Joseph Prince (December-31-2023) Daily Devotional: Acknowledge Jesus’ Presence by Giving Thanks

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

There are Christians who know in theory that Jesus is with them, but they do not actively practice His presence. For me personally, one of the best ways to practice the presence of the Lord is to thank Him all the time. You can give thanks to Him for everything. Just say, “Lord, I thank You for this beautiful sunset. I thank You for Your love and for surrounding me with good things and good friends.”

There is no limit to what you can thank Him for since every good and perfect gift that we enjoy today comes directly from Him (James 1:17). Even if you have had a rough day at work and you are facing a seemingly impossible challenge, you can practice His presence.

The moment you realize that your heart is heavy with worry and your mind is plagued by anxiety, share your challenge with Jesus and thank Him that this problem is not bigger than His hands. Begin to surrender it to Him and depend on Him for His strength, power, and peace.

As you do that, you are already practicing the presence of the Lord. And as you honor His presence and behave like He is indeed with you, He sees it as faith in Him and intervenes on your behalf for your success in whatever situation you may be in.

It is sad when Christians behave like some husbands who bring their wives to a party, only to ignore them completely. Their wives could be right there with them physically, but these guys are so engaged with their own friends, talking about the stock market, economy, or latest game on television, that their wives might as well not be with them.

Ladies, do you know men like that? Now, men who are reading this, I know you are not like that, so don’t get offended, all right? I know you cherish and love your wife. What I am trying to illustrate is that just because someone is with you physically, it does not mean that the person feels appreciated by you. Appreciation only occurs when you start acknowledging the presence of that person.

What I like to do is to look at Wendy across a room crowded with people, and when our eyes connect across the room, it is as if the rest of the people fade instantly into oblivion, and only Wendy remains. I want her to know that I appreciate her for coming along with me to that dinner event or meeting.

I am not claiming that I am sensitive to Wendy all the time, but there are moments when I do want to make it a point to make her feel special. She is special to me, but to actually appreciate her and to make her feel special is something else altogether. Like all husbands, I am still growing in this aspect.

Now, what does the word “appreciate” mean? It means “to increase in value.” If you appreciate someone, the person increases in value in your eyes. My friend, the Lord is already with you, so start to practice His presence. Begin by thanking Him, appreciating Him, and increasing His value in your eyes, and you will see Him acting on your behalf.

Joseph Prince (December-30-2023) Daily Devotional: Choose Life and See Good Days

A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones. Proverbs 14:30 AMP

In the new covenant, God wants us to come back to believing and speaking. I am not denying that the darkness, barrenness, sickness, or infirmity that you may be faced with is there. I am asking you to speak by faith what you want to see. While God saw the darkness, instead of speaking what He saw, He spoke what He wanted to see.

So the question you must ask yourself is this: What do you want to see in your life? What do you want to see in your body, your marriage, your children, your family, your household, and your place of employment? Listen carefully: I am not asking you what you currently see. I am asking you what you want to see.

It is unfortunate that the enemy has been successful in deceiving many people into speaking negatively, often with bitterness and unforgiveness, over their own lives and the lives of those around them.

Some years ago a pastor who has been used mightily by the Lord in healing miracles shared something very thought-provoking with me. He noticed that people who had been completely healed were susceptible to developing the same disease again when they harbored bitterness and anger against another person in their hearts.

Reread today’s scripture. From this verse, you can see how holding on to negative emotions can eat away at you on the inside. Holding bitterness against someone, for example, is like drinking lethal poison, and expecting the other person to die! It is just not worth it, my friend. You are killing yourself slowly.

I am not saying that the injustice inflicted upon you by this person is acceptable or insignificant. What I am saying is that today you can choose life and let go of that anger in your heart. Release that person, and most importantly, release yourself. Bless that person. Choose to love life and see many good days.

But Pastor Prince, you don’t understand. He doesn’t deserve my forgiveness!

Precisely. Forgiveness is for those who don’t deserve it. That’s what grace is all about. Remember what the Word says: don’t return evil for evil, reviling for reviling (1 Pet. 3:9). Instead, have a spirit of grace and bless those who curse you. Bless them and set yourself free to love life and see many good days. Amen!

The sad reality is that the enemy has successfully programmed death into the human language. We hear causal expressions in our daily conversations such as, “That dress is to die for,” or “I am dying for that piece of cheesecake.” Come on, let’s change our vocabulary and saturate it with life. Instead of dying, let’s be living for something!

I like the salutation Jews use when they propose a toast. They say, “L’chaim,” which means, “To life!” Don’t be preoccupied with what is dark and deathly; let’s celebrate the abundant life that our Lord came to bring us! The power of life and death is in the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Love life and see good days.

Start by refraining your lips from speaking evil and begin filling your mouth with the good news of all the wonderful things our Lord has done and will continue to do in your life. When you change your words, you will change your life. L’chaim!

Joseph Prince (December-29-2023) Daily Devotional: His Perfect Will, His Final Word

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9–10

I want to share with you a precious testimony from Caleb, a father in Texas who wrote to my team:

My youngest son was diagnosed with scoliosis when his X-ray showed a seventeen-degree curve in his spine. Upon receiving the news, fear, doubt, anger, sadness, worry, and condemnation began to set in our hearts. We were also concerned about potential disabilities and surgeries for our son in the future.

As a pastor, I found myself struggling with my Christian beliefs. Nevertheless, I could feel the Lord’s loving embrace and peace as I prayed for my son. My church also prayed for him, and we believed the Lord could, and would, heal him.

The doctor referred him to a children’s hospital and arranged for an appointment. By faith, we decided to go for the appointment to confirm the healing had already begun. Even though doubt, condemnation, and fear crept into our hearts, we kept declaring the finished work of the cross and we kept partaking of the holy Communion.

During the appointment, the doctor examined my son and took more X-rays. Then she said, “I have good news for you!” and showed us the X-rays that displayed no trace of scoliosis. Our son’s spine had straightened out. The Lord had healed him! There is victory and power in the cross indeed!

We now distribute a copy of Pastor Prince’s book The Power of Right Believing to every new member in our church. We believe miracles happen as we fill ourselves with the good news of the gospel.

I really felt for Caleb when he described the feelings he went through on hearing his son was diagnosed with a condition that could potentially lead to lifelong disability. Every loving parent wants their child to be well and to enjoy a quality life, and that’s also our heavenly Father’s heart and will toward us.

Despite his fears and uncertainties, Caleb did the best thing he could for his son. He kept declaring the finished work of the cross, and he kept partaking of the holy Communion. And just like that, with nothing spectacular happening, no voice booming out from heaven, and no earth-shaking demonstration of power, his son was healed.

Are you also concerned about a health issue today? I pray that as you do what Caleb did, you will also see God’s supernatural healing manifest for you!

Joseph Prince (December-28-2023) Daily Devotional: Be Led by the Holy Spirit

Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. Acts 16:6–7

The more areas of your life you involve the Lord in, the more you can experience His protection. You can even ask the Lord to guide you in something as seemingly natural as your travel itinerary. In fact, read the passage above. The apostle Paul allowed the Holy Spirit to lead them at every step.

We see from those scriptures that closed doors are not necessarily negative, and could be signs of God’s protection over our lives. The challenge for some of us is that we are so adept at planning and scheduling our busy lives that many times, we don’t make room for the Lord to intervene and to guide us to be at the right place at the right time.

Let’s not put our trust in our intelligence and planning, but in His wisdom, leading, and counsel. There is a proverb that says, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9). Even as we plan, I pray that we will always remember to commit all our ways to the Lord, and allow Him to direct our steps.

Being led by the Spirit does not have to be something complicated. When you walk close to the Lord and have a close relationship with Him, He can lead you in supernaturally natural ways.

Some years ago, a couple in our church were vacationing at a beach resort on Penang Island in Malaysia, when the wife felt like eating something in another location on the mainland. Because of that “prompting” in her belly, they headed off earlier than they had originally planned. While they were loading their vehicle, a man kept hurrying them and asking them to move off as they were apparently blocking the hotel driveway, and that had really irritated them at that time.

In any case, just fifteen minutes after they had crossed from the island to the mainland, they heard the news that an earthquake in the Indian Ocean had triggered a killer tsunami that crashed onto the beachfront they were at, killing more than fifty people.

Had they left just a little later, they could have been among the casualties of the tragedy that day. Looking back, the couple believes that the man at the hotel might even have been an angel sent by the Lord to get them out of harm’s way quickly.

I don’t know about you, but I want the Lord to direct all my steps! Call upon Him today and He will answer you.

Joseph Prince (December-27-2023) Daily Devotional: Precious in God’s Eyes

“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Revelation 3:5

I want to show you an aspect of how God sees you today through a beautiful truth about the breastplate of the high priest of ancient Israel. Today, Jesus is our High Priest, and as we examine the breastplate, I want you to see something powerful about the way the Lord sees His people.

Notice in the illustration that there are twelve stones on the high priest’s breastplate, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel are engraved on the stones. For example, “Judah” is engraved on the sardius stone set in the first row, and “Gad” is engraved on the diamond set in the second row.

The high priest of Israel: The names of the 12 tribes of Israel are engraved on 12 precious stones found on his breastplate.

These twelve stones represent God’s people today. Notice how God depicts His people, you and me, as precious stones. He didn’t use common rocks and pebbles. He deliberately chose very costly, rare, and precious gems such as sapphire, topaz, emerald, amethyst, diamond, onyx, and jasper to represent you and me (Exod. 39:9–14).

Also, of all the garments donned by the high priest, the breastplate is closest to the heart. This speaks of how much the Lord values you and His desire to keep you close to His heart. In His eyes, you are very costly, precious, and loved.

Notice also that the names of the tribes of Israel were not merely written on the gems; they were engraved (Exod. 39:14). This means that once you become a believer in Jesus, your name is forever engraved in His Book of Life. If your name were only written, you might think that it could easily be erased or blotted out. But the truth is that Jesus has engraved your name on a precious stone, and He keeps it close to His heart.

Can your name ever be blotted out of its place on God’s heart? Just look at what Jesus promises those who are born again: “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels” (Rev. 3:5).

Beloved, through Christ Jesus, you are an overcomer, and in Christ Jesus, you are eternally secure. Rest in the assurance that your name will not be blotted out from the Book of Life. It will remain engraved on stone and close to God’s heart for all eternity!

Joseph Prince (December-26-2023) Daily Devotional: Born to Die so That You Might Live.

And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:12

You are probably familiar with the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. The Bible says that when the time had come, Mary “brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger” (Luke 2:6–7). But have you ever wondered why the angel told the shepherds that the Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger was a “sign”?

A manger is actually a feeding trough for livestock. Do you know what a feeding trough in those days looks like? I have seen a similar one at Solomon’s stables in Meggido, Israel. It is basically a big rectangular block of stone with the trough hewn out of it. So baby Jesus, who was wrapped in swaddling cloths, was placed in such a stone trough.

But why was that a sign? Because if you have seen the empty tomb of Jesus at a place called The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, you would have noticed that the place where His body was laid, inside a tomb hewn out of rock, resembles a stone trough. The Bible says that after Jesus’ crucifixion and death, Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body, wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb hewn out of a rock (Mark 15:43–46).

Can you see the similarities? Wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger, baby Jesus would one day be wrapped in linen and laid in a tomb. That was the sign the angel was referring to. It pointed to Jesus’ death.

Jesus was the only child in all of humanity born to die. Once you realize that, you will realize how much God loves you. You will realize that He gave up His Son for that one purpose, and that His Son willingly came for that one purpose—to die for your sins and mine.

Beloved, can you imagine living your life knowing that you are just qualifying yourself to die on the cross to save the world? That was the life that Jesus lived. He lived to die, so that we might live and enjoy life abundantly today!

Joseph Prince (December-25-2023) Daily Devotional: Fear Not, Your Savior Is Here!

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10–11

My friend, if all is silent and dark in your life now, and you feel like you have been left out in the cold, just know that Jesus came to be your Savior at such a time as this.

He was not born in the comfort of a warm, cozy room, but in a cold manger. There was no room for Him in the inn (Luke 2:7), so that there will always be room at the cross for your healing, deliverance, wholeness and provision, and a mansion in heaven waiting for you!

Jesus was born very quietly, so quietly that the Bible says that only a group of shepherds came to Him, while the rest of Bethlehem slept (Luke 2:8–9). Like manna falling quietly from heaven in the Old Testament, the true bread from heaven came quietly. It was a silent night, but that was not all.

Jesus was also born during the darkest time in Israel’s history. Israel was under the tyrannical rule of the Romans. It was during this time, when everything was so dark, that Jesus was born.

Beloved, He will come to you in the darkest period of your life.

On that cold and silent night, the shepherds were afraid when the angel of the Lord stood before them. But the angel said, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Beloved, it was not a judge or lawgiver who was born. It was a mighty Savior. He came to save His people. He came to save you and me. So even if you are in a cold, dark period of your life, don’t be afraid—the Savior has come and He will save you to the uttermost!

Pastor Prince Daily Devotional: Your Debt Has Been Paid

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:19–22

For decades upon decades, God has been portrayed as an angry God by the devil, and unfortunately, many Bible teachers have unwittingly helped him by painting a picture of a wrathful God. This depiction of God is an error.

We are now under the new covenant, and you will not be able to find a single New Testament scripture that says God is angry with believers because of their sins. You would have to go into the Old Testament to look for verses that speak of God’s anger at the sins of His people.

Does God not being angry with you mean that there is no place for God’s correction in our lives? Is there correction and wise guidance that come by the Word of God in the new covenant of grace?

Absolutely. But as for His anger toward you and your sins, all that has been settled at the cross. I guarantee you, when you come into Jesus’ sweet presence with all your challenges, failings, and struggles, He is not going to roar at you. He is going to love you into wholeness and set you on a trajectory of freedom from all your fears, guilt, and addictions. Jesus is the end of all your struggles!

Because God’s perfect love is the answer to overcoming the struggles in your life, the devil is doing everything he can to alienate and cut you off from this love. He knows that as long as the debt of sin is on your conscience, you will avoid God because you think that God is mad at you.

The beautiful thing about Jesus is that He not only paid the sin debt of your entire life, He overpaid it. Unlike the high priests of the Old Testament, He didn’t offer the blood of bulls and goats to pay for your sins. This High Priest paid for your sins with His own perfect and sinless blood.

God didn’t go soft on sin under grace! No way. He offered His only begotten Son, Jesus, who is an absolute overpayment for your sins.

It’s as if you owed a debt of a million dollars, but Jesus paid a billion dollars to settle that debt. The truth is, if you knew who Jesus is and the value of the Son of God, you would know that His payment at the cross was worth more than a billion dollars. It’s a payment that has wiped out your entire life’s sins—past, present, and future—once and for all! No longer is there a chasm of sin separating you and God. It has been bridged by the bloodstained cross.

Joseph Prince (December-24-2023) Daily Devotional: More than a Conqueror

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10 KJV

My friend, do you have a revelation of God’s personal love for you today? His love has to be experienced in your heart. Head knowledge—just knowing intellectually that God loves you because He loves everyone—isn’t going to cut it. It is when you really encounter the person of Jesus and His grace, and really know in your heart that He loves you, that positive and profound changes begin to happen in your life.

Is there a scriptural basis for saying this? Yes, there is. The Bible tells us clearly, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Pet. 1:2). The word for “knowledge” here is the Greek epignosis, which refers to a heart experience of what and Who God is, rather than mere intellectual knowledge of facts about Him. It is a knowledge that is gained through an intimate and personal relationship with God.

In other words, when you hear and hear until you know in your heart that the Lord loves you and is for you, you will experience His unmerited favor and supernatural peace in the area of your challenges. That is when you will find His strength, wisdom, and supply multiplied tangibly in your life.

Do you remember Gideon, who saw himself as least in his family and who was threshing wheat in a winepress for fear of being seen by the Midianites?

We read his story in the book of Judges and see how he overcame his insecurities and fears and singlehandedly saved Israel from the Midianites, because he first heard gracious, encouraging words from the Angel of the Lord: “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor! . . . Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man” (Judg. 6:12, 16). When he began to see how the Lord saw him, and believed that the Lord was with him and for him, he fulfilled his destiny!

If, like Gideon, you feel small and powerless in the face of your challenges, I encourage you to keep hearing how, because of Jesus’ sacrifice and finished work, nothing can separate you from God’s love. I want you to know right now that He has already made you more than a conqueror in Christ (Rom. 8:37–39).

When you know who you are in Christ and believe in God’s love for you, you will become strong and you will see God do great things in and through you. When you know that God is with you and for you, who or what can stand against you (Rom. 8:31)? You will surely win the fights of life and live the amazing destiny God has prepared for you!

Joseph Prince (December-23-2023) Daily Devotional: Intimacy with the Lord

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28–29

The Lord does not want you to simply claim His promises of protection. He wants you to come close to Him. Running to Him and coming under His feathers speak of closeness. It’s not about how many times you have recited Psalm 91; it’s about having an intimate relationship with Him.

As a child, if it was thundering at night and I was afraid, I would run into my parents’ room, jump into their bed, and hide in my mother’s arms. After a while, I would fall into a deep sleep even if the storm was still raging outside.

You see, you don’t have to learn the seven steps of overcoming fear. Having the presence of a loving parent right with you is enough to drive out fear. Our Lord Jesus who loves you wants you to come close to Him and to take shelter in His love. Will you do that today?

I heard the story of a farmer whose farmhouse got burned down. As he walked around the smoldering wreckage, he saw the burned carcasses of his chickens. He happened to move the blackened body of one of the hens with his foot, and to his astonishment, little chicks came running out from under the body. What happened? They had taken refuge under the wings of their mother, who had given her life to save her little ones.

That’s a picture of what our Lord Jesus did when He took upon His own body the full punishment for our sins. The fire of God’s judgment fell, not upon the scribes and Pharisees who had rejected the Messiah, and not upon the Roman soldiers who nailed Him to the cross, but upon His own beloved Son—for the nation of Israel, for the Gentile nations, for you, for me, so that whosoever believes in Him would be saved.

But here’s something I want you to see: when Jesus was offered on the cross, He absorbed the judgment of God in His own body, and, as the sacrifice, He was greater than the fires of judgment. The Offering was greater than the judgment because the Offering was not consumed.

On that cross, our Lord declared, “It is finished!” before He gave up His Spirit (John 19:30). The Offering remained after all of God’s judgment was exhausted. Hallelujah! That is why we can come boldly to His throne of grace today!

Joseph Prince (December-22-2023) Daily Devotional: The Secret to Godliness.

. . . add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 2 Peter 1:5–9

Have you been told you have to exhibit more Christian character, more self-control, more godliness, and more brotherly kindness? Like a thousand times, perhaps? I certainly was as a young believer. My friend, I totally agree that all these qualities are good and necessary, but the question is, how do we develop them? How should we preachers help believers to exhibit more Christian character?

When asked for the solution, most people would say, “Discipline! We need to focus more on the Ten Commandments and develop discipline, and then self-control, godliness, and brotherly kindness will come.” While all that sounds very good (to the flesh), that is not what the Word of God says in today’s scripture. Read it again, focusing especially on the last sentence.

It is clear that if a Christian lacks the qualities mentioned in today’s scripture, it is not because he lacks discipline, but because he “has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins”—the main clause of the new covenant. He has forgotten that the blood of Jesus has purchased for him the forgiveness of all his sins.

Beloved, if you remind yourself daily that you have been cleansed from all your sins, not only will it produce a genuine love for the Lord, but you will also exhibit more and more Christ-like qualities. Your heart will overflow with faith, self-control, godliness, perseverance, brotherly kindness, and love.

Let me share with you a wonderful praise report from a precious couple who experienced this very truth in their marriage and family. Andy (the husband) had discovered the gospel of grace through one of my books. Prior to this, he was a believer who loved the Lord, his family, and the church he attended. But Andy always experienced a struggle within himself where he would go through cycles of feeling up and down.

His wife, Danielle, who supported him through these cycles, described it this way: “One month he’d be fine. The next two weeks, not so much. Life was like a roller-coaster ride. . . these ups and downs became so regular that I could almost tell when things were going good and when they were going to swing downward again.” Needless to say, this negatively affected those closest to him—his wife and daughters.

However, as Andy began to learn about God’s grace, he came to see how he could rest in Jesus’ finished work. He explained the changes this brought: “The revelation that I’ve been forgiven through Christ and made righteous in Him made me Son-conscious instead of sin-conscious.

Now, when the accuser of the brethren tries to accuse me, the Spirit of truth convicts me of Jesus’ finished work! I still feel down at times of course, but I don’t sink to those depths as before and I’m not down as long as I used to be. I can’t explain it, but I’m so much more joyful now, and I’m just in love with Jesus all over again!”

You might like to hear how Danielle eloquently sums up how the revelation of Jesus’ forgiveness and grace has radically changed her husband:

I saw major changes in him! He’s become much calmer in handling frustrating situations. We’ve always had a good marriage, but now he treats me with so much more love and care and our marriage is even better! He also treats our girls better, showing much more patience with them. He spends much more time with them now and I can also see him really enjoying the time he spends with them.

The secret behind every godly man and woman is their belief in the truth that they have been forgiven. Their godliness stems from a revelation of their forgiveness. They are believers who believe and honor God’s Word. When God says that He is merciful and that He has forgiven all their sins, they take Him at His Word.

All day long, they are forgiveness-conscious. Even when they say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, or have a wrong thought, they continue to be forgiveness-conscious. They see the blood of Jesus continually washing them. They see God in His mercy and grace. And because of their forgiveness-consciousness, they experience victory over sin.

I encourage you to meditate on the forgiveness and righteousness you have in Christ. This is the key to enjoying your relationship with God and experiencing His love manifesting in and through you! Beloved, the more you are anchored in Jesus’ grace and finished work, the more you will reign in life through Him!

Joseph Prince (December-21-2023) Daily Devotional: Be Rooted in His Love

That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. Ephesians 3:17–19

My friend, if you have received a negative medical report, it is natural for you to be fearful. It is normal to feel doubt, anger, sadness, worry, and condemnation, and even “struggle with your Christian beliefs.” The Lord does not expect you to never be shaken. But in the midst of your tumult of emotions, keep your eyes on Jesus and keep on declaring His finished work over your situation.

Maybe right now you are angry with God for allowing a disease to take root in the body of a loved one. Maybe you are feeling helpless because it feels as if you are standing on the sidelines, and there is nothing you can do to alleviate the suffering. Or maybe you yourself have been confined to a hospital bed, and you are terrified. Every time you are wheeled out for more scans, you don’t know what the doctors will find, and you are crying out, “God, why is this happening to me? Where are You?”

When you are staring at the symptoms in your body or in the body of your loved one, when it seems as though you have prayed with all your heart and still the sickness remains, I know it is hard to believe God can heal. Or maybe you believe He can heal, but you doubt He wants to.

Perhaps you have given up hope because you think that if He wanted to heal you or your loved one, He would have done it already. If that is how you feel right now, may I encourage you to feed on His love for you. The doubts in your mind might be screaming so loudly it’s hard for you to even believe in Him anymore.

But I pray that you will be able to catch a fresh glimpse of the width and length and depth and height of your Savior’s love for you (Eph. 3:18–19). I pray that even when your mind cannot understand it, your heart will be rooted and established in His love for you. When you are so established in His love, you will see Him do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you ask or think (Eph. 3:20).

Do not allow the enemy to shake your faith. Do not allow the enemy to sell you any more lies. He is a defeated foe, and whatever evil he meant against you, God will turn it around for your good and for His glory.

The Word of God declares that “no weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isa. 54:17). Even if the enemy has formed some weapon of disease against you, rest assured that it has no power to prevail against you.

Joseph Prince (December-20-2023) Daily Devotional: Go to the Source

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy . . . He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:8, 10–12

Psalm 103 is one of my favorite psalms of David, a beautiful psalm that describes who and what God really is—a gracious and merciful Savior. Believing right begins with what you believe about God and must be based on the solid foundation of God’s Word.

To know the truth about who and what God is, we can’t go by feelings, circumstances, human conjectures, or what we may have heard someone say about God. We have to go to the source!

If you heard a rumor that someone you knew was saying horrible and negative things about you, don’t believe it immediately. Go to the source first. Ask this person if this is what he or she really said or if this is what he or she really meant.

Many people allow precious friendships and relationships to become fractured because they believe the rumors. They become bitter, angry, and disappointed without ever verifying with the person if he or she had actually said those nasty things.

In the same way, in the world we live in, there are all kinds of wrong beliefs perpetuated about God: “God is angry at you.” “He is disappointed with you.” “God is allowing all these negative things to happen to you because He’s punishing you for your past sins.”

Please do NOT believe all this baseless gossip about God! Such impressions of God have damaged many people’s relationships with Him, and they live with a distorted perspective of who God really is.

Instead of receiving His love, grace, and forgiveness, they become afraid, distant, and fearful of Him. Instead of allowing Jesus to come into their situations, they live their lives running away, avoiding, and hiding from Him.

Come on, let’s honor God and go to the source. Look again at what the Bible says about Him in today’s scripture reading: He is “slow to anger, and abounding in mercy . . . as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” This is our God! This is why you can always run to Him and believe that you can freely receive His help!

Joseph Prince (December-19-2023) Daily Devotional: Pray for Right Happenings

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16 NLT

The Hebrew word qarah is often used in the Bible to explain God-ordained happenings. The first time qarah is mentioned is in Genesis 24:12, when Abraham sent his servant to get a bride for his son, Isaac. The servant did not know which girl would be the right one, so he prayed, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham”.

The phrase “please give me success” is the word qarah. The servant asked God to give him qarah—right happening. If you follow the story, you will see how Abraham’s servant was successful in his task.

What I want you to focus on here is the posture of the servant. He prayed for God’s help, intervention, and leading. He had a posture of humility. We all need the Lord in our daily lives. No matter how intelligent we are, we can’t put ourselves at the right place at the right time a hundred percent of the time. Only the Lord can do this for us.

If we stay “low” and lean on the Lord for wisdom, guidance, and understanding, He will guide us and protect us. To pray is to adopt a posture of humility. It is saying to God, “Father, I can’t, but You can.”

A lady who attends our church regularly shared that on one of her overseas trips, she got so engrossed in her quiet time with the Lord that she missed breakfast in the hotel at which she was staying. But while she was in her room, a horrific terror attack took place in the hotel’s restaurant.

She was dwelling in the secret place of the Most High and was supernaturally led to linger in His presence that morning. She humbly prioritized her time with the Lord over the scheduled time for her breakfast. If she had gone down to eat, she would have been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

That is why I like to call Psalm 91 the prayer of protection. When we pray this prayer, we are saying, “Lord Jesus, we can’t protect ourselves, but You can. We humble ourselves before You. Be our refuge, our fortress, and our God. Surely You shall protect us and deliver us from harm in these dangerous times. Lead us to be at the right place at the right time and to be with the right people.”

Pastor Prince: Fresh Grace for Every Failing

The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Lamentations 3:22–23 NLT

My friend, here’s some more good news: every time you fail, there is fresh grace from Jesus to rescue you. Every time you fall short, confess your righteousness in Jesus by faith. I know you probably won’t feel particularly righteous, and that is why you need to say it by faith.

I have received so many testimonies of breakthroughs from people around the world who, even as they succumb to their addictions, would confess, “Even right now, I am the righteousness of God in Christ” and eventually found freedom from their bondages. It could be a smoking addiction or an alcohol or pornography addiction.

Michael, a brother in Australia, happily shared, “I have just given up smoking by following what you’ve taught in your books and DVDs (about being conscious of and confessing my righteousness in Christ) whenever I was tempted to smoke. I have also been set free from twenty years of drug and alcohol abuse and am free of paranoid thoughts. I couldn’t give them up through my own efforts, but through Christ I have.”

The more these people confessed and saw themselves as righteous in Jesus, even in the midst of their failings, the more they came to see their true identity in Christ. The dead leaves began to fall, and they came to the place where they didn’t have any desire to ever smoke another cigarette, drink another drop of alcohol, or visit another pornographic website.

New leaves, new flowers, and new fruits unconsciously and effortlessly sprang up in their lives. Grace put an end to the barrenness and torment of winter and ushered in perpetual spring for them.

Beloved, if you are grappling with something right now, stop struggling and start receiving. Start receiving the abundance of the Lord’s unmerited favor. Start receiving the free gift of His righteousness. Start receiving the cleansing power of His forgiveness. There is nothing for you to do but to soak it all up and to allow His resurrection power to drive out every symptom of death and decay in your circumstances and in your life.

Can I give you an assignment today? Every time you fail, come into God’s presence and pray today’s prayer. His grace will lift you up!

Joseph Prince (December-18-2023) Daily Devotional: A Picture of Pure Grace

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 118:1 NLT

Years ago, I was sitting in my living room, just spending time in the Word, when the Lord spoke to me and said, “Son, study the journey of the children of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai, for this is a picture of pure grace. Not a single Israelite died during this period although they murmured and complained.”

I had never heard anyone preach that before or read it in any book. So, feverishly, I turned to that portion of the Scriptures, trying to find someone who had died, so that I could prove God wrong! Have you been there before, trying to prove God wrong? Well, you can never succeed, and indeed, I could not find any Israelite who died even though they murmured and complained.

God had rescued the children of Israel from their Egyptian slave masters by performing great signs and wonders, yet, the children of Israel failed to honor Him, and murmured and complained over and over again.

When the Egyptian army came thundering toward them from behind and the Red Sea was before them, the Israelites cried out to Moses saying, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?” (Exod. 14:11).

That was a complaint against God, and murmuring and complaining are sins. But what was God’s response? He opened up the Red Sea and they crossed over to dry land on the other side, safe from their enemies.

Then, even after God had brought them safely to the other side of the sea, they complained about the bitter waters at Marah. What was God’s response? He made the bitter waters sweet (Exod. 15:23–25). In the wilderness, they cried out against Moses when they were hungry.

What was God’s response? He rained bread from heaven (Exod. 16:2–4). But still, the children of Israel complained. When there was no water again, they cried out against Moses, saying, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” (Exod. 17:3). What was God’s response? He brought water out of the flinty rock.

Every time the children of Israel murmured and complained, it only brought forth fresh demonstrations of God’s favor, supply, and goodness. Why? Because during that period, the blessings and provisions they received were not dependent on their obedience or goodness. They were dependent on God’s goodness and His faithfulness to the Abrahamic covenant (Exod. 2:24), which was a covenant of grace.

Can you see what the Lord was showing me? The Israelites’ journey from Egypt to Sinai was a picture of pure grace. Their blessings were not dependent on their goodness but His goodness, not on their faithfulness but His faithfulness. Before the Ten Commandments were given, they were under grace and nobody was punished even when they failed. But immediately after the law was given (Exod. 20), their failure resulted in punishment.

Beloved, the good news is that we are no longer under the old covenant of law. We have been delivered from the law through Jesus’ death on the cross. Because of Jesus Christ, we are now under the new covenant of grace. This means that today, God does not assess and bless us based on our performance, but on His goodness and faithfulness.

If you have been struggling with a challenge for some time now, look away from yourself, your mistakes, your lack, and your imperfections. Look instead at and give thanks for the pure grace God extends to you today because of the finished work of His Son. Let your confidence and trust not be rooted in your imperfect performance, but in His constant and unwavering goodness, love, and undeserved, unmerited, and unearned favor toward you, and see Him supply all that you need.

Joseph Prince (December-17-2023) Daily Devotional: Come Boldly to the Table

“With God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:26

Some years ago, doctors discovered a huge cancerous tumor in my uncle’s throat. After a more detailed scan, a pathologist told him the cancer was aggressively spreading all over his neck and behind his tongue.

In that moment my uncle said he gave up hope he would live. But before his surgery to try to remove the tumor, his daughters approached him and said, “Let’s have Communion together, Dad. Let’s pray and believe God.”

He shared that as they partook of the Communion, he felt hope rising in his heart for the first time, and he partook, believing that Jesus was his healer and believing that the body of Jesus would make a difference in his body right there in the hospital ward.

After the doctors removed the tumor, amazingly the biopsy showed absolutely no trace of cancer in the tumor even though multiple scans before the surgery had confirmed it was cancerous and of an aggressive nature. Somehow the Lord had caused the cancer to supernaturally disappear, and I believe it happened when my uncle and his family partook of the Communion.

In the same way, if your doctors have given you a negative prognosis, do not fear or despair. Don’t live as though you don’t have a Savior. We may not know how our healing can take place, but let’s have faith in the finished work of Jesus. He has paid the price for you to be well and made it easy for you to receive not just His love and forgiveness, but His healing power as well.

I pray that you are now excited to receive the benefits of the holy Communion freely. I want to invite you to the Lord’s Table. The table has been prepared, not by human hands that can falter and fail, but by the perfect One whose hands were nailed to the cross for you. He invites you to come to partake of His body broken for you and His blood shed for you. Come boldly to the table and partake by faith and receive your healing.

Joseph Prince (December-16-2023) Daily Devotional: Rest in Jesus’ Finished Work

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace [unmerited favor] in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4–7

Look at the above passage. It tells us that by God’s unmerited favor, we are seated together with Christ at the Father’s right hand. What does it mean to be seated together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus?

It means that today, we are in a position of rest in Jesus' finished work. To be seated in Christ is to rest, to trust in Him, and to receive everything our beautiful Savior has accomplished on our behalf.

My friend, God wants us to take the position of relying on Jesus for good success in every area of our lives, instead of relying on our good works and human efforts to achieve success. What a blessing it is to be in this position of dependence on our Savior!

But instead of looking at Jesus, believers are misled by the devil into looking at themselves. For thousands of years, the devil’s strategy has not changed. He is a master at accusing you, pointing out all your flaws, weaknesses, mistakes, and blemishes. He will keep on reminding you of your past failures and use condemnation to perpetuate the cycle of defeat in your life.

When the apostle Paul found himself sinking into self-occupation, he became depressed and cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me...?” (Rom. 7:24). In the very next verse, he sees God's solution and says, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Likewise, beloved, it’s time for you to step out from being self-conscious and self-occupied, and begin to be Christ-occupied instead.

Today, you should no longer be asking yourself, “Am I accepted before God?” This question puts the focus back on you and this places you under the law. I know that there are people who will encourage you to ask yourself this question, but it is an error to ask yourself if you are accepted before God.

The correct question to ask is, “Is Christ accepted before God?" because as Christ is, so are you in this world (1 John 4:17). Don’t ask, “Am I pleasing to God?” Instead, ask, “Is Christ pleasing to God?”

Can you see the difference in emphasis? The old covenant of law is all about you, but the new covenant of grace is all about Jesus! The law places the demand on you to perform and makes you self-conscious, whereas grace places the demand on Jesus and makes you Jesus-conscious.

Can you imagine a young child growing up and always wondering in his heart, “Am I pleasing to Daddy? Am I pleasing to Mummy? Do Daddy and Mummy accept me?” This child will grow up emotionally warped if he does not have the security and assurance of his parents’ love and acceptance.

That is why your loving heavenly Father wants you rooted, established, and anchored in His unwavering love for you. He demonstrated His love for you when He sent Jesus to become your sin on the cross so that you can become His righteousness. Our part today is to turn away from ourselves and to look at Jesus!

Joseph Prince (December-15-2023) Daily Devotional: The Power of Worship

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Psalm 95:6–7

Some people think that when they worship God, they are giving something to Him. On the contrary, I believe that as we worship and praise Him, He is giving to us, imparting His life, wisdom, and power into our lives, renewing our minds and physical bodies as well in His sweet presence.

Worship is simply a response on our part to His love for us. We don’t have to, but when we experience His love and grace in our lives, we want to. It’s a response birthed out of a revelation in our hearts of just how great, how awesome, how majestic, and how altogether lovely our Lord and Savior truly is.

As we worship Him and become utterly lost in His magnificent love for us, something happens to us. We are forever changed and transformed in His presence. All fears, worries, and anxieties depart when Jesus is exalted in our worship.

We have seen this demonstrated through a worship collection, A Touch of His Presence (Volumes 1 and 2), that we compiled from spontaneous worship songs that flowed from my spirit during intimate times of worship when we simply occupied ourselves with the person of Jesus.

I would sing out what God was putting in my heart, and He would manifest His loving presence. That’s when the gifts of the Spirit would operate and healings would break out among the people in the congregation.

We received a letter from Emma in Germany who said, “Whenever the devil tries to attack me with symptoms of a disease, I would listen to these worship CDs and worship Jesus, my Lord, my Savior, and my Redeemer. I would also often partake of the Holy Communion while listening to the worship songs. After a few minutes, all the symptoms would disappear!” Another brother described how this worship music freed him from paralyzing, irrational fear and chronic sleep problems.

I share these testimonies with you because I believe that some of you want to worship God, but you may not know where to begin when you are alone at home. If that sounds like you, then start by getting ahold of anointed Christian music that can fill your room with the presence of the Lord.

Allow the music to simply wash over you like rivers of living waters. Let His presence flush out every fear and every anxiety. Let His love take away the cares that burden you. Let Jesus be magnified and glorified, and watch Him turn all things around for your good!

Joseph Prince (December-14-2023) Daily Devotional: Delighting the Father

To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. - Ephesians 1:6

Today’s scripture tells us it is by God’s unearned, undeserved, and unmerited favor that we have been made accepted in the Beloved—Jesus. This is true for every believer. If you are a believer, then by God’s grace, you are accepted in the Beloved.

The Greek word for “accepted” here is charitoo, which means “highly favored.” Our Father in heaven wants you to know that you are charitoo, that is, highly favored in the Beloved. Charitoo also means to “compass with favor.” In other words, we are surrounded with favor. This is our position in Christ: highly favored and surrounded by favor by the glory of His grace!

Now let me show you another scripture, which says, “Wherefore we labor, that . . . we may be accepted of him” (2 Cor. 5:9 KJV). We have just established that by God’s grace, we are accepted in the Beloved without labor. So what does this scripture mean?

The word “accepted” here is not the Greek word charitoo. It is another Greek word, euarestos, which means “well pleasing.” Hence the New King James translation says, “Therefore we make it our aim . . . to be well pleasing to Him.”

Now, euarestos is not about your position in Christ. Euarestos (in 2 Cor. 5:9) refers to something that you do that brings your Father in heaven great delight and joy. In Christ the Beloved, we are already highly favored, but there are things that we can do to glorify and be extra pleasing to our Father in heaven.

Let me illustrate my point: Our children Jessica and Justin are always highly favored in Wendy’s and my hearts. There is nothing they can ever do to change that position. It is a position anchored on their identity as our children. Yet there are times when they do something special for us that brings us great delight and touches our hearts.

In those moments, not only are they highly favored, they are also extra well pleasing to us. Do they have to do those special things to earn our love? Absolutely not! They are already loved and highly favored in our hearts. In fact, their desire to do something special for us stems from their having confidence in our love for them. They desire to please us because they know just how much we already love them.

It is the same in our relationship with our heavenly Father. When we know how much we are loved and are established in His grace, we want to do good works to bring delight to Him. The apostle Paul, who was zealous for the gospel and good works, said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).

Paul, who had a revelation of God’s grace, didn’t become a lazy, passive Christian. On the contrary, he worked harder than all the other apostles for the gospel’s sake, and he attributed all his ministry success to God’s grace in his life. That, my friend, is euarestos (well-pleasing good works) in action.

Everything we do today must flow from the lavish supply of God’s grace. Our giving has to be out of His grace. Our serving has to be out of His grace. When His grace is our delight, we can’t help but labor more abundantly and bring delight to our Father’s heart!