Don’t expend all of your spiritual energy concentrating on yourself and getting your needs met. Tell God what you want simply and quickly then develop your faith to meet the needs of other people. Jesus would pray and seek the face of His Father in order to get built up to go out and meet the needs of all those people who went to his faith seminars.
Then He would preach the Word to them, lay hands on them, and they would receive miracles. He was not sitting off in the corner somewhere all the time trying to believe God for things that He wanted. You need to tell God what you want, but it just needs to be a matter of fact thing. The main desire of your life, though, should be to meet the needs of other people.
True prosperity, accurately defined, is the ability to use God’s ability to meet every need that comes before you. The love of God will give you the ability to put the needs of others first. Do you think God loves you enough to make you able to reach out and love those who are not too much fun to love—the grouchy, unappreciative ones?
It doesn’t take anything to love somebody who loves you. There is no trick to that. Any old sinner can do that. But when you love the unlovable, you press in and keep loving them, and you keep loving them, and you keep loving them. Then the love of God will change them.
It may take a year. It may take five years. It may take twenty-five years, but it is worth it. How long did Jesus wait for you?
God loves you, and He loves all those people all around you, too. Saved or sinner, He loves them, and He wants to use you as a channel to pour out His love.
Don’t be afraid to step out. God’s love is setting you free from fear and condemnation, and He has given you the ability to love. Be determined to spread God’s love around. Start just being friendly with people. Make it your business to be friendly and be a blessing to people in the Body of Christ.
Ask people over for dinner and have people come and visit you. Shake hands with people, smile. God has something for you to do. He wants to use you in ways that He can’t use any other creature on this earth.
There are people that only you could minister to. Nobody else could reach that person, but you. Ask God to show you ways to reach out with His love, and He will teach you.
God loves you!
(Tulsa: Harrison House, 1998) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Joyce Meyer is one of the world's leading practical Bible teachers. A New York Times bestselling author, her books have helped millions of people find hope and restoration through Jesus Christ. Through Joyce Meyer Ministries, she teaches on a number of topics with a particular focus on the mind, mouth, moods and attitudes. Her candid communication style allows her to share openly and practically about her experiences so others can apply what she has learned to their lives.
Joyce hosts a TV and radio show, Enjoying Everyday Life, which broadcasts worldwide to a potential audience of 4.5 billion people. She has authored 100 books, which have been translated into more than 100 languages. More than 12 million of her books have been distributed free of charge around the world, and each year millions of copies are sold.
Joyce conducts close to a dozen domestic and international conferences every year, teaching people to enjoy their everyday lives. For 30 years, her annual women's conference has attracted more than 200,000 women from all over the world to St. Louis for specifically themed teachings by her and guest speakers.
Through her teachings, God has provided opportunities to meet the needs of the suffering and bring the Gospel in a practical way. Joyce's passion to help hurting people every day is foundational to the vision of Hand of Hope, the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. These outreaches around the globe include feeding programs, medical care, homes for orphans, and programs combatting human trafficking. In her hometown of St. Louis, Joyce and Dave, her husband, founded the St. Louis Dream Center (SLDC) in 2000. The SLDC serves the inner city through hands-on programs targeted at reaching the lost and hurting with the love of Christ.
Over the years, God has provided Joyce with many opportunities to share her testimony and the life-changing message of the Gospel. Having suffered sexual abuse throughout her childhood, as well as just dealing with the struggles of everyday life, Joyce discovered the freedom to live victoriously by applying God's Word to her life and in turn desires to help others do the same.
Joyce is and continues to be an incredible testimony of the dynamic, redeeming work of Jesus Christ.