The Power of Simple Prayer: How to Talk With God About Everything

by Joyce Meyer

  Not only that, but praise is a form of spiritual warfare. Praising God defeats the devil and the forces of evil (remember the story of Jehoshaphat). Singing or shouting praises can break the power of fear off us and help us to get rid of doubt and unbelief. It will drive away spirits that are not of God. For example, when the spirit of fear attacks us by giving us thoughts that make us afraid, we need to say something like, “I praise you, Lord, and I magnify Your name. You’re worthy to be praised. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. You’re awesome! There is nobody like You!” We can use those words of warfare anytime, anywhere. We can defeat Satan much more quickly by singing a song than by worrying. That’s why the Bible is loaded with examples of praise and with instructions and reasons for us to sing and praise God. Just look at some of them:

  • “Unto You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; for God is my Defense, my Fortress, and High Tower, the God Who shows me mercy and steadfast love”(Psalm 59:17).

  • “Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, praise Him in the assembly of His saints! Let Israel rejoice in Him, their Maker; let Zion’s children triumph and be joyful in their King! Let them praise His name in chorus and choir and with the [single or group] dance; let them sing praises to Him with the tambourine and lyre!” (Psalm 149:1–3).

  • “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4, NKJV).

  • “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9, NKJV).

  Why does the Bible tell us to sing and praise God? Why does Psalm 149:1 urge us to “sing to the Lord a new song”? Why did God put music in us? Why did He put songs in our hearts? Because there is power in praise.

  PRAISE BRINGS POWER

  You may know the story of Abraham, and if not, you can find it in Genesis 12:1—21:7. In a nutshell, God promised Abraham a son, but the problem was that Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were both old—really old. He was one hundred years old and she was ninety, so their childbearing years were long gone! But Abraham knew God had spoken and was determined not to focus on the natural impossibility that he and Sarah could have a child. Instead, he planted his faith in God’s promise and held on to that promise by praising God. His story is so remarkable that Paul made reference to it in Romans 4:18–21, which says:

  “[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, so [numberless] shall your descendants be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or [when he considered] the barrenness of Sarah’s [deadened] womb. No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised.”

  Look again at verse 18: “[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised.” This man had absolutely no reason to hope. In fact, if any situation had ever been beyond hope, it would be the possibility of two people past ninety being able to have a child. Nevertheless, Abraham kept hoping; he kept believing God’s promise. Verse 19 says that “he did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body.” In other words, Abraham looked at his circumstances and was well aware of the odds that were piled against him, but he still did not give up, even though the Bible says that his body was “as good as dead” and that Sarah’s womb was barren and “deadened.” In the face of a genuine natural impossibility, Abraham did not give in to unbelief; he did not waver in his faith or question God’s promise. Instead, “he grew strong and was empowered by faith” as he praised God.

  We gain more and more strength, our faith increases, and the things that are coming against us to defeat us are dissipated as we praise Him.

  The same thing will happen to us today when we praise God. We gain more and more strength, our faith increases, and the things that are coming to defeat us are dissipated as we praise Him. That’s why we need to be diligent to listen to praise and worship music. We need to play it in our homes and in our cars; we need to learn songs and sing them. Every time we have an opportunity—even a minute or two while walking through a parking lot into a store—to praise and worship God, we need to do it. After a while, praise becomes so natural that it flows out of us without a deliberate decision on our part. We find ourselves singing and thanking God as an automatic response to our awareness of His goodness, mercy, and grace.

  Tell the Tale

  One of the ways Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words defines “praise” is telling a tale or a narration. In other words, praising God is simply recounting or telling aloud the great things He has done. If we are doing nothing more than sitting at lunch with a friend and speaking about some wonderful things God has done, we are praising Him. In fact, the Bible says God likes those conversations and when He hears them, He gets out His book of remembrance and records them (see Malachi 3:16). He does not record our murmuring, grumbling, or complaining, but He records the words we speak when praise is on our lips.

  Just think about how you would feel if you were to overhear your children sitting around saying, “Oh, man, I tell you, our mom is awesome. We have the greatest mother in the world. There is no mother as great as ours! Don’t we have the most incredible mom and dad? They’re just the best parents around!” I am sure that if you witnessed such a conversation between your children, you could hardly wait to bless them!

  But, on the other hand, what if you walked into a room and your children were saying, “I’m so sick and tired of Mom and Dad. They never do anything for us. They’ve got all these rules. They don’t want us to have any fun. Mom nags us all the time and makes us do our homework. If our parents really loved us, they would give us what we want, not what they think is best.”

  Our lives with God are no different than the two scenarios I have described above. We are God’s children! He hears everything we say and He knows what is in our hearts even when we don’t say it. What does He want to hear us talking about? How great He is! How awesome He is! The wonderful things He’s done! What He can do! What He will do! What He’s probably doing that we do not even know about yet! He wants to hear us praising Him.

  Hebrews 13:15 says: “Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.” We often interpret the “sacrifice of praise” to mean nothing more than praising God when we do not feel like praising Him, and that can certainly be a type of sacrifice. However, I believe the writer of Hebrews is actually making reference to the Old Testament sacrificial system that required the blood of animals to atone for people’s sins.

  We, however, live in New Testament times, when we no longer need to put slain sheep and goats and bulls on an altar. Instead, the sacrifice—the offering—God wants from us today is to hear right words coming out of our mouths, rising up before His throne. Just as the smoke and the aroma of the animal sacrifices went up before His throne under the Old Covenant, the praise from our hearts rises up as a sacrifice before Him today. In Hebrews 13:15, the Lord was really saying, The sacrifice I want now is the fruit of your lips thankfully acknowledging Me.

  We need to apply that Scripture to our everyday lives, making sure that we speak God’s praises every chance we get. We need to tell people about all the great things He’s doing for us; we need to thank Him; we need to tell Him we love Him. In our hearts and with our mouths, we should go through our days saying, “Lord, I love You. Thank You so much for everything You’re doing in my life. Lord, I praise You for taking care of my family today. Lord, I eve
n thank You that we have electricity and hot water. Lord, I praise You for working everything out for my good in every situation.” We need to be people of praise, acknowledging God “constantly and at all times,” continually offering up to Him the sacrifice of praise.

  WORSHIP

  Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words says, “The worship of God is nowhere defined in Scripture.” Do you know why I think worship is not defined? Because I do not think it can be defined. Worship is so deep; it is so precious and so awesome and it comes from such a deep place within us; it is such a powerful outpouring of our hearts toward the Lord and it represents such love, gratitude, and devotion that we cannot put it into words. Human language is not rich enough to describe everything that true worship is. In fact, worship is so personal and so intimate that maybe we should even not attempt to limit or define it with our words.

  In the absence of a definition of worship, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words does say that worship “is not confined to praise; broadly, it may be regarded as the direct acknowledgement to God, of His nature, attributes, ways and claims” and that it can mean “to serve,” or to “do service to.” Some sources also say that to worship means “to kiss,” which connotes great affection and intimacy.

  Even though we cannot find a definition of worship in the Bible, the Scriptures are clear in their instructions and observations about worship. For example:

  • “Give to the Lord the glory due His name.. . .Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!” (1 Chronicles 16:29, NKJV).

  • “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication]” (Psalm 95:6).

  • “Extol the Lord our God and worship at His holy hill, for the Lord our God is holy!” (Psalm 99:9).

  • “I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!” (Psalm 138:2).

  The Posture of Power

  Like praise, worship is so much more than just singing songs. In fact, worship is a condition of heart and a state of mind. We can be worshiping passionately without singing a single note. Worship is born in our hearts; it fills our thoughts and it is expressed through our mouths and through our bodies. For example, we can worship God by dancing, clapping, lifting our hands, playing an instrument, giving tithes and offerings, marching around, or sitting perfectly still, but our actions or our positions are simply reflections of what is in our hearts.

  Worship is a condition of heart and a state of mind.

  One posture that is often used in worship and in prayer is kneeling. Kneeling is a posture of humility, but it is also a position of incredible power. As an act of humility, kneeling affects us in a positive way because it allows us physically to express our heart’s cry of total dependence upon the Lord. To kneel is to say to Him: “I need You, God. I’m submitted to You. I want to follow You and obey You. I can’t live without You. I can’t do anything without You. I am desperate for You!”

  As a power posture, kneeling sends a potent message to the enemy. The devil hates it! When he hears us singing a song, he does not know what’s in our hearts, but when he sees us get on our knees or lift up our hands or start clapping or dancing, he gets nervous. A believer filled with worship is his worst nightmare! Although I am not able to stay on my knees for long periods of time, I frequently bow before God and simply say, “Thank You, Lord, for all You have done for me. Thank You for helping me today.” Sometimes I stop right in the middle of a busy activity and do that. Sometimes, when I am filming for television, I will worship God this way between filming sessions in my dressing room, all by myself. Sometimes I like to kneel down beside my bed first thing in the morning and simply say, “I love You, Lord. Thank You for all you have planned for me today.” I encourage you to develop some of these same habits. Remember, the devil hates praise and worship and he is defeated by it.

  The reason he so despises worship is that he was originally the angel in charge of worship in heaven. He was the archangel Lucifer and his body was made of musical instruments. When he became proud and puffed up, God kicked him out of heaven and he fell like lightning (see Isaiah 14:12–15; Luke 10:18). He is still angry with God and will do anything to keep people from truly worshiping Him. Naturally, he doesn’t like it that we have his job! But more than that, when the enemy is so opposed to something, we can know for certain that it’s good for us, that it exerts power against him in the spiritual realm and that it pleases God.

  I admit that I am emotional about my relationship with God. I am enthusiastic, filled with zeal and excitement. I like to be quiet at times, but I also enjoy being expressive in praise and worship. I really encourage you to express yourself in worship, too. Sure, sing. Sing with all your heart, but in addition to that, kneel, bow, dance, clap, or lift your hands in order to push back the enemy, to celebrate God’s victory in your life, and to express physically the devotion of your heart toward the Lord in every possible way. God gave you your emotions, so don’t be afraid to use them to honor him. I am amazed that people easily accept displays of intense emotion at a ball game, but seem to judge others as “just emotional” when they see enthusiasm expressed during praise and worship.

  Put Your Heart into It

  The world often thinks of worship as “religion,” which could not be further from the biblical concept of worship. When we read about worship in the Bible, we are reading about a personal relationship, about spiritual intimacy, and about passionate expressions of devotion from people who love and worship God with all of their hearts. This is true worship—the kind that bubbles up out of us when we have the fire of God in our lives, when our love for Him spills out all over everything, and when we are zealous and enthusiastic about our dynamic relationship with Him.

  According to John 4:23, this kind of worshiper is who God is looking for and the type of worship He wants. The verse says: “A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers.” God is seeking true, genuine worshipers who will really worship Him with all their hearts.

  We should dedicate ourselves to being the kind of worshipers God desires.

  I have always been a bit saddened by the fact that God has to seek true worshipers. I think there should be an abundance of them and that we should dedicate ourselves to being the kind of worshipers God desires. But I find it interesting that He does not want just anybody to worship Him; He wants true and genuine worshipers. He is not looking for people who will worship Him out of fear, obligation, or religion, but out of a loving relationship.

  E. M. Bounds writes that “religion has to do with everything but our hearts.”1 That is true, but equally true is the fact that true worship has to do with our hearts more than anything else. Obviously, not everybody who appears to be worshiping is a genuine worshiper. True, sincere worship comes out of the heart and out of intimacy with God; that is why worship is so important to our prayer lives.

  Worship in spirit and truth is so much more than learned behaviors or habits that cause us to go to a certain place at a certain time and repeat certain rituals. Walking into a building called a church and kneeling at a certain time, standing at other times, repeating certain phrases, or reading from a book can be worship if these activities come from our hearts, but they can be form and legalism if they are nothing but memorized words and actions that are not sincere.

  Some churches do not use worship books or prescribed forms of worship, and in such places, we can be tempted to think, I’m worshiping. I’m looking at the overhead. I’m singing. I’m even clapping! But those things are not worship either unless they come from the heart. God is not pleased because we show up at the same place every Sunday, put in a spec
ified amount of time, and then go home and do not think about Him until the same time next week. Our hearts have to be connected with what we are doing and we have to be focused on Him, or we are not involved in true praise and worship. In true worship, we cannot give God lip service; we have to give Him our hearts, and true worshipers are those who express with their mouths the worship that is in their hearts.

  In Matthew 15:7–9, Jesus said: “. . .Admirably and truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said: These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me. Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men.” We do not want our worship—or our prayers—to be useless, so in order to keep them fresh, vibrant, and true, we have to keep our hearts in it.

  THANKSGIVING

  As I wrote earlier in this chapter for the sake of simplicity, we praise God for what He has done, is doing, and will do, and we worship God for who He is. Genuine thanksgiving is a response to both who God is and what He has done, is doing, and will do. It is not only an acknowledgment of these things; it’s a grateful acknowledgment. It’s an expression of true, heartfelt appreciation.

  Thanksgiving should be a part of who we are deep down in our hearts; it is a type of prayer and it should flow out of us in a natural way that is pure and uncontrived. Being thankful does not mean merely sitting down at the end of a day, and trying to remember everything we need to be thankful for because we think we have to thank God in order to make Him happy or to satisfy some spiritual requirement or try to get Him to do something else for us. Instead, it means having a heart that is sensitive to God’s working in our everyday lives, and just breathing out simple prayers of great thanksgiving every time we see Him working in our lives or blessing us. For example, “Lord, thank You for a good night’s sleep” or, “God, I thank You that my visit to the dentist didn’t hurt as much as I thought it might,” or “Father, thank You for helping me make good decisions today,” or “Lord, thank You for keeping me encouraged.” God is always good to us, always faithful to us, always working so diligently in our lives. He is always doing something for us and acting in our best interest, so we need to respond by letting Him know we appreciate everything. We should thank God silently in our hearts and we also should voice our thankfulness aloud because that helps us stay conscious and aware of God’s love, which He demonstrates through His goodness to us.