazy, and I don't think he's ever gonna change.

Ginger: Right".

Joyce Meyer: So, we need to line our conversation up with what we're believing and then take action, whatever action that God shows you to take, and if there is none... You know, I love Ephesians 6, it says, "Having done all the crisis demands, you are to stand firmly in your place". So, but I don't wanna take up all the time here, which I'm good at doing.

Ginger: Oh, my goodness...

Erin: I love it when you talk about faith because I think a lot of us grew up hearing that you have faith as a Christian, but we don't often get the explanation of how to practically live that out. So, I can say all day long, "I have faith in God", and all that, but then I'm gonna go and turn and say, "But this is terrible. And my kid keeps doing this, or whatever," and I don't realize it but I'm deactivating that faith. So, I love hearing that teaching.

Joyce Meyer: Well, since we're trying to introduce the "Talk It Out show", to our viewing audience so they know to watch the podcast or listen to the podcast, and normally, I'm not always on the show, and I don't say this much. So, let's hear it, like it normally is.

Ginger: Well, the way we do this, actually we talk about everything from: don't wear a jumpsuit and wait too long to go to the bathroom because...

Erin: It's so bad.

Ginger: You'll be sorry, you can't get it...

Jai: Or a body suit, like a onesie.

Ginger: Exactly, yeah, to the major life things that happen in our life, like Jai was talking about. And we listen to the Word of God through joyce's teaching. So, let's do that right now. Let's take a listen to when Joyce is talking about what this scripture really means, "That with God all things are possible", and it will build hope in all of our lives.

Joyce Meyer: It's easy to say all things are possible with God but most of the time we think that means that we're just gonna sit back and do nothing and watch God do this big miracle. And I tell ya, that sounds so nice, but it's usually not the way that it happens. And here's the reason why we are partners with God. We have a part and he has a part. Our part is to believe, to be in faith, God's part is to do what we cannot do and our part is also to do anything God asks us to do, to cooperate with whatever it is that we are asking God to do for us. First of all, your first homework assignment for the rest of this year, James 4:2, says, "You have not, because you ask not". You have not because you ask not. If you ask in faith, God hears you. And unless you're asking for something that is absolutely not his will, you will receive it. Now, the Bible doesn't tell you when you'll receive it. It says, "Believe you have received it", Mark 11 does, "And you will get it". So, you have to believe that you've received it in the spirit, that it's on its way to you, and that you will get it, but you don't know exactly when you'll get it. That's why Hebrews says, "That we receive the promises of God by faith and patience".

Ginger: Did you really have to throw that last part in there?

Erin: Yeah, and it was a really tough one.

Ginger: The patience part, oh my. For me, and I know that we're all different in the areas where I think our faith is stronger and where we can kind of get worn down, and we need to study in those areas and build ourselves up... For me, physical things have been the areas where I've been like, "Oh, am I gonna make it through this"? You know, "Is God ever gonna answer this prayer"? "Why is my family member, that I love, still dealing with this? ""Why am I still feeling sick""," or whatever it may be? And for me, God has been showing me the most amazing physical answers to prayer lately, and it's building my faith in incredible ways. I mean, we have a grandbaby that is an outright miracle. My dad has been going through cancer treatment this past year, with very, very little hope. And God has done something astounding in his life, he's doing so well. And even, little things praying for just, sometimes you have to lay your hands on yourself and pray, you know, and quote the scripture that, by his stripes I'm healed, and seeing God work in those little ways have been so encouraging. God cares about everything. I even have a dog that should be dead and is still alive.

Erin: You've seen a lot happen.

Joyce Meyer: He shakes a little but he's alive.

Ginger: I didn't say he's perfect. He's pretty messed up but he's gotta few little tics and things, but I love him so much. And so, God, I think, has given me exactly what I didn't deserve but what he knew I needed, by building my faith in those areas. And it doesn't mean, everything I've prayed for I've gotten because I haven't. I've seen a lot of things that I still don't understand. But when you see God work your faith grows. It's like watering it, you know? The more you pray, the more you see God, the more you see happen, the more faith you have, and the whole cycle starts all over. So, those things that seem impossible, with him are not, with me, they are. So, it's encouraging to see even the hard times.

Erin: Yeah, it's been pretty neat this week. So, at the beginning of the week, I had some devastating news that I got. And my first thought was, "I'm so grateful I have this group of friends that I can talk to, cuz I'm going to need them to walk through this". Also, then I went to, "Come on, now God, like I've made all these right choices, why are you gonna put this upon me? Aren't we past all this stuff where I have to learn another lesson? I think I've gotten this". And I felt him say, like, "I've prepared you for this, you're strong enough so you can go through this. It's like, ""All right," that's cool. That's great". But then, I've been amazed by the faith that I've had because of, what you're saying. Like, I have seen God faithful in my life and I have seen him work in these circumstances, where I know I'm gonna have to walk through a difficult season, but I also know that all things are possible through him, and I will get through this because I know he's faithful. So, I can stand on the things that I've learned in his word. So, sorry friends.

Joyce Meyer: I keep thinking about the scripture that we briefly mentioned in James chapter 4 verse 2 about, you have not because you ask not. And I'm just wondering how many people (cuz I catch myself doing this and I preach this stuff all the time) how many people go all day with a headache and never think... You don't stop to ask God.

Ginger: What I have also really come to grips with, in this scripture, in this promise, is that with God all things are possible, but they're not always easy, right? So, it doesn't mean we're going to get everything that we want. It means that God will give us everything that he has for us, but it's not always going to be easy along the way. But what I love about this is, even though it's not easy, there is hope in it. There is always, always hope in it. Because with God all things are possible.

Joyce Meyer: You have two choices. You're either gonna believe God or you're not. And so, let's just say that I trusted in God and believed him and had faith in him my whole life, and got to the end and, "Oops, I was wrong. The whole thing was a myth", which is not gonna be the case, but I'm trying to make a point here. I still had a happier life and a better life by believing, because believing in nothing and being hopeless is awful. And so, anybody in any kind of a situation, everyday of our lives were making a choice between believing and not believing, having faith or having doubt. And so, it's just plain smart to believe, because like you said, it's gonna give you hope and it's gonna make you happier. It's gonna make you more peaceful. It's gonna make you easier to be around. And so, it's really kinda like a no-brainer, you know, far as like, "Am I gonna believe God or not"? It doesn't cost you anything to believe, and you could just slip into a miracle.

Ginger: You're so right. And when you look at the scripture possibilities that we can hold onto, Luke 1:37, "For nothing will be impossible with God", Jeremiah 32:17, "Ah, Lord God, it is you who've made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you". There's so many things that encourage us when we dig into God's Word. So, we're gonna take a listen to what a Joyce shared, one more time, on this topic, and then, we'll come back and we'll talk about it.

Joyce Meyer: Faith is in us, but we release it. When you pray, you're releasing your faith. If you're really praying in faith, you're releasing your faith, you're asking God to do something for you, you're admitting that you need his help. And Mark 11:23-26 says, "Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, 'be lifted up and thrown into the sea!' and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him".

Joyce Meyer: James 4:2 says, "You do not have because you do not ask". You know what? Get bold in your praying. Pray for things that just don't make sense to your mind, if you feel like God's leading you to do it. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I'm gonna share it with you anyway. Many years ago, I felt like God was prompting me to pray that I would be able to help every person on the face of the planet. And the devil said to me, "Who do you think you are? That's ridiculous. No one person can help every person on the planet". And I agree. But with God all things are possible, amen? We'll now, people can get the Gospel on their phone, on their computer, on television, on radio, on youtube. I mean, if you're anywhere in the world and you can get a signal, I'm likely to be there. I'll never forget the young man in his twenties, whose parents had just been begging him to straighten up his life and he wasn't listening to them. He wasn't paying any attention. He drank a lot, and he was leaned back in his... What do you call 'em? Recliners. In his recliner, drinking his beer, and he was two sheets in the wind, and he said, "So help me, you came on television and said, 'you there, young man, leaned back in your recliner drinking your beer'". He said, "It scared the living daylights out of me". And he said, "I threw that beer down and prayed for God to save me". God is working in ways that we do not realize that he is working in, all of our lives, all the time, and all he wants you to do is stir your faith up, right now, and believe that all things are possible with God. Amen?

Ginger: Yeah.

Erin: So good.

Ginger: Stir your faith up and believe it's all possible, cuz you're right, praying that now, to all of us who've seen what God has done through you, is like, well, of course, you know, that's what God had in mind. But when you started praying that, it had to seem like, are you kidding?

Joyce Meyer: There was no technology, none. So, it was like, I mean, I felt crazy even praying it, but I felt God wanted me to pray that, and so, I did.

Ginger: Well, I'm pretty sure that all of our friends who were watching and are part of our study right now, that things are popping into their head, where they're thinking, "This is what I should be trusting God for". This is what I need faith for because with God it's possible. You know, whether it's having a group of friends like this, you know, it's possible with God. We hear from people all the time, that say, I'm so glad I can be part of this because I need it. But, let us also encourage you, you know, don't think that God doesn't have friendships out there for you in real life. He does. We are your friends, we love being your friends, but maybe, you need to stop choosing who you want your friends to be and let God bring some friends into your life. And maybe it's finances, maybe it's the future, what other things do you think people need faith for today?

Erin: The list is so long, let me look in my book and pull all my pages.

Jai: You know what I was thinking about was like, even when you talked about some of the things that you've gone through, you know, this past year, I just remember being with you, when you were getting those blows. And what a lot of people don't know is like, literally, like, the enemy will attack right before a conference.

Joyce Meyer: Oh yeah.

Jai: And we would be preparing, or sound checking, or something, and for the past few years, like, it's just been for Ginger, like, I remember getting the blow about your grandbaby and then your dad, right before like, we started the conference. And in those moments, like, you were human and you would kinda like noodle down and like, just cry, and be like, God, I don't get this, and didn't know how it was gonna turn out. But then, what? Years later, we see little, you know, your little grandbaby like, so beautiful and so, you know, great. And I remember when you got the news about your dad, and now, knowing that he's, you know, getting better. It's just, you just don't know and when you get that bad news, you just really wanna fast forward to the happy ending, because that's what tv shows us, like that's what the movies show us, you know, is the happy ending in an hour. You know, and that's what we want but it's that process and so, I just even think about things like that. You just don't know how it's gonna end. But you have to trust that God's gonna do exceedingly, abundantly, above what we ask and think.

Ginger: You're right. We all take blows. You know, we get hit. And the other thing about that is right after, when you have something like that, you have to go on with your life. You know, we had to go on and have a conference, and get up on stage, and encourage people. And we need to be the kind of friends that are the strength for our friends. That's who you are all, have been for me, and we can be for each other. And there's just so much beauty in the fact that, it's "With God" all things are possible, not that "You" have to do all things and make them right. We're gonna talk more about this and so if you want to hear more, we're gonna stop for this show because we're running out of time. But if you want to catch up on the podcast, we're gonna talk more about this, so, there'll be a little bit more there. And it will be on our program that will be released Tuesday, October 13th. So, you can check out the, "Talk It Out" podcast. It's also, available on audio or video. So, there are a couple different ways that you can do it. Anywhere that podcasts are available, you can grab those, and we encourage you to please subscribe. We'd love to have you all here with us as much as possible. You can join our email list, so that you can find out more about when they're releasing and some of the fun behind-the-scenes things. But we have a really important offer for you that we want you to know that will help you right now. This is a free offer. We love giving you the Word of God. And it is called, "With God, all things are possible". This is an audio teaching from Joyce that you can get either as a physical cd or you can get it as a digital download. And like we said, it's absolutely free. So, build your faith, get into that scripture, see what God's Word says about what he wants to do for you. And we really want to just encourage everyone that whatever it is that has come to your mind that you feel like you need hope for, God is in the business of giving you that hope. And so, Joyce, I wanna ask you to close us out, here today, with a great encouragement for people who need it.

Joyce Meyer: Well, you know, it keeps getting stuck in my head, this thing about asking. And I really strongly wanna encourage you to begin to ask God for more than you ever have, and don't let the devil make you think that, "Well, you shouldn't be doing that". You know, God loves to hear your voice. He loves to hear your prayers. And so, just ask. And like we said, ask for bold things, and 'course you always have to be happy with what God gives you, believing that he knows better than you do, what you need. And that's true. So, I always ask God for big things, and tell him, "Your will be done. However, you wanna do it, you do this". And I wanna encourage you to become a regular viewer or listener to the, "Talk It Out" podcast. It's obviously, different than this tv show, which by the way, I want you keep watching it too. But it's a different way of getting the word into you that I think will be enjoyable for you. So, ask, believe that you've received, and you will get it. You will wait, but even that is possible with God. Thank you for being with us today.