Joseph Prince (September-16-2024) Daily Devotion: What You Are Conscious of Will Manifest

1 John 4:4 - You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

If you have been to a circus performance or watched one on television, you would be familiar with the act involving a lion and its trainer. But have you ever wondered why, besides holding a whip, the trainer would arm himself with a stool and point its legs toward the beast?

The whole idea is to distract the lion. You see, as powerful as the beast is, it can be immobilized by distractions. If this man-eater is not distracted from time to time, it might just decide to maul the trainer to death!

The devil is like the trainer. He knows that you have God’s power inside you because the Lion of Judah is in you, and “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” So what the devil tries to do is immobilize you with distractions.

For example, he may bring to your attention a pain in your body to distract you. And you find yourself going to a few medical journals or the Internet to find out more about the symptoms. You also decide to consult more than one doctor. And because you know of someone who has the same condition, you talk to him about it.

In the end, you are distracted by the pain, the symptoms, your findings, the doctors’ reports and your friend’s experience. And you find it hard to believe and focus on God’s Word about your healing. You have become immobilized, powerless and fearful.

So the devil’s trick is to get you to focus on your condition. When you are conscious of the symptoms in your body and your findings, you will see sickness manifest. But God wants you to focus on who you are and what you have in Christ. When you are conscious that you are the healed in Christ, you will see healing manifest.

My friend, what you are conscious of will manifest. So be conscious of Christ, who is all the power of God inside you, and you will see that power manifest!

Joseph Prince (September-15-2024) Daily Devotion: Jesus Can Identify With Your Pain

Leviticus 2:4 - ‘And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

Private pains, deep hurts, shameful addictions. You may think that nobody understands what you are going through, but God does. He can identify with all your pains and is able to help you (see Hebrews 2:18, 4:15).

In the Old Testament, the grain offering brought to God speaks of Jesus’ life on earth. The fine flour, which the grain offering is made with, is flour that has been pounded, ground, beaten and sifted through to get it consistently even and fine. Therefore, it typifies the humanity and sufferings of Jesus.

One of the ways the Jewish women prepared the grain offering was to bake it. The baking done in the depths of the oven speaks of the “hidden” sufferings that Jesus went through. I believe that Jesus faced sufferings that we cannot fully understand. Even as a young boy, He must have gone through sufferings that prepared Him to die for all humanity at the cross. And during His ministry years, it must have grieved Him when time and time again, He found unbelief not just in the people around Him, but even in His disciples.

Jesus also suffered at the hands of men—slanderers who misunderstood Him. Once, the Pharisees insinuated that He was born out of wedlock because His mother was with child before she married Joseph (see John 8:39, 41). That scandalous remark, probably not the first, must have hurt Him.

Consider also the temptations He faced. There were not only three. God’s Word says that He was tempted for 40 days (see Luke 4:2)! Not all the temptations were recorded. Those 40 days must have tried Him sorely.What do all these mean?

My friend, Jesus went through all those temptations and sufferings for you, yet He did not sin (see Hebrews 4:15). There is no temptation or suffering that you are going through that He cannot identify with. So come to His throne of grace today and receive His superabounding grace to face and overcome those trials in your life!

Joseph Prince (September-14-2024) Daily Devotion: Christ Your Wisdom Gives You Good Success!

1 Corinthians 1:30 - But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God…

It is believed that there has never been a wealthier king than King Solomon. God gave him wisdom that not only made him wise in matters of justice, but also brought him gold and silver (see 1 Kings 3:12–13).

According to a report by the Illinois Society of Architects in 1925, the cost of Solomon’s temple in terms of existing values would have been about US$87 billion! The priests wore garments costing more than US$10 million! These amounts only cover what Solomon spent on the temple and not his personal assets.

We can go on talking about the riches of King Solomon, but the Bible tells us that there is one greater than Solomon (see Matthew 12:42). His name is Jesus, and He is the most prosperous Man who ever lived and who will ever live.

If there was a need to feed the hungry, He simply multiplied whatever food was placed in His hands. On one occasion, He multiplied five loaves and two fish to feed 5,000 men, not counting women and children. And incredibly, there were 12 baskets full of leftovers (see Matthew 14:15–21).

If any of His own faced lack, it was not long before abundant provision flowed to them. Once, when His disciples caught nothing after a whole night of fishing, He merely spoke a word of command and schools of fish obeyed, swimming toward His disciples’ boat so that they received a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fish (see Luke 5:1–7). In another incident, He provided the money for the temple tax, even if it took a fish to bring it to them (see Matthew 17:24–27)!

My friend, this same Jesus has become for you wisdom from God. If you are a businessman, with Christ in you, you have wisdom that is greater than the wisdom of all the world’s business gurus put together. And if you are a student, Christ in you will manifest wisdom that is greater than all the wisdom of the brilliant minds in the academic world.

Beloved, believe that because Jesus, God’s wisdom, is in you, there is no reason you cannot prosper today, and astound the world in the same way Solomon did!

Joseph Prince (September-13-2024) Daily Devotion: Sow Where You Want a Harvest

Genesis 26:12 - Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him.

When you sow apple seeds, you get apples. When you sow seeds of friendship, you get friends. If in the natural, you receive in the area in which you sow, how much more will you receive in the supernatural when God blesses you!

 The Bible tells us that when Isaac sowed in the land, he reaped a hundredfold even though there was a famine in that land (see Genesis 26:1). The reason was that “the Lord blessed him.”

So if you are believing God for a breakthrough in a particular area, sow in that area. A brother wrote a note to me at a conference I was preaching at in London. He shared with me how he was one of only two employees promoted in his department and given a substantial increase in his salary despite the economic downturn in England and rentrenchment exercise at his workplace. The sum of his salary was "more than 10 times" what he had sowed into God's kingdom at the same conference the year before. It could only be the Lord blessing him. And He “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

Whatever money or time you give to the Lord, He will multiply it back to you. For example, you have 24 hours a day like everyone else, but the Lord can make your day very fruitful. And even after doing all that needs to be done, you will find that you still have time left to rest.

Even when you have nothing to give but prayers, your prayers will not return to you void. God can answer them exceedingly above what you have asked. When Job lost everything that he possessed, he prayed for his friends, and the Lord not only restored his losses, but He also “gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10).

So start sowing seeds in the area that you are believing God for, and know that before long, you will be reaping your harvest!

Joseph Prince (September-12-2024) Daily Devotion: That Disease Stops Here!

Psalm 91:7 - A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.

Your doctor or insurance agent may ask you, “Do you have a family history of cancer?” If you say, “Yes,” they will probably tell you that you might get some form of cancer too.

Now, if you are without God, you would probably agree with them and start worrying about your health. But you are not without God! In fact, His Word tells you, “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.” Therefore, even if you have a family history of cancer, and your family members have died of cancer, you can have the confidence to declare that it will not come near you!

My mother had this attitude. After a thorough medical check-up, the doctor was surprised and told her that she did not have high blood pressure or heart disease, although these two conditions have plagued her father and siblings. You see, my mother had already firmly declared that no deadly, family-related disease would come near her.

Praise God for my mother’s trust in God’s Word because I am the generation after her! In fact, after my mother told me about the results of her check-up, I randomly opened my  Bible only to read about Rahab the harlot who by faith “did not perish with those who did not believe” (Hebrews 11:31).

Beloved, God wants you to know that even though you are in this world, you are not of this world. You belong to Him and because He is on your side, “He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence” (Psalm 91:3).

Even when it comes to generational diseases, you can boldly declare, “That disease stops here!” because you have God and His Word. And when you believe God and His Word, you will see His promises come to pass for you—“A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you”!

Joseph Prince (September-11-2024) Daily Devotion: He Gives His Angels Charge Over You

Psalm 91:11–12 - For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You are about to step onto the road when something pulls you back just in time to avoid being hit by a speeding car. You are shocked. When you come to your senses, you ask yourself, “Could it be that an angel just saved me from a fatal accident?”

I believe that angels walk with us. The verse tells us that God has given His angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways. This means that they go ahead of you to protect you from the snares of the enemy.

But we may not know it when we encounter an angel (see Hebrews 13:2). This was probably the case with a couple in our church who were holidaying at a beach resort on Penang Island when a tsunami struck at about 12.30pm on 26 December 2004.

It was slightly past 11am when the wife suddenly had a craving for food from the mainland. The couple decided to check out earlier, so that they could reach the mainland in time for lunch. While loading their luggage into their car at the hotel driveway, a man impatiently motioned to them to hurry up and get moving.

Annoyed by his impatience, they quickly loaded their stuff and drove off. The minute they reached the mainland, they heard that a tsunami had struck Penang Island at the same beach where they were just a while ago. While thanking God for their narrow escape, it suddenly dawned on them that the impatient man could have been an angel charged by God to hurry them off!

God tells us that we have an innumerable company of angels (see Hebrews 12:22). And He has given them charge over us to protect us from accidents and other dangers. So don’t live fearful and limit your life. Believe that God loves you and that His angels walk with you and watch over you!

Joseph Prince (September-10-2024) Daily Devotion: Declare God's Word Over Your Situation

Psalm 91:2 - I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”

When a great storm arose as Jesus and His disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, He did not say to His disciples, “The storm is here to teach us courage.” Instead, He took authority over the storm and said, “Peace, be still!” And there was a perfect calm (see Mark 4:39).

When He met the widow of Nain whose only son had died, and on another occasion, the two sisters whose brother Lazarus had died, He didn’t tell them, “God wanted to take him home.” No, He spoke to the dead son: “Young man, I say to you, arise” (Luke 7:14). And standing outside Lazarus’ tomb, He said, “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43). And both men came back to life.

What have you been saying about your situation?

When you feel the pain in your body, don’t say of the Lord, “God wants me sick to teach me to trust Him more.” Instead, say, “Lord Jesus, I thank You that by Your stripes I am healed” (see 1 Peter 2:24).

And while trying to make ends meet, don’t say of the Lord, “The Lord keeps me poor to keep me humble.” Instead, say, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (see Psalm 23:1).

We are living in the last days when there are terrorist attacks and deadly viruses lurking around, and the world is afraid. But we will not speak negative words and be fearful like the people of the world. Instead, we will speak God’s Word and reign over these things. Like the psalmist, we will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”

So find out what God’s Word says about your situation, believe it and declare it. And because God’s Word cannot return to Him void (see Isaiah 55:11), you will see what you believe and confess come to pass!

Joseph Prince (September-09-2024) Daily Devotion: Give God's Word Priority, and See Good Success

Joshua 1:8 - This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

In life, there is good success and bad success. Bad success is the kind of success which robs you of time with your family, friends and church, and destroys your health and relationships. With good success, on the other hand, you see prosperity in every area of your life.

God wants you to enjoy good success and the key to this lies in what God told Joshua when he took over the reins following the death of his leader Moses—“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Spending time in God’s Word daily will give you godly wisdom, which will make your way prosperous and give you good success.

Look at how Joshua’s life turned out in the end. When Joshua died, “they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash” (Joshua 24:30). Joshua had a whole mountain for his inheritance! This means that he was prosperous and successful!

It was also said that Israel served the Lord, not idols or other gods, all the days of Joshua’s life (see Joshua 24:31). This means that while Joshua was around, people were impacted for God’s glory.

And at the end of his life, a fulfilled Joshua had this to say, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Having your family loving God and serving Him with you is the most important success and greatest prosperity that you can ever have.

Beloved, when God’s Word takes priority in your daily life, not only will your finances be blessed, your ministry and family life will also be blessed!

Joseph Prince (September-08-2024) Daily Devotion: The 12 Wells and 70 Palm Trees

Exodus 15:27 - Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy  palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.

Would you like to know an important biblical key to divine health? It is found in today’s verse, which comes right after God says, “I am the Lord who heals you.” He said this to His people after He brought them out of Egypt (see Exodus 15:26).

The wells of water and palm trees speak of refreshment. They paint a picture of an oasis in the desert. The Israelites rested and were refreshed there. But why the numbers 12 and 70?

There are no insignificant details in the Bible. The 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees represent anointed ministries that refresh you with God’s Word. So if you want to know Jesus as the Lord who heals you, sit under anointed preaching of God’s Word because when His Word goes forth, it will heal you. His Word is medicine to all your flesh (see Proverbs 4:22)!

How did I make that connection? Let the Bible interpret the Bible. Matthew 10:1 says that when Jesus had “called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” He sent out the 12 and said to them, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons...” (Matthew 10:7–8).

Then, in Luke 10:1, the Lord “appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.” He also said to the 70, “And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Luke 10:9).

In other words, Jesus anointed the 12 and then the 70 disciples to preach God’s Word and heal the sick. Today, if you want refreshment, if you want health and healing, don’t sit under ministries that tell you that God doesn’t always want to heal and that He sometimes gives you diseases to teach you lessons. Instead, sit under anointed ministries that preach the good news and practice healing the sick. My friend, that is how you can begin to walk in divine health!

Joseph Prince (September-07-2024) Daily Devotion: God Favors You Because He Loves You

 1 John 4:19 - We love Him because He first loved us.

Have you ever found yourself receiving such exceeding favor that you wonder why? My friend, it is because God is lavishing His grace—unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor—on you. And He does it because He loves you.

I love reading the Old Testament story of Ruth, a young Moabite widow, because it speaks of God’s amazing grace. The moment Ruth depended on God’s grace or favor, she had full access to His blessings. Of all the fields in Bethlehem, His grace led her to the field that belonged to Boaz, who was not only a wealthy bachelor, but also a relative of her father-in-law (see Ruth 2:3). Boaz was therefore her potential kinsman-redeemer—someone who could redeem her from her plight as a poor and childless widow.

Boaz favored Ruth from the moment he laid eyes on her. Ruth was not even a Jew, yet he cared for her safety by telling her not to glean in another field and to stay close to his young women. He even commanded the young men working for him not to touch her and to allow her to drink the water which they had drawn.

During mealtimes, he sat her beside the reapers although she was just a lowly gleaner who picked up what they had missed or dropped. On top of that, he gave her parched grain, making sure that she ate and was satisfied, and that she had leftovers to bring back to her mother-in-law (see Ruth 2:1–18).

Ruth simply believed that she would find favor in the field and God placed her at the right place at the right time, so that He could open a big door of blessings to her.

Do you know that Boaz is a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus? The Bible says that “He first loved us.” Jesus saw you and loved you first, long before you knew Him or loved Him. And He favors whom He loves.

Beloved, there is no need to fight or strive to qualify for God’s favor and blessings. His favor is all over you because He first loved you. Just trust in His love for you and you will see His favor bringing an abundance of blessings into your life!

Joseph Prince (September-06-2024) Daily Devotion: Focus on the Finished Work for Divine Health

Psalm 118:8 - It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

A lot of people think that the way to get health is to watch what they eat. For example, many people say that the Mediterranean diet is a very healthy one. I agree, generally. But do you know that the people whom Jesus healed were also on a Mediterranean diet? They did not eat pork and prawns, for example, because they were Jews and these things are not kosher for them.

I know that you want to walk in divine health. But God does not want your focus to be on food—what to eat, what not to eat—or even exercise—how to exercise, when to exercise. All these are natural means which the people of the world trust in. It is better to trust in the Lord and His finished work, than to put your confidence in the latest man-made diet plans and exercise regimes.

At the cross, Jesus took your sicknesses and carried your pains, and by His stripes you were healed (see Isaiah 53:4–5).  The Bible even tells us how to escape sickness and premature death—by discerning the Lord’s body when we partake of the Lord’s Supper (see 1 Corinthians 11:29–30). But instead of focusing on these truths, many of us prefer to focus on dieting and exercising.

Now, I am not against eating well or exercising. I myself exercise and I do watch what I eat. For example, I don’t like to eat oily stuff because it makes me feel uncomfortable. And when I have to preach, I do my best not to eat foods that make me burp!

But I eat generally healthy stuff not because I trust dieting to make me healthy. I exercise not because I trust exercising to make me healthy. No, I trust the finished work of Christ to make me healthy. I eat well because I like to feel good and I exercise because I enjoy the rush, the sweat!

God wants you to be free when it comes to eating and exercising. Don’t make laws for eating and exercising, and then trust these laws to give you “divine” health. Trust in the finished work of Christ. Discern His body when you partake of the Holy Communion. And just enjoy your food and workout!