Friendship Benefits Others

The Power of Simple Prayer: How to Talk with God about Everything
by Joyce Meyer

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Three more years went by and I still did not see much change in my dad. Sometimes I did not pray for him for several months, and then God would put him on my heart again. I distinctly remember driving to work one morning and saying something like this to God, "Father, I think it would be a shame if You used me to lead people all over the world into a personal relationship with You through faith in Jesus and for my own father to die and go to hell. I have done what you have asked me to do and now I am asking You as a personal favor to me: save my father. Forgive his sins and draw him into a relationship with You." I prayed similar prayers in the past, but not with the intensity I felt that day.

A few weeks later, my mother called and said that my dad had been crying for three days and wanted to see me. Dave and I went to their house, and my dad apologized for abusing me when I was a child. He kept crying and saying how sorry he was. I asked him if he was ready to make Jesus the Lord of his life and he said yes. We led him in prayer that day and baptized him two weeks later. My dad recently passed away, and we rejoice in knowing that he will live for eternity with Jesus. Don't ever doubt that prayer is powerful. Your friendship with God can make an eternal difference in the life of someone you love.

We cannot control other people with our prayers, but I do believe that approaching God boldly on behalf of others opens the door for God to work in their lives in strong and powerful ways. My father still had to make a choice, but I know that God dealt with him aggressively because I prayed boldly and persevered in prayer.

Through Jesus Christ, we have a right to be comfortable with God and to go boldly to the throne of grace.

Truly, our friendships with God benefit other people. Of course, they benefit us greatly as well. I cannot think of anything more awesome than being a friend of God. There is nothing I would rather hear God say than, "That Joyce Meyer, she's My friend." I do not want Him to say, "You know, Joyce Meyer - she knows all the prayer principles, she uses perfect prayer posture, she has the right tone of voice; she sounds very eloquent when she prays and she even has all her thee's, thy's, and thou's all straightened out!" No! I want to know that God thinks of me as His friend, and I believe you long for Him to think of you that way, too. Through Jesus Christ, we have a right to be comfortable with God and to go boldly to the throne of grace to get the help we need in plenty of time to meet our needs and the needs of others (see Hebrews 4:16).

One of the best things you can ever do is develop your friendship with God. Jesus has made you righteous through the blood He shed on the cross, so there is no reason you cannot approach God as boldly and as naturally as you would your best friend on earth. Remember, friendship with God takes an investment of time and energy to develop. But also remember that as your friendship deepens, your prayer life progresses. A growing, vibrant, increasingly intimate friendship with God will naturally lead to a growing, vibrant, increasingly effective prayer life.

Summary

When our hearts cry out, "Lord, teach me to pray," God answers. We do not learn how to pray simply by becoming a Christian or by going to church - even if we have been attending for years and years. We learn to pray more and more effectively over time as we develop a personal relationship with God. He has made each of us uniquely and He teaches us to pray in ways that celebrate and express who He has created us to be. He wants us as individuals to relate to Him through prayer in uniquely personal ways.

Our personal faith in God and our personal relationship with Him directly affect the quality and the effectiveness of our prayers. In fact, being God's friend is the most important key to a vibrant, dynamic prayer life. He wants us to draw near to Him, to trust Him, to love Him, to share our hearts with Him, and to listen as He shares His heart with us. In the context of friendship with God, we will continue to learn how to pray.

Prayer Points

If you are frustrated in your prayer life and wondering whether your prayers are really effective, then cry out from your heart, "Lord, teach me to pray!"

The depth and strength of our prayer lives relate directly to the depth and strength of our personal relationship with God.

Prayer is simple. It is nothing more than talking and listening to God.

In teaching us to pray, God deals with us as individuals with unique personalities, diverse temperaments, and different ways of communicating. We need to be careful not to compare ourselves with others and to just be ourselves and let Him teach us to pray.

Being a friend of God - and all that entails - is the key to effective prayer.

Developing a great friendship with God takes time and energy, but it is the best investment of time and energy we can possibly make.

Approaching God on the basis of friendship enables us to pray bold prayers. As the friendship becomes more intimate, our boldness increases.

© 2007 by Joyce Meyer

About the Author

JOYCE MEYER has been teaching the Word of God since 1976 and in full-time ministry since 1980. She is the bestselling author of more than fifty inspirational books, including How to Hear from God, Knowing God Intimately, and Battlefield of the Mind. She has also released thousands of teaching cassettes and a complete video library. Joyce's Enjoying Everyday Life radio and television programs are broadcast around the world, and she travels extensively conducting conferences.