Joel Osteen Podcast - Letting God Be Involved In Your Everyday Life | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: November 1, 2024

God wants to be involved in every part of your life. If you’ll acknowledge Him, He will cause you to flourish in every area. 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 visitJoelOsteen.com/GiveHope.God wants to refresh how you experience time in His Word! In this brand-new book, you’ll find 12 powerful lenses that will transform the way you read your Bible. Let our November offer show you How to Read Your Bible & Enjoy It https://bit.ly/4f5GjAY.   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 so much for listening to the podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. We believe you're going to have an awesome 2024, healthy, productive, and favor-filled. God bless you today and enjoy the message. Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your home. We love you. We may not know you by name, but we're praying for you, believing for God's very, very best in your life.

If you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. But thank you so much for tuning in today. I like to get started each week with something kind of funny. And of course, these are just jokes. Please don't be offended by it, especially this one today. But I heard about this man. He was sitting in a dark restaurant, and he leaned over to the ladies sitting next to him

and said, hey, would you like to hear a blonde joke? She said, before you tell me, you should know that I'm blonde, six feet tall, and a professional bodybuilder. and the lady sitting next to me is blonde, six foot two, and a professional wrestler, and the lady next to her is blonde six foot five and the kickboxing champion of the world. Now, would you still like to tell me the joke? He thought about it a moment and said, no, not if I'm going to have to explain it three times. Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it.

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. I want to talk to you today about letting God be involved in your everyday life. Too many times we think God is only interested in the big things. When we have a major crisis or when some big problem arises, then we don't have any problem.

I'm going to God and asking for his help. But the fact is, God is interested in every area of our lives. Not just the big things, even the smaller things. God wants to help you be more productive at the office each day. He wants to make that trip to the grocery store more fruitful. God wants to help you raising your children, cooking dinner at night, wants to give you a favor with your clients, give you protection out there on the freeway. But here's the key.

God will only be involved in as much of our lives as we allow him to. And the scripture says here in Proverbs 3, 6, if you acknowledge God in all of your ways. Notice not just some of your ways, not just the big things, but if we can learn to acknowledge God in all of our ways, then he will guide and direct our path. Well, how do we acknowledge God? By letting him know that we're depending on him.

by relying on him. In other words, by involving him in every part of our lives. All through the day, we should be saying things like, God help me to have a safe trip to the office. God, give me favor with these clients. Thank you, Father, for protecting my children at school. God help me to find just what I need in this grocery store.

Just under your breath, not a long prayer, five or ten seconds all throughout the day, we should constantly be acknowledging God. When we do this, we're showing our dependency on God. We're saying, in effect, God, I need you. I'm counting on you. God, I know this day is not going to be as fruitful without your help. And if you'll acknowledge God before you go to the grocery store,

he'll help you to get the best deals. If you'll acknowledge him before you meet with those clients, he'll give you the words to speak. If you'll acknowledge him before the trip home, he'll guard you and protect you. He'll make sure you're at the right place at the right time. But too often we have God in our Sunday morning box. That's when we think about him. That's when we come to church. That's when we pray. Or maybe we pray a few minutes in the morning, pray over our meals. But then we go about the rest of the day, never really thinking about God.

After all, we kind of think, what's so spiritual about going to work? Joel, what's so spiritual about picking my children up from school or mowing the lawn. God's not concerned about that. Sure he is. God knows the number of hair on our head. He knows our words before we even speak them. Why don't you allow God to be involved in every area of your life? I'm talking about developing a habit to where in everything we do, we're acknowledging God. We're either asking for his health, or we're thanking him for his goodness, or we're meditating on his scriptures. But when we keep God involved in our lives, it not only pleases him, but it allows him to guide us and show us more of his favor. And of course, it's good to pray in the morning. It's great you came to church today. It's great to worship. But don't leave it here.

Acknowledge God when you're taking your children to school in the morning. Just say, Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for blessing my children. At home, in your everyday life, God help me to get this house cleaned up today. God, give me wisdom cooking dinner tonight. About to mow the lawn. Instead of complaining about it, Father, thank you for giving me strength. Thank you for my health. Pulling out of the parking lot, tempted to get upset, tempted to get frustrated. No, God, I acknowledge you.

Help me to keep my cool. Help me to not run over my prayer partner. In all your ways, let's acknowledge God. I found the more we depend on God, the more of his blessings in favor will see. Jesus said in John 15, apart from me, you can do nothing. That's the attitude we should live with. God, I need you. I know this day is not going to be as successful without your help. So driving to work in the morning, not a 20 minute prayer. Just under your breath, God help me to have a safe trip to the office. When you do that, you know what you just did? You acknowledge God. With that one little statement, you said in effect, God, you are the Lord of my life.

life. You are in control and I humbled myself to you and I admit that I'm not going to be as productive. I admit this day is not going to be as good as it should have been without your blessings and your favor in my life. This shows our dependency on him. And again, God will be evolved only in as much of your life as you allow him to. You can keep God in your Sunday morning box for 20 years or you can learn to acknowledge him throughout the day. Really, this should be a lifestyle that we developed. Going to lunch this afternoon, God, I acknowledge you. Help me to have a good lunch. God, help me to bump into somebody I can bless, somebody I can encourage. You'll be amazed at how your days will go smoother, how you'll see the hand of God's favor in your life

when you get into a habit of acknowledging God. And again, it doesn't have to be long, it doesn't have to be loud. Most of the time, I just do it under my breath. If I'm about to make an important phone call where I need God's wisdom, I'll just whisper, God, I acknowledge you. I'm asking for your help. About to get on a plane, about to take a trip. God, our lives are in your hands. We're asking for your protection. Need to deal with an issue at the office. God, I'm asking you to give me the words to speak. God, I need your help. I'm talking about in your every day life. You're working on your car. You need to run up to the auto supply to buy a part. Well, before you do, acknowledge God. God, help me to find the right part.

About to meet with some clients. Just take an extra 10 seconds. God, help this meeting to be successful. God, I'm asking for your favor in my life. All through the day, 20, 30, 40 times we should constantly be acknowledging God. I wonder how many times we don't have a productive day. Things don't go our way. We go to the store and we can't find what we're looking for. Or we buy something only to get it home, find out it's got a spot on it. It's torn, so we've got to take it back. Now it's a big hassle.

And, you know, maybe that could have been avoided if we would have just acknowledged God first. And I'm not saying everything, of course, is going to go perfect if we do this. But when we're doing everything in our own strength, without recognizing the true source of our strength, things are not going to go as smoothly as they should have. Now, I heard somebody say, I never meet with another person without first meeting with God. I like that. Before you meet with anybody else, make sure you first acknowledge God. This is what I do. Every morning before I leave the house, I get on my knees, and I say, God, I know you have given me this day. You've given me my breath, you've given me my strength, you've given me my life. And God, I give this. I give this. I know, I give this,

today back to you. Let everything I do bring honor to your name. Right at the start, I acknowledge the true source of my strength. I admit that I'm depending upon God. We may have some natural talent. You may have some natural ability, but

it will always be limited. We will never reach our highest potential without learning how to acknowledge God in all of our ways. I like to run a lot of time in the mornings. Before I do, it's a habit now. I don't even really have to think about it. I just say, Father, thank you for giving me a good run. Thank you that my legs work. Thank you that I'm healthy. Thank you that I have strength. Thank you that I'm alive.

Just under my breath, I'm acknowledging God. A lot of times when Jonathan comes home from school, we'll go out and throw the football. God, thank you for giving us a good time. God, thank you for giving me a great son. In everything we do, if we'll acknowledge God, it'll go smoother. Even things we've been doing a thousand times. practically doing your sleep. You've been cooking dinner for 20 years, but under your breath, you should be saying, thank you, Lord, for this food. Thank you for guiding me. Thank you for helping it to taste good. If you'll have that kind of attitude, God will remind you when you left an ingredient out. He'll remind you when something's about to burn. You'll hear that still small voice. Hey, go check the oven. This will save your frustration. Make your food taste a lot better. I'm believing Victoria's

taking notes this morning. Well, you say, Joel, man, I'm not going to bother God with those little petty things. He's got more pressing issues to deal with. No, this is where we miss it. God wants to be involved in every part of our lives. It's his joy, it's his delight to know that we're depending on him, that he is the source of our strength. I know people give me a hard time about getting good parking spots. Joel, I don't believe God's interested in something as small as us getting a good parking spot. I'm not going to bother him with that. No, you're not bothering God, it's just the opposite. It's the principle when you depend on God. When you realize this day is not going to be as good as it could have been without God's

favor and blessing. It's this dependency. It's this relying on him that causes God to work. And really, when we don't acknowledge God, it's a form of pride. We're saying in a roundabout way, God, I don't need you. I can do this on my own. I can handle this by myself. That's when God has to just back away, and we don't see his blessings in favor like we really should. But if we can just develop this habit of constantly acknowledging God throughout the day, when you get up in the morning, just say, Father, thank you for giving me a good day. Thank you for helping me be a good parent to my children. When you pull up to work, Father, thank you for that parking spot, driving home.

God help me to be patient in traffic. Help me to be kind to my family tonight. What we're really saying is God, I need you. I'm depending on you. That's when God will show up. We see this even as parents. When our children need our help, it draws it out of us. We're glad to do it. The other day, Jonathan was in the backyard hammering something. He's our 11-year-old son. He couldn't get the nail to go in straight, kept bending it over this way and the other way. And I was inside the house watching the ball game. But I could hear all the hammering, all the commotion, but I figured he was okay. He wasn't saying anything about it. But in a few minutes, he came in with one of his friends. He was kind of frustrated.

He said, Daddy, I need your help. I can't get this nail to go in straight. And as a father, that made me feel good. I thought I liked that. He needs me. In other words, he thinks I'm smart. He thinks I can do anything. And I put my shoulders back, held my head up high, and I kind of went out there and wanted to show off.

I wanted to do my best knowing that he believed in me, knowing that he was counting on me. I didn't do it for him. I just gave him a little guidance, a little advice. I could see he didn't have the board on something solid. He had it on the grass. We moved it over to the concrete. He took four or five swings. It went right in. No problem at all. He was as happy as can be. In fact, he said, here, Daddy, hold this next nail and I'll nail another one in. I said, no, Jonathan, I don't have that much faith. You hammer it yourself. But this is the way God is. When we need him, it's His joy for him to be there to help us out. And I thought about how simple that was for me to fix.

Just one word of advice from his father. Just moving it from here to there. Getting it off the grass onto the concrete made all the difference in the world. When you acknowledge God, many times just like that, he'll give you just a little bit of wisdom. Just one idea here and there. All of a sudden you get a break, another break, and the whole day turns out much more productive. Sometimes you may not even realize what happened, but because you took time to acknowledge

God, he protected you from an accident. He caused one of his angels to just slow another car down, keep that from harming you. Or he had one of your clients think about you out of the blue and give you a call. He let his favor shine down on one of your children because you took time to bless him on the way to school that morning. You may never know, but the day went more productive the day went smoother because we had the attitude, God, I'm depending on you. I need your help. But too often we do just the opposite. I don't know if you've ever been helping your child do homework. They're struggling. They can't figure something out. And you know exactly what they're doing wrong. You know exactly how to correct it, but they won't take your help. Their attitude is,

I can figure this out on my own. I don't need your help. Let me do it by myself. Even though as a parent, we know we could make their life easier. We have to just step away. Same way with God. When we don't acknowledge him, we're saying, God, I'm fine. I can handle this business meeting on my own. I've been doing it for 20 years.

Well, God, I don't need your help raising these children. I'm fine. I don't need help mowing the lawn, cooking dinner. I've been doing it a long time. But if we could just learn to depend on him, if we'd start acknowledging him, we'd see things go smoother. We'd get things done quickly.

quicker. We'd have more joy and more peace. The Holy Spirit is called our helper, but we have to be willing to receive his help. Even in things that we've done again and again, we have to still remember to rely on God. I've been doing this now for about seven years since my father went to be with the Lord, and I've spoken several hundred times, and I guess in one sense, I've kind of got it down. I've kind of gotten into my routine. But I can tell you, every time before I come out here, I say with without fail, God, I need you. I'm depending on you. God, I know I can't do this in my own strength, so I'm asking for your help. I don't take for granted the source of my strength. I realize without his blessings and his favor in my life, I'm never going to become all God's

created me to be. And it's this dependency on him that activates God's power. It's when we're self-reliant, when we're independent, we only stop. God's progress. So every morning when we first get up, we need to say, God, thank you for this day. Help me to make good choices. God, thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for your strength. And then all throughout the day, before you meet with that person, God, I'm asking for your help. Before you teach your students, God give me your favor. Before you play in that ballgame, God, I acknowledge you. I recognize you're the source of my strength. I'm asking you to protect me. Help me to excel. I talked to a very famous baseball player the other day, one of the best in the league.

He's a superstar. He set all kinds of records. And I've seen him on television. Before he gets up to bat, he goes through a certain routine. And I ask him what it was all about. And it's exactly what we're talking about. Before he steps up to the plate, every time, he's batted thousands of times. He's extremely talented.

But each time before he gets up there, he closes his eyes and says, God, I need you. He's acknowledging God. The fact is, he's not telling God I want a home run. He's not telling God how to do it. He's simply admitting, God, I need you. When he faces Roger Clemens, he says, God, I really need you. But what's he doing? He's showing his dependency on God. He's humbling himself and saying, in effect, I may be a quote superstar. I may have some talent, but God, I recognize, apart from you, I can do nothing. I realize, God, you've given me the strength, the talent, the favor, and I don't take for granted your goodness in my life. I acknowledge you in all of my ways. Another translation of that same verse in Proverbs says, in everything you do,

put God first, and he will crown your efforts with success. I think we'd be amazed at how much more success we could have. If in everything we did, we put God first. That should be our attitude. Everywhere I go today, everything I do, I'm going to acknowledge God. I'm saying, get God out of that Sunday morning box. When you go to the mall, God, I acknowledge you. Help me to have a productive time. When you do that, God will direct your path. He will crown your efforts with success. In other words, he'll help you to find what you're looking for. He'll help you to find. He'll help you get the best deals. He'll help you to not waste your time, not waste your money.

I remember my mother used to come home growing up and tell my father, look John, I got 12 dresses for the price of six. God's favor. My dad would say, God don't do many more favors like that. But when we acknowledge God, he causes us to be at the right

place at the right time. When we put God first in everything we do, that's when his blessings will chase us down and overtake us. That's when we can't outrun the good things of God. The other day, our little daughter, Alexandra, came in. She's seven years old. She asked me if I'd take her to buy a cell phone.

And I'd promised her one months and months before, her brother, Jonathan, has one. And her little cousin was going out of town, and they wanted to be able to talk on their phones. I didn't really feel like going. I was kind of tired, but I just couldn't turn her down. I said, okay, let's go. Well, about that time, Jonathan heard where we were going. He said, oh, Daddy, I want to come, too. And I said, well, Jonathan, that's fine, but you already have a cell phone.

He said, I know, Daddy, I just want to go look. You got to know, Jonathan's not a looker. He's a buyer. As we were leaving, Victoria said, well, I don't want to be here by myself. And so she said, I'll come along. So man alive, it turned out to be a family affair going to the cell phone place. As we were driving there, I did just what I'm asking you to do today. Under my breath, nobody heard me.

I simply said, God. help us define just the right phone. Alexandra had a certain style, a certain color, a particular model. And we got there and the people were so friendly. And sure enough, they had the exact right phone that she was looking for. She was just so happy. Then Jonathan came up. I knew he's coming.

He said, Daddy, he said, I really want to get a new phone. And I got some money saved up. I said, Jonathan, your phone is barely a year old. That'd be a waste. The man behind the counter heard us talking. And he said, Jonathan, let me see your phone. He took it and he looked up his number. He told us for $150,

we could turn Jonathan's phone in and he could get a new one. I said, well, I don't think we want to do that. Then he said, what kind of phone do you have? I gave him my phone. He looked it up and he said, oh, you're way overdue. You can pick out any new phone free.

And so I let Jonathan have the new phone and I took Jonathan's phone, which was much better than mine. Then just as we're about to leave, he asked Victoria, what kind of phone do you have? And her phone wasn't that old, but it was real beat up. She had dropped it several times while she was driving and trying to put on her makeup at the same time. And I told him, no, we've already checked it out.

It's going to be a couple hundred dollars. We're going to pass. He said, no, she's not going to leave without having a new phone. He looked at his assistant and said, just give her a phone. He said, do what? He said, yeah, I said, just give her a phone. We walked out of there. I thought to myself, we went in to buy one phone.

We came out with three brand new phones. Plus, mine was practically new, and we only paid for one phone. I was scratching my head. I didn't see how that turned out. You know what that was? God causing us to be at the right place, at the right time. That was God directing our steps.

His blessings chasing us down. When we got in the car, first thing I said, thank you, Lord, for your favor. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness. If you'll acknowledge God in all your ways, in everything you do put in first place, you won't be able to outrun the good things of God. All through the day, we should be saying, thank you, Lord, for your favor. Thank you, Lord, for a safe trip home.

Thank you, Lord, for your peace. Thank you, Lord, for a good night's rest tonight. In all your ways, acknowledge God. And it's great to pray in the morning. It's great that you are so faithful to come to church. But the scripture says, to pray without ceasing. that means all through the day under our breath, we should be

talking to God, asking for his help, thanking him for his goodness, acknowledging him, making him a part of not just Sunday mornings, not just of our devotional time, but all throughout the day. And a lot of people don't realize prayer is just talking to God.

When it says pray without ceasing, really that's an attitude. It means we have God constantly on our mind. We are grateful. We have his praise as all. always coming out of our mouth. Throughout the day, thank you, Lord, for your peace. Thank you Lord for helping me deal with that situation. Thank you, Lord, for giving me wisdom in life. See, it's okay to simply talk to God. I know people, anytime they pray, it's like they turn

into another person. They get very formal, very stiff, very rigid. They pray in the King James version of the Bible. Oh, God, thou art so great. I'm asking thee to help thy humble service. today. No, you don't have to pray in old English. And I know God sees your heart. You want to be reverent. You want to be respectful. But it's okay to talk to God, just like you talk to one of your good friends. He's a friend that sticks closer than a brother. You know, it's kind of funny. The same people that I see praying, oh God, thou must help thy humble servant. They're saying to their friends, what's going down, homeboy. I'm not saying it's okay to call it. I'm not saying it's okay to God Homeboy, I don't think I'd do that.

But here's what I'm saying. There's nothing wrong. Y'all not even listening to me now. There's nothing wrong with getting up in the morning and saying, good morning, Lord, I love you today. Thank you for the good things you have in store. God, I acknowledge that you've given me my strength. You've given me my life.

And I'm here to say, I need you. God, I'm counting on your favor, on your strength, on your wisdom, on your guidance in my life today. Then all through the day, you're talking to him. You're thanking him for his goodness. You're making him a part of your everyday life. The word depend in one translation of the Bible means to hang down. Think of a piece of fruit on a branch. It's hanging there like an apple and orange. In other words, without the strength of the tree, it's going to fall. It's not going to make it. Jesus said, I am the vine. You are the branches. If you abide in me, you will bear much fruit. Just the opposite would be true. If we don't abide in him, we're not going to be fruitful.

Not being fruitful means we're not as productive. We're not as successful as God wants us to be. You've all had days when you've driven across town to pick up something only to get there and find out that it's closed. Or you work all day on your computer and something goes wrong and you lose your information. You go to work out and the place is packed. Or you forgot your tennis shoes. Just little things that cause us to not be. productive. Not every time, of course, but sometimes it's because we're not acknowledging God. We're not abiding in Him. We've gotten off to where we're doing everything in our own strength. Now God has to just back away. He's not guiding us, directing us, giving us his favor like he would

if we'd start relying on him once again. That word abide indicates it's something that we continually do. In other words, you don't get up in the morning and say, okay, God, I prayed. I read a chapter in the Bible. I'm set for the day. Went to church on Sunday. I'm set for the week. No, all through the day, under your breath, God, I need you. Something good happens. Father, thank you for your goodness. At the office, God, give me your wisdom. Driving home, thank you, Lord, for protecting me.

If you will abide in him, you'll be fruitful, you'll be productive. You'll see your days go much, much smoother. So let me challenge you again today. Get God out of your Sunday morning box. Make him a part of your everyday life. Learn to talk to him often. that habit all through the day, God, I need you. I'm counting on you. Remember, apart from him, we can do nothing. If you'll learn to acknowledge God, if you'll put him first in everything you do,

God will crown your efforts with success. He'll guide you and direct you, and I know you'll live the life of victory he has in store. Amen, do you receive it today. I know you do. 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 out. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do. This is the first Bible that my parents gave me, I was six years old. They taught me the importance of believe in what

God says about you and letting that determine your self-image. Now, how through the scripture, you can learn to handle challenges and pursue your dreams. Some people tell me that the Bible's not practical for them, how they don't understand it. We've created a new resource called How to Read Your Bible and Enjoy it. It provides 12 distinct lenses that'll help you see the Bible with fresh eyes so you can discover the hidden treasures that increase your faith, practical truths that will help you in your everyday life. When you tap into the power of God's Word, there's no limit to where he'll take you. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any size to the ministry this month,

Joel would like to send you this inspiring new resource. Sometimes reading the Bible can feel confusing, out of touch, or even produce more fear than faith. But now, with this new resource, how to read your Bible and enjoy it, it will make the Word of God come alive in new ways. You'll discover fresh inspiration on every page of your Bible. The 12 lenses give you the power to see the scripture in a whole new light. When you experience the right way to approach God's word, it will ignite renewed passion in your life. When you get God's word down in you, it brings life and victory. This has a great Bible reading plan, plus introductions to each book.

It'll help you enjoy reading the Bible. Thanks so much for being a part of the ministry. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day, and we appreciate your prayers and support. Remember, you can watch the services online every Sunday morning, download our daily podcast, watch on YouTube, or we have a new Joel Osteen Television Network 24 hours a day, and, of course, Sirius XM as well.

Until we see you next. time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of How to Read Your Bible and enjoy it. Today, visit Joel Osteen.com or call 888-567 Joel. Call or click anytime, 24 hours a day.