Spirit-Led Persistence

by Joyce Meyer - posted September 19, 2011


What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will also pray [intelligently] with my mind and understanding.

—1 Corinthians 14:15

I really want to encourage you to pray persistent, persevering prayers by the leading of the Holy Spirit—not mere repetitious prayers that do not come from your heart, but prayers that refuse to give up. It is possible to use your mouth to speak words of prayer that have no meaning behind them at all, and those prayers are nothing but dead works. I could quote the entire Lord's Prayer while I am thinking about something else, and that would not bless God or do me any good, but if I am sincere and pray from my heart, God hears and works in my behalf.

Lip service doesn't do anything for God or accomplish anything in our lives, so even when we pray about the same thing over and over again, we need to be careful not to fall into meaningless repetition. Instead, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in a fresh way, even when we are addressing a subject about which we have prayed for a long time. Sometimes He will lead us to be diligent and persistent about a matter, but there is a difference between repetition and Spirit-led persistence.

Words spoken in prayer that are not connected to our hearts are words without power. When we pray we should focus and concentrate on what we are saying. We should never merely verbalize things we have memorized while our hearts are far from God. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available (see James 5:16).

God's word for you today: Your heartfelt prayers to God have power and He hears them.

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From the book Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

Effortless

Smooth like satin,
soft like a baby’s cheek,
clear as a river running in the Congo
is what I truly seek.

EFFORTLESS…EFFORTLESS

I love this word
EF-FORT-LESS.
I say it …I believe it…I receive it!

The vibe I get from it
makes me feel alive,
and I thank God
He has allowed me
to survive all the rain, all the pain,

EFFORTLESS being my gain,
all because He reigns!
My thinking is reborn,
as EFFORTLESS helps me get through the storm,
and it has spun a radiant light,
shining on all my different plights,
reminding me – “ This is not your fight…”

With EFFORTLESS…
I relax,
I sit back,
I am in a constant siesta,
and EFFORTLESS even brings the confetti to my fiesta!

When I have to scale tall walls or if I fall,
EFFORTLESS calls me, finds me,
bringing me goose down pillows laced with harmony.

When I see EFFORTLESS blowing in the wind,
I caress, catch it,
dang, even my little dog wants to fetch it,

EFFORTLESS always leaving me in a good breathless…
EFFORTLESS

Simply amazing, His love never changing.
I am at peace, no labor, no drama.
I attract EFFORTLESS,
EFFORTLESS finds me
desiring to give me a continuity of glee,
empowering me so I can remain free,
and able to be all I can be.

I feel healed
just by rolling this delicious word
from my heart to my tongue and through my mouth
as I happily shout… EFFORTLESS!

I speak it with intention,
anticipating EFFORTLESS coming to fruition,
while thanking God for his son’s Crucifixion
none of this story is fiction,
as you read between the lines, feel it in your spirit
and you see the theme of EFFORTLESS mentioned.
Anyone who cannot offer EFFORTLESS
and her sister named PEACE,
I must release.

It is then I supernaturally increase,
and I gain more momentum,
I hum, I become uniquely undone
with awesome abandonment,
I go higher and higher, focused on what’s truly important.
And as I go even higher, I look back realizing
just how much the enemy is a complete liar
and his plan to keep you, me and all of God’s family away from

EFFORTLESS…
Selah.

L. Archie ©9/14/2011
In the Shadow of His Wings
:~: Lori Archie :~:

The game we play

This is the game we play

We enjoy the torture but can't take the pain

Life is what we make of it, but really what we plan of it

Some surprises but mostly intentional

Who is responsible for the mistakes we make?

What happens to the oh-oh's that come up?

It's amazing how quickly we forget what we receive is what we bargained for

This is the game that we play

Play wisely ladies!