Joel Osteen Podcast - Be A Prisoner of Hope | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: December 22, 2023

We should get up every morning expecting the good things of God. One touch of His favor can turn any situation around. Do your part and keep believing that things are about to change. Your best days are still ahead, and together we can make a difference in this world with the message of God's hope and love. To give visit JoelOsteen.com/GiveHope.Daily inspiration. Scriptural promises. Get ready for a new year of faith with the Hopes & Dreams 2024 Planner. Our special December offer will let you journal your thoughts, record your prayers, and hold on to the dream God has placed in your heart. Request your copy today! https://bit.ly/3T8xgqS Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to the podcast. We want to tell you how much we love you. Trusting you're going to have a blessed Christmas season with you and your family. Know that we pray for you every day. Just speak in God's blessings and favor. We love you. We are praying for you, and we hope you have a very merry Christmas.

Enjoy the podcast today. Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes. If you're ever in the Houston area, I hope that you'll stop by. take a look at our new facility, be a part of one of our services. I can tell you this, it's better in person than it is on TV. And we'd love to have you. I like to start with something funny each week. And this has no spiritual value whatsoever, but I thought I'd tell it. A group of people were coming down this real crowded elevator. And they were packed in there like sardines,

and it was hot and stuffy. And on top of that, something smelled really, really bad. And this one lady, She had finally had enough and she said, well, we can certainly tell somebody's deodorant is not working today. Guy in the corner spoke up and said, couldn't be mine, lady. I'm not wearing any. All right, hold your Bibles up. Say it like you mean it. Ready? This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same. In Jesus name, God bless you. We've been talking about expecting good things

and how important it is that we keep our hopes up. Hope is called the anchor of our souls. You need to know deep down on the inside that there are good days up ahead. And no matter what you may be facing, no matter how long you've been that way, God can turn any situation around. And we need to get up every morning expecting good things.

We should get up expecting things to change. And if you're in tough times today, don't believe that lie that nothing's ever going to get any better. You've been this way too long. Now, your attitude should be, I know this too shall pass. I know it is not going to last forever. And that's one of the keys to stay in full of hope. Don't believe the never and forever lies. And I know some of you have struggled in an area for a long time, and the enemy keeps telling you,

you're never going to get well. You've always had that sickness. You're never going to get out of that problem. You're never going to get married. No, don't believe that junk. Well, you say, Joel, I've been praying for years. I've been believing for a long time. Listen, you've got to keep on believing. Keep praying. Keep hoping. After all, this could be the day. God turns it all around. This could be the day. Everything changes. And if it doesn't happen today, the good news is it could happen tomorrow. It could happen later this week. But you've got to do your part and stay full of hope, stay full of expectancy. And understand, all it takes is one touch of God's favor. One touch of God's favor and that situation at work or at home will totally resolve. One touch of God's favor and your

financial situation will turn around. Or one touch of God's favor and he can bring you a mate. He can cause you to be at the right place, at the right time. And all the sudden, you meet the man or woman of your dreams. See, God is a God of the suddenlies. And in a split second, he can turn any situation around. And it says in 2 Corinthians, we shouldn't look at the things that are seen because they're only temporary, but we should look at the things that are not seen because they are eternal. One translation says, the things that are seen are subject to change.

I like that. Your child may be giving you a hard time, but he is subject to change. Your health may be going downhill, but it's subject to change. Your marriage may be on the rocks, or maybe your financial situation today looks pretty dismal. But thank God, all of that is subject to change. And some of you need to get your checkbook out and look at it and say, you are subject to change. Or maybe you have a boss that's not treating you right. He's disrespect. and condescending, well, why don't you just smile at him one day and say, sir, you are subject to change. I don't suggest you do it to his face. You better do that. You may be looking for another job. But what I'm saying is everything negative in your life. It didn't come to stay. It came to pass.

You may have been in that situation a long time, but hear what God is saying to you. If you'll just keep your hopes up and stay in an attitude of faith, then the best is yet to come. God has good things in store. I've been saying since the first of this year, I believe that 2005 is going to be a year of God's unprecedented favor. I believe it's going to be a year where you see your family members come in. A year when you see your health get better, where you see all kinds of increase, promotion, restoration. And we're already seeing so much of that happening.

We're getting so many good reports. Well, you say, Joel, nothing better has happened to me in 2005. It's just all been the same. I'm not sure what you're talking about. Well, let me challenge you. Don't quit hoping. You've still got five months left. Why don't you believe that you can get in on it?

Why don't you start getting up expecting things to change? And if for some reason it doesn't happen this year, you don't have to get discouraged. We're going to believe it's going to happen next year. We're going to stay full of hope. Well, you say, Joel, what if I get my hopes up and nothing happens? What if you get your hopes up and something does happen? if you believe all things are possible.

But if you go around negative and discouraged in doubt, I can tell you not very much good is going to happen in your life. Well, you say, Joel, my problem is, if I get my hopes up and it doesn't happen that day, then I'll go to bed all disappointed. I don't need another disappointment in my life. But really, that's not the way to look at it. If it doesn't happen, you need to go to bed saying, Father, I thank you.

Now I know I'm one day closer to seeing it come to pass. I know I'm one day closer to seeing it turn. around. You've got to stay full of hope. If you don't have any hope, you're not going to have any faith. And some of you have allowed yourself to get negative and discouraged, and you're not really believing for anything to get better in your life. You've lost your enthusiasm. You've lost your passion. But my prayer today is that I'm going to light a new fire on the inside, and every one of you are going to go out of here full of hope, full of expectancy, knowing that there are good days up ahead. The scripture says

there in Zechariah 912, if you will be a prisoner of hope, God will restore back to you double your former prosperity. What a great promise. But really, there are a lot of things we can be a prisoner to. Negative thinking,

doubt, fear, anger, low self-esteem. But you notice, God wants us to be a prisoner of hope. And if we'll get up each day expecting good things, he's promised, He'll restore back to us double. He'll do more than we can ask or think.

Well, what does that mean to be a prisoner of hope? That simply means that no matter what comes against you, you don't let it get you down. You get a bad report from the doctor, that's okay. I know the things that are impossible with men are possible with God. You're struggling in a situation at work today? Well, that's all right. I know God is fighting my battles for me.

I know he's making my crooked places straight. Or maybe you go through a disappointment. Your plans didn't work out. You're tempted to get all discouraged, but your attitude should be, God, I know you always have my best interest at heart. This door, yes, it closed, but that means you've got something better in store. And some of you today, in the natural, it doesn't really look like your dreams are going to come to pass.

And you kind of got a good reason to be negative and discouraged. But I would just challenge you to dig your heels in and say, no, I'm going to shake off this old defeated mentality, and I'm going to start being a prisoner of hope. I know God can make a way in my life, and I'm going to start believing for his very best. When you have that kind of attitude, that allows God to restore double back to you. I know when my father went to be with the Lord, we didn't really know what we were going to do. Daddy had not raised up anyone to take his place and pastor this church. And really, I had only spoken one time before, and we were so shocked by my father's death.

And of course, all the critics had been telling us how we were going to go under and how we weren't going to make it. But we made a decision early on that we weren't going to just look at the things that we could see with our physical eyes, but we were going to look out through our eyes of faith. We made a decision that we were going to be prisoners of hope. And we kept telling ourselves during that time, God is in control. He is guiding us. He's leading us. He's giving us what we need. We kept hoping, kept praying, kept believing. And it didn't happen overnight. And I can't say that it was necessarily easy, but I can tell you this, as we trusted God, he gave us his wisdom, he gave us strength and ability that we didn't have before. The church began to grow and grow

so much so that we needed a new place. And even when this place became available, it looked impossible as well. But once again, God was faithful and he brought us through with the victory. I was thinking about this scripture as I studied this week. Isn't it interesting that our old auditorium held 8,000 people, but now this new place holds 16,000, exactly double. And I believe that because we were prisoners of hope, God restored back to us double what we had before. He did more than we could even ask or think. And some of you today, you are not expecting enough. You've been through some tough times, and you're kind of thinking, man, if I could just be as happy as I was before, or if I could just get a job back like the one I used to had before I got laid off. No, that's not the right

way to look at it. God doesn't want to just bring you out like you were before. He wants to bring you out better off than you were before. He wants to increase you. He wants to bring you out stronger, happier, healthier. Why don't you get a vision of that today? Why don't you start believing for twice the strength, twice the wisdom, twice the joy, twice the income? If you will be a prison, of hope, God will restore double back to you. And I'm not saying this happens overnight. Really, what I'm talking about today is living a lifestyle of expecting good things, living a lifestyle of believing for the best. I know this young lady a few years ago, she had to have an emergency surgery. And for some reason, it wasn't covered on her insurance. It was a kind of odd little loophole there.

And she ended up owe in the hospital over $27,000. And she was very young. She didn't have that kind of extra money. And so they worked out a payment plan with the hospital where she was paying them back a little each week. And she really couldn't afford this. She was really struggling. She was a single mom and this was just causing her to get behind. But do you know, she didn't get discouraged. She didn't go around complaining about how life wasn't going to get any better and why did this happen to me.

No, she was a prisoner of hope. She stayed in that attitude of faith. She said, God, I know you're in control. I don't know how I'm ever going to pay this debt back. I don't know how I'm ever going to be well off, but God, I know you can make a way. And see, you've got to realize your job is not your source. God is your source. One time when Peter needed money to pay his taxes,

Jesus said, Peter, just go down to the lake, and the first fish you catch is going to have enough money in it for both yours and my taxes. He did it, and sure enough, that's exactly what happened. I know some of you are already planning to go fishing tomorrow, aren't you? But don't limit God. Be a prisoner of hope. Some of you think, man, I could never be well off. I could never pay my house off.

I could never get out of debt. I could never see my dreams come to pass. Quit thinking like that. Stay hopeful. Stay expecting. God can make a way. This is just what this young lady did. And do you know, a few days before Christmas that year,

she got a letter in the mail from the hospital. And they said every year, we like to take it. choose a few families and do something special for them. And this year, we've chosen you, and we're just writing to inform you that we are canceling your $27,000 debt. And if that wasn't good enough, the letter went on to say, not only are we going to forgive your debt, but we are going to refund to you the several thousand dollars that you've already paid to us. That's God doing more than you could even ask her thing. Well, you say, Joel, that never happened to me, man. You don't know my luck. Listen, you're exactly right. It'll never happen with that kind of attitude.

You've got to be a prisoner of hope. And it may look impossible to you, but let me just remind you, our God is the God that created the universe. He's the God that flung the stars into space. Your enemies may be powerful, but our God is all powerful. Your obstacles may be high, but our God is the most high. And the good news is, he loves you. He's for you. He's on your side. He wants to take the negative that's been brought into your life and turn it around and use it to your advantage. He wants to pay you back double, but you've got to do your part and be a prisoner of hope. I was thinking about Abraham. God promised him that he was going to have a son, but you know the story he was much too old, and in the natural, it was an impossible situation. But I love what

the scripture says about him in Romans 418. It says that all human reason for hope being gone, what Abraham do? He hoped on in faith. And you may be here just like Abraham today in the natural. You don't have any reason in the world to be hopeful. When you look at your health, you look at your finances, you look at your marriage, seems impossible. And I'm sure you're hearing the same lies he heard. It's never going to change.

It's never going to get any better. You're going to be that way the rest of your life. No, let me challenge you to do what Abraham did and hope on in faith anyway. That means dare to believe. dare to go out each day expecting things to change. As I said, I know some of you have been in that situation a long time. You say, Joel, I've been praying for my children to get on track year after year after year, but they're not doing any better.

Or I've been praying for my spouse to come to church, but he's not interested. I don't think it's ever going to happen. You know, what I'm saying to you today is you've got to keep on believing, keep on praying, keep on hoping. And understand this, there's no situation too difficult for God. There's no person that is too far gone for our God. I know this young man at one time, he was living as an outlaw biker. He was running with one of these motorcycle gangs, and he was always high on some kind of drug,

involved in all kinds of illegal activity. I mean, his life was totally out of control. He told me, Joel, when I got up in the morning, the first thing I would do was go get high. He was in and out of jail all the time. Year after year, things got worse and worse. wouldn't think there's any hope for this young man. But do you know all that time back at home, he had a mother that was praying. She refused to give up on him. She was a prisoner of hope. And even though it looked impossible, she just kept on believing. Like Abraham, she kept hoping on in

faith. And one mother's day, out of the clear blue, this big, tough biker walked in to Lakewood Church, long beard, tattoos, and all. He was as high. high as a kite. And for some reason, the usher that day took him all the way down to the front and set him on the second row. And all of a sudden, he began to feel the love, the presence of God. And he said it instantly sobered him up. When he left that day, he went out into the parking lot all by himself. And in front of his motorcycle, he got down on his knees and asked Jesus to come into his life. He said, immediately the desire for drugs and alcohol left him. In an instant, he was set free. In an instant, he was changed.

To make a long story short, today that young man is a pastor of a church here in town. He goes all over the world telling his story. And do you know what God did for him he can do for any one of you? What God did for that young man, he could do for your son, your daughter, your relative. There is

nobody too far gone with our God. And it may not look like anything's happening to you, but you need to know God is working behind the scenes. And you've got to just do like that little mother, keep hoping on in faith. I remember my father told how his father, my grandfather, for years and years, he wouldn't have anything to do with the things of God. He said, John, there's nothing to all that religious stuff.

When I'm dead, I'm dead like a dog. Just roll me over in the ditch. Daddy said, no, no, that's not right. Year after year, though, we didn't see any change in my grandfather. And here my father was a well-known minister going all over the world, yet his own dad didn't believe. But Daddy never gave up on him. He was a prisoner of hope. He knew my grandfather was subject to change. And one weekend, my father was holding a series of meetings there in the Dallas area where my grandparents lived. And he invited them to come out to the meetings. And granddaddy had never really been to church before, but he said he would come. He was there a Friday night. Nothing happened. Saturday night. Nothing happened. Just sat there. But on Sunday morning, right in the middle of my dad's sermon, my grandfather got up from the back of that little church.

And he walked down the aisle, walked past the altar, he walked all the way up onto the platform. My dad had to stop his sermon. He said, Daddy, what are you doing? What do you want? He said, John, I want to give my life to Christ. I want to do it right now. And do you know, from that day forward, my grandfather never missed another service. His favorite thing in the world was the fact that that church had asked him to be an usher.

You would have thought they'd ask him to be the president of the United States. He was so honored. When Granddaddy died, he only had one suit to his name. When they checked the pockets, it was full of gospel tracks. Everywhere he went, he couldn't wait to tell people what God had done for him. But see, what my father couldn't do in years and years, God did in a split second of time. God suddenly touched his heart. God suddenly took the blinders off of him.

It doesn't matter what your family situation looks like. God can turn any person around. Don't quit believing for them. Don't quit hoping. You may not think anything is happening, but you can rest assured as long as you're in faith, God is working behind the sins. And we have a promise just like Abraham had,

and it says, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. It may not look like today it's ever going to happen. But the good news is it's not our part to figure out how it's going to happen. It's our part to believe. It's our part to be a prisoner of hope. Don't give up on your family. Don't give up on your children, your relatives. I think about the mother of Moses. When Moses was just a little baby, Pharaoh put out a decree that all the male children two years old and under would be killed. And Moses's mother, she could have easily just given it.

up. She could have easily thought, well, too bad. Just my luck. Picked the wrong time to have a baby, but no, that lady was a prisoner of hope. She got little Moses, and she hit him away for three months time. When she didn't think she could hide him any longer, she wrapped him up in a blanket, and she put him in a basket and set him in the Nile River. And just as he was floating by Pharaoh's palace, all the sudden, one of Pharaoh's daughters decided to go out to the river and take a bath. And when she did, she heard the little baby crying, and she asked somebody to go get him. And when they brought him back and she saw baby Moses, she fell in love with him. She said, this is going to be my child. I'm going to take care of him. She knew she needed to feed him.

And so she asked the ladies if there was anybody there that could nurse the baby. They went and found Moses' mother. She came back and said, I'll be glad to do it. And see, God not only supernaturally spared Moses' life, but his mother was. able to help raise him, and on top of that, Pharaoh paid for it all. And if you two will commit your children into God's hands, if you'll not give up on your children, God will do for you what he did for this lady. He'll supernaturally protect your children. He'll supernaturally take care of them. Think about how difficult it must have been for that mother to put her son into the Nile River, where the alligators were, where the snakes were in the deep waters.

But see, when you trust God with your children, he'll cause the alligators to lie still. He'll cause the snakes to stay away. The scripture says, when you go through the deep waters, you won't go under. When you go through the floods, you're not going to drown. When you go through the fire, you're not going to be burned. That's what happens when you're a prisoner of hope. You may say, Joel, you don't know my children. I just don't think they're ever going to straighten up.

No, don't quit believing. Don't ever give up. If you'll be a prisoner of hope, God will not only, bring them out, he'll bring them out better off than they were before. I don't know what you're up against today. You may be facing a situation in your family or your health, your marriage, and, you know, it just looks impossible. It'd be so easy for you to go through life negative and defeated, but I'm asking you today to keep hope alive. Don't just look at what you can see with your physical eyes. God says that's only temporary. Dare to look out through your eyes of faith. As long as you have hope,

your situation is subject to change. As long as you've got that attitude of faith, you are activating God's supernatural power. This is exactly what Elijah had to do. One time there was a great drought in the land. For three and a half years it hadn't rained and the people were very desperate for water until Elijah went on top of the mountain to pray.

And God spoke to him and told him that it was going to rain. And so now he's got this promise in his heart. Just like many of you, you're believing for something to change. But in the natural, Elijah didn't see any sign of rain. The skies were just as clear as they had been year after year. But see, Elijah knew the secret to not just look with his natural eyes. He knew how to look out through his eyes of faith, and he could see the rain coming down.

He knew the situation was subject to change. And so he acted in faith. He told one of his servants, go out on the other side of the mountain and look up and see if you can see any sign of rain. servant went out, came back a few minutes later. He said, no, Elijah, the skies are perfectly clear. I didn't see anything. It's not going to rain. But do you know, Elijah didn't get discouraged. He didn't say, well, I must not have heard God right. It's never going to rain. This situation's never going to change. No, he knew that God would be faithful to his word. And he didn't lose his hope. He simply told the servant, go back and look again. Servant went back, came back a few minutes later. He said, Elijah, you're just wasting my time. I told you it's not going to rain. There's not a cloud in the sky. I love what Elijah did. He said, we'll go back and look again. And see, that's a prisoner of hope. He didn't allow the negative circumstances to cause him to give up. He didn't allow that negative report to cause him to just lose his hope and get all discouraged. He just kept looking out through his eyes of faith and seeing that rain come down.

And he told that servant to go back again and again and again and again. Finally, on the seventh time, the young man came back and he said, Elijah, I don't want you to get your hopes up. But this time I did see just a little cloud beginning to form. Wasn't much, just the size of a man's hand. I can imagine Elijah's face lit up. He said, son, you better get your umbrella and take off running because that rain that I've already seen through my eyes of faith

is about to unload out of these skies. Sure enough, the Bible says it wasn't any time before the heavens opened up and the rain came down. Well, you too may be in some kind of drought today. You've been praying, believe, and hoping, but you don't see anything happening. Just like that servant, every time you go look, doesn't look like anything's getting better, doesn't look like anything's changing. But I would encourage you to do what that young man did. Go back and look again and again and again and again.

Don't ever give up. even though you don't see anything happening with your physical eyes, you need to know that behind the scenes, God is changing things in your favor. And if you'll keep seeing it through your eyes of faith and keep being a prisoner of hope, one day you're going to see a little cloud starting to form. One day you're going to see things start to change. And all of a sudden, the heavens will open up, suddenly God will bring the promise to pass. And so I want to encourage you again, no matter what you're up against, no matter how long you've been that way, it is subject to change. It is not permanent. It's temporary. Didn't come to stay. It came to pass. You need to hear what God is saying. There are good days up ahead for each one of you.

But listen, we've got to do our part and dig our heels in and be a prisoner of hope. Why don't you go out each day expecting things to change? Remember, all it takes is one touch of God's favor. Suddenly, God can turn around any situation, and the good news is it could happen to today. And I really believe some of you are right around the corner from seeing a major breakthrough take place in your life. A major turning point. I would just encourage you to not give up before it gets here. Stay hopeful. Abraham waited in faith for nearly 20 years day in and day out before the promise came. And if you'll be a prisoner of hope, God promises he'll not only bring you out, he'll bring you out better off than you were before. He'll bring you out

with double. Amen. Can you give the Lord a shout of praise today? We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God first place. He's going to take your places. that you've never dreamed of. Do you have a dream that's waiting to happen? But it often feels like you'll never get there.

Is your dream? To start a business? To see a loved one come to the Lord. Are you asking God, will it ever happen? Sometimes it feels like our dream is so far off, but I believe you're closer than you think. You're on the verge of seeing things change in your favor, new doors opening, the right people showing up.

I'd love to send you our new hopes and dreams 2020. It's not only a calendar, but it has scriptures and inspiration, a place to journal. It'll help you stay focused and encouraged so you can see your dreams come to pass. As you support the ministry this month with a special end of year gift of any amount, we would like to bless you with the hopes and dreams 2024 planner. With the new planner, you will start the new year with fresh ideas, fresh hope, and endless possibilities. You'll find monthly calendars and plenty of space to plan. for a better day ahead.

Plus, there are inspiring scriptures and thoughts that will encourage you to believe for your dreams. Thank you so much for your prayer and support, your year-in giving. You're making a difference around the world. A special thank you to our Champion of Hope Partners for your monthly gifts. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one.

Remember, you can watch the services online every Sunday morning, see all the music and ministry, and you can download our daily podcast. We hope you and your family have a very blessed Christmas season and a healthy, productive, favor-filled 2024. Be sure to request your copy of the Hopes and Dreams 2024 planner today. Visit joel Osteen.com or call us toll-free.