If you don’t know who Joyce Meyer is, you’ve got to be living under a rock!
Whether you’re religious or not, you must at least have an idea of who the preacher and New York Times bestselling author is.
I’m a great fan of Joyce Meyer and she’s an inspiration to millions of people, men and women.
I read her books and listen to her podcasts a lot.
So, I’ve been reading her book titled The Power of Simple Prayer.
Just like every other book authored by her, it’s a great read.
While reading, I was able to pick seven habits of Joyce Meyer which I believe anyone who wants to live an optimal life should imbibe.
I thought to share it with you guys (because I love you)?.
7 Habits of Joyce Meyer to Transform your Life
1. Thankfulness
In the 5th chapter of her book, Joyce writes, “I never had to develop a complaining attitude; I was born with one. On the other hand, I did have to develop and nurture a thankful attitude.”
Because we are insatiable beings, it’s easier for us to complain, grumble and focus on the things that we don’t have. But this terrible attitude will only suck away our joy.
Attitude is everything. If you don’t learn to be thankful for the little things you have and enjoy, you will not appreciate the bigger things when you eventually have them.
When will you ever be happy then?
Whenever you wake up in the morning, will yourself to focus on things you’re grateful for. This will impart the rest of your day.
While you look forward to getting the things you desire and making your life better, be thankful for the things you have. Be grateful for every little blessing.
It’s said that “we don’t know the value of what we have until we lose it.”
We don’t have to wait for loss to teach us the value of the things we have.
What exactly are you grateful for?
Life
Food to eat
Clean water
A roof over your head
Job to earn a living, even if you hate it
Health
Friends
Children
Safe trips
Family
Love
Coworkers
Talents
Creativity
Take a pen and make a list of the things you’re thankful for. If possible, paste it where you can see it.
This will help you to maintain a positive attitude always.
2. She doesn’t worry
“My husband’s theme in life has been “cast your care.” In the early years of our marriage, I worried and he enjoyed life. It made me angry that I had to take care of everything while he just enjoyed himself, but I finally learned that all of my worry was not accomplishing anything good. Instead, it gave me headaches, backaches, stomachaches, made me nervous and grouchy, but did nothing beneficial. After years of tormenting myself with worry and anxiety, I finally learned to cast my care also. Actually, I learned that God does not take care of us until we cast all of our care onto Him,” she writes in the 6th chapter.
To be honest, there’ll always be something to worry about – in our lives, families, or even the world. Because we do not live in a perfect world.
But the key thing is our attitude to these unpleasant life issues.
It’s natural to be worried when things aren’t going on the way we want, but worry only does more harm. It never does anything good. It instead leads to physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion.
What then can we do?
Learn like Joyce Meyer and commit our worries unto the Lord’s hands because HE CARES!
The reason we worry is that we don’t trust God enough to handle our stuff. We also feel in charge when we worry.
But worrying will only wear us out.
When we trust in God to help us, we become calm enough to receive direction and guidance from Him to help us deal with our issues.
What are you worried out? Why not hand them over to God and enjoy His rest? Quit worrying and being anxious and see your life get transformed.
3. Physical discipline (Exercise)
In the 8th chapter of her book, Joyce writes, “I was having a great difficulty disciplining myself to exercise. I am normally a disciplined person, but I just could not seem to stay on a regular exercise program. Frankly, I hated it! Exercise was absolutely the worst kind of bondage for me.”
She further explained how a friend of hers called one day to ask if there was any personal thing she’d like to be interceded for.
She thought about it deeply and asked that the man pray for the discipline to exercise and stick with a good exercise program because she desired to live long.
“After he began to pray for me, I was able to exercise – consistently and in a disciplined way – for the first time in my life. Not long after I started, I even got to the point that I could say, “I’m beginning to actually enjoy exercising.”
A lot of us are like Joyce – we hate exercising.
Honestly, it requires a lot of discipline to exercise consistently. Perhaps we need a special prayer like Joyce.
I don’t need to get started on the importance of exercise to our wellbeing. If we care about our health, we need to settle for the appropriate exercise program.
Signing up at the gym is great but you don’t have to wait until then to start exercising.
Walking, cycling, swimming, dancing, skipping the rope etc. are forms of exercise that can do your body some good.
Ditch your car sometimes and walk.
I was already forming a habit of exercising when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter two years ago.
Since then, I’ve not gotten back into the habit of exercising. Although I try to take a walk occasionally but having a career that requires you to sit in front of a PC all day isn’t helping matters.
I hope to get better at exercising because just like Joyce Meyer, I plan to be here for the long haul.
4. Focus on others
“We can pray for ourselves and we can pray for radical blessings for ourselves, but we need to avoid praying for ourselves all the time….. I am constantly hearing about four or five people who need prayer, and just when some of those prayers are answered, I will become aware of other people to pray for,” she writes.
We all have needs, and meeting them could get so overwhelming that we don’t see how we can be of help to others.
We can be so focused on ourselves that we become blind to how we can be a blessing to others.
While you should never feel guilty for making your needs a priority and putting yourself first, you shouldn’t also be trapped in a web of selfishness/self-centeredness.
Caring about others in our own little way can make the world a better place to live in.
Look around you – your neighbourhood, church, workplace, family, the streets etc. and see if there’s any way you can be a blessing to anyone there.
Even a smile, a hug, words of encouragement, a pat on the back, holding the door for others and other simple acts of kindness can go a long way to make a difference in other people’s lives.
Caring about others is a habit we should all develop.
5. Positive attitude to life
One of my favourite books of all time is Attitude is Everything by Keith Harrell.
It taught me that it’s not what happens to me that matters but my attitude towards the situation.
Joyce wrote, “There was a time in my prayer life when I was about to burst with expectation….Then for some reason, I lost that “edge” to my prayer life and my sense of expectation began to fizzle out. But God did not let me stay that way for long. He began dealing with me, encouraging me to be aggressive again in my expectations and to express them in prayer, expecting Him to do great things in the earth and in my life….”
Sincerely, this speaks to me because I hate to be disappointed, so I prefer to expect the worst so that any result would be bearable.
This isn’t a positive attitude to life and things, so I’m going to work on having positive expectations.
6. Forgiveness
Joyce Meyer was abused in every way by her father until she left home at 18.
Through the help of God, she was able to forgive her father and even pray for his salvation.
Her story is one that inspires everyone battling with the pain of abuse and rejection.
No wonder she’s enjoying God’s immense grace and blessing today.
Imagine forgiving that kind of a father! Not only that, praying for him and caring for him.
This makes me search my heart to see if I’m not harbouring any bitterness against anyone that has hurt me.
Like Joyce wrote, “Forgiveness is not something we feel, it’s a decision we make.”
Forgiveness is not a favour you do for others, it’s what you do for yourself; because unforgiveness is just like drinking poison and expecting another to die.
Is unforgiveness stealing your peace?
Why not let go or pray for the grace to let go?
You don’t necessarily need to continue with the relationship if it’ll expose you to more harm.
If we learn the habit of forgiving people who hurt us, we’ll enjoy more peace in our lives.
7. Respect for spouse
Joyce writes, “At one time, my attitude toward my husband was rebellious due to a fear of being taken advantage of. I thought I had a good excuse, but God would not allow me to stay in rebellion just because of past bad experiences. He let me know that unless I submitted to my husband and had a respectful attitude toward him, that my bad attitude would hinder my prayers….. Once I understood what I was doing and knew how to secure God’s grace and power to change, God expected me to do so. It was not easy but had I refused, I would be stuck at that place still going around and around the same mountains of defeat and frustration.”
Joyce never ceases to sing the praise of her husband, Dave, in all her books.
Dave is apparently one of the most supportive and secure husbands on earth to be the husband of a woman like Joyce Meyer.
If Joyce Meyer didn’t have peace in her marriage, she wouldn’t be doing this great.
Even if Dave was a naturally secure and gentleman, if Joyce had been disrespectful to him, I don’t think she would enjoy his immense support.
How do you treat your partner?
Sometimes, we respect everyone but our spouses due to overfamiliarity.
This isn’t right.
You can’t treat your partner with disrespect and expect to enjoy a good life.
So, these are the 7 habits of Joyce Meyer that I garnered from her book, The Power of Simple Prayer.
I’ve almost finished reading, and just like any good book, I don’t want it to end.
But I can always read it all over again!
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