← Joel Osteen Podcast
Joel Osteen Podcast
The Favor Of God | Joel Osteen
00:30:31
If you want to experience more of God’s favor, you have to live favor-minded.
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- [00:01]
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Joel Osteen
Hi Chihuahua. Holy schnauzers.
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- [01:35]
Joel Osteen
Hi, this is Joel in Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's.
- [01:47]
Victoria Osteen
Very best in your life.
- [01:48]
Joel Osteen
Well, God bless you. It's always a joy to come into your homes and if you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. I I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in and I'd like to start with something funny. Most of you know my jokes are a lot of times not doctrinally correct, especially this one today, but just to make us laugh, I heard about this lady that died and she found herself standing at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter said you can't come in unless you correctly spell a word. She said, what word? He said, any word. So she spelled the word love L O V E. Peter said, welcome to heaven. Then Peter asked her if she would take his place. He instructed her, if anybody comes, just follow the same procedure well, in a few minutes, this lady sees her ex husband coming up. She said, what are you doing here? He said, I just had a heart attack. Did I really make it to heaven? She said, not yet. You have to correctly spell a word. He said, what word? After a long pause, she said, czechoslovakia. All right. 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 how to experience more of God's favor. God wants to make your life easier. He wants to assist you and give you special advantages. That's what his favor does. When you go out each day, don't expect to get the short end of the stick. Don't expect to not get good breaks. Do just the opposite. You should expect people to want to help you. Expect to stand out in the crowd. Expect to be at the right place at the right time. Why? Because you have the favor of God. And when you really learn how to tap into God's favor, you'll have a tremendous advantage. God's favor will cause you to be promoted even though you weren't the most qualified. The favor of God will open a door for you that may not open for somebody else. God's favor will cause our children to get the best teachers in school. All kinds of advantages come when we learn to walk in God's favor. Well, you say, joel, none of this ever happens to me. I must not have it. No, you do have favor. But the reason many people are not experiencing it is because they don't activate their faith in this area. They don't expect to get good breaks. They don't expect to have preferential treatment. They have that underdog mentality. Everybody gets promoted except me. I put my house on the market. I should have known it wasn't going to sell. Went to the grocery store, got in the longest line. Should have known. It happens to me every time. No, if you're going to experience more of God's favor, you've got to become more favor minded. That means you've got to expect it. And number two, you've got to declare it. Every morning before you leave the house. You should say, father, thank you that I have your favor. Thank you that I have favor with my boss, my employees. Thank you that my children have Favor with their teachers. Thank you that your favor is bringing success into my life. Learn to declare God's favor. It's not enough to just think it. It's not enough to just believe it. Something supernatural happens when we speak it out. Growing up, we never left the house without my mother saying, father, thank you that my children have your favorite. And all through the day, we need to develop a habit of declaring God's favor. Before you go into that business meeting, just under your breath, Father, thank you that I have favor with these clients driving to the grocery store. Father, thank you that I have favor while I shop on the freeway. It's all backed up and you need to get into another lane. Father, thank you for your favor in this situation. I know one time I was driving to the office and. And I was running a little late, and the freeway was moving so slowly. For some reason, a bunch of cars were crowded in a particular spot going about 40 miles an hour. And I could look up ahead of them and see that the freeway was wide open. And I knew I wasn't going to get to my appointment in time if I wasn't at least able to drive the speed limit. And I'm just bold enough to believe that God wants to assist me. I know he's given us his favor. We're his children. And so I said, father, just like you parted the Red Sea for the children of Israel, I believe you can part this traffic for me. And I'm asking that your favor would shine down on me. About that time, the car in front of me moved into the next lane. I pulled up right where he was. And perfectly on cue, that car moved out of the way. God is my witness, four or five more cars as soon as I got up there, perfectly on cue, moved out of my way. It's just like God was supernaturally clearing me a path. That is the favor of God. And no, I wasn't blinking my lights and honking my horns. But God wants to be involved in our everyday life, not just the big things, even the smaller things. Some of you never pray unless you have a major problem. You never ask God for His favor unless you're in a major crisis. That's good. God wants to help you. But what I'm saying is God wants to be involved in every part of your life, even the smaller things. God wants to assist you driving to work. He wants to give you favor at the grocery store. God will help you find a parking spot in a crowded parking lot if you'll just be bold enough to ask one Time. A while back, Victoria and I and our two children drove down to the park. We were going to take a few hours and spend it together out there. But when I got close to the park, there was so much traffic, much more than normal. It finally dawned on me that it was spring break. All the school kids were out, and it was a beautiful day. People were everywhere. My first thought was, let's just go back home. It is so crowded. I'm never going to find a place to park. But that's that old defeated mentality. Instead of believing that just under my breath, I said, father, I need your favor. I believe you want to assist me. You promised your children special advantages, so I'm asking you to help me find a place to park. I was just sort of halfway kidding that I told my family, you watch it, Daddy's going to get a front row parking spot. I can feel it. I got the favor of God all over me. I was going on and on, kind of cutting up. And I finally pulled into the parking lot and it was packed. I mean, there were hundreds of cars. And I drove around and around, couldn't find any place to park. And just as I was leaving, right back at the front where I came in, this car backed out perfectly. On cue, I pulled right in there. Not the third spot, not the second spot, but the spot closest to the park. I reached back to my children and said, come on, y' all, get some of this favor off of Daddy. I said, I can't stand it all. Jonathan was about 6 years old at the time. He looked at me and said, daddy, you are strange. Do you know what's funny? Now when something good happens, we get a good parking spot. Jonathan says, you know, Daddy, that was because of my favor. But I realized this doesn't happen every time. There are plenty of times I pray, I believe, I declare God's favor, and I gotta park at the very, very back of the lot. You know what I do with every step? Thank you, Father, that I'm able to walk. Thank you that I'm strong. Thank you that I'm healthy. Thank you that I'm alive. See, don't get all negative and say, well, Joel, I tried it. It didn't work for me. No, just keep on declaring God's favor. Know that he is directing your steps. But some of you don't see this favor like you should because you're not expecting it. You don't have this favor mindset. The scripture says there in Isaiah 30, verse 18, God is longing to be good to the People that are looking for his goodness, his favor and his victory. Notice God wants to be good to you. He wants to pour out his favor. But it's only going to happen if you're looking for his goodness. If you're expecting his favor and his blessings, that tells me we can't be passive. We can't have the attitude, well, Joel, if God wants to bless me, he'll bless me. If he wants me to get a good parking spot, he's God, he'll give me a good parking spot. No, we need to actively be releasing our faith for more of God's favor. When we go out each day, we should be expecting good breaks, expecting people to like us, expecting supernatural doors to open. You have an advantage. You have the favor of God. I love what David said. Goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. You know what? Goodness is God's favor. He was saying, favor follows me everywhere I go. David knew he had an advantage. He knew God would assist him. He knew he could expect preferential treatment. He had this favor mentality. All through the Psalms, he's constantly talking about God's favor. The truth is, something is going to follow you throughout life. If you go around thinking nothing good ever happens to me and I never get any breaks, then you're going to have defeat, mediocrity lack following you around. But if you'll switch over into this favor mindset and say, God's favor gives me an advantage. God's favor is bringing success. God's favor is making my crooked places straight. If you do that, you'll have blessings chasing you down. Promotion increase success. That'll be what's following you. I'm asking us today to live more favor minded. When you pull into a crowded parking lot and all of a sudden a car backs out and you get a front row spot, recognize that's not a lucky break. That's God's favor in your life. Learn to thank him for it. You're at the grocery store, waiting in a long line to check out. Somebody taps you on the shoulder and says, hey, I'm opening up this register. I'll take care of you over here. That's not a coincidence. That's God's favor. Thank him for it. Maybe you're out to lunch one day and you bump into somebody you've really been wanting to meet. That's not happenstance. That's God causing you to be at the right place at the right time. When things like this happen, don't take it for granted. Don't Say, boy, wasn't I lucky today. Now learn to say, father, thank you for assisting me. Thank you for your favor. Thank you for making my life easier. The more you thank God for His favor, the more of his favor you'll see. The scripture says in First Peter, hope to the end for the divine favor that is coming. You've got to know today that God has favor coming your way. Keep believing, keep hoping. One translation says, look forward to more and more of God's favor. That's God's dream, to pour out his goodness. He wants to help you get the best deals in life. When you're out shopping, God wants to help you find the best sales. He wants to lead you to the right house, the right car. But here's the key. We have to be on the lookout for more of God's favor. That tells me, don't get stagnant. Don't ever think that you can't rise any higher. God wants to do more than we can even ask or think. It says in Ephesians, he wants to show us the immeasurable, limitless, surpassing greatness of his free favor. In other words, God wants to go far and beyond what we're used to. He wants to show you favor in unusual and extraordinary ways. This is what happened to Joshua. One day he was out in the middle of a great battle. He wanted to get the enemy finished off, but he was running out of daylight. The sun was going down. But instead of complaining about it, thinking, well, just my luck, I should have known I wouldn't get finished. No, Joshua was living favor minded. He knew God's favor was there to assist him and to provide him with special advantages. And Joshua was bold. He wasn't afraid to ask. He looked up to the sky and said, son, you're going to have to stand still. I need more daylight. And the scripture says that God favored him, caused the sun to stand still until he could get the job finished. It goes on to say, there's never been another day like that before. One verse says, the people stood there in utter amazement at what God had done. I believe you and I are going to see some more of these days where God pours out his favor in such a great way. We look back and say, man, I've never seen anything like that. God showed up in an extraordinary way. I remember a few months before Victoria and I got married, we found this townhome that we really liked. We had searched and searched all over, but we kept coming back to this place. But the problem was we couldn't really afford it. One day I took my father over there to get his opinion. He said, joel, if you really like this place, I would offer the man half of what he's asking for it. I said, daddy, I can't do that. I would be embarrassed. I may insult him. He said, joel, you have not because you ask not. You don't know he may have a dozen properties. He's just trying to get rid of this, possibly at least believe, for God's favor. Finally, he talked me into it. I got my nerve up and asked our realtor to offer him half. And so she made the offer and told the man that we were a young couple just getting started and we weren't trying to offend him, but this is all that we could afford. He immediately turned it down, said, no, I'm sorry, that's much too low. I can't take that. That was early in September. Week after week went by. We never heard anything. But we just kept believing. Father, thank you that we have your favor. Thank you that you're causing people to want to be good to us. Thank you for special advantages. The last week of that year, he called our real estate agent and told how he had not sold that property and he needed to get rid of it by the end of the year. He said, even though I've had offers for more money, I really want to help that young couple you talked about, and I want to sell it to them. We ended up buying that place for half of what he had it listed for. That's some of that far and beyond favor. That's one of those days where Victoria and I look back and said, God, we've never seen anything like that before. You've got to understand, this is God's heart. He wants to amaze you with his favor. He wants to do extraordinary things in your life. But we've got to be like Joshua. Be bold, be confident, and let's start believing for that far and beyond favor. I know if it had not been for my father stirring me up and encouraging my faith, I would have never made that offer. I was too embarrassed. I thought I didn't deserve it. This is never going to happen. This is impossible. But now I've learned it's okay to be bold. It's okay to expect preferential treatment. Not because of who we are, but because of whose we are. We are children of the most high God. You have a right to blessings and favor in your life. Think about even in the natural. If you come from the Rockefeller family, you're going to have Advantages. Because of the family that you're in, that name carries some weight. If you're born into the Kennedy family, the Forbes family, the Bill Gates family, you're going to be treated differently. You're going to come to expect favor that other people may not have. The good news today is you and I have been born into the right family. We are children of Almighty God. We need to put our shoulders back and expect advantages. Expect people to want to be good to us. It says in Psalms that God has crowned us with his favor. You may not be able to see it, but everywhere you go, you're wearing a crown on your head. That crown does not say, lack defeat. Short end of the stick barely get by. No, your crown says the favor of God in the spiritual realm, all the forces of darkness. Just like they see you wearing your robe of righteousness, they can see your crown. A favor that tells them you've been set apart. They can see you have a right to preferential treatment. They can see there's something different about you. But here's the problem. If you don't see yourself the right way, if you don't activate your faith in this area, then it's not going to happen. Everywhere you go, you need to imagine yourself wearing your crown of favor. When you need an advantage, when you need a good break, when you need somebody to make an exception for you, don't just shrink back and think, what's the use? Never going to happen. No. Put your shoulders back, stand up tall and imagine that crown of favor on your head. Let that be a reminder that you have a right to live in victory. You have a right to have preferential treatment. You have a right to special advantages. You know what I see when I look at all of you right now? Through my eyes of faith? I see your crown of favor on your head. I see promotion. I see increase. I see supernatural doors opening. I see dreams coming to completion. Why? Because of the favor of God on your life. And when the enemy feeds you those lies, telling you you're never going to get any good breaks. You'll never sell your house. The market's too low. You'll never get that promotion. Your boss doesn't even like you. He'll tell him, hang on just a minute. I gotta fix something up here. He says, what are you doing? I gotta straighten my crown of favor. I gotta make sure that it's on tight. See, you're not average. You're not ordinary. You come from a royal family. You can expect advantages that other people may not have. You're wearing a crown of favor. A few years ago, God put in me a desire to air our program. Certain network was a national network, one of the most popular. And so I had our representatives check into it. And they came back a few days later and said, joel, that company has a policy to not run any type of religious programming. They will not even entertain it. Well, that desire never left me. My attitude was, we have God's favor, and God's favor can cause them to make an exception. The favor of God can change rules, regulations and policies on our behalf. And so I asked them to go back and ask again and again and again. Every time they came back with the same answer. That network has a no religion policy. Every time I heard that, I had to check my crown of favor. Yep, it's still there. I'm going to keep believing, Father. Thank you. That your favor can cause them to make an exception. Your favor can cause them to want to be good to us. Month after month went by. Finally, one day out of the blue, they called. They said, we've never done this before, but we've decided to make an exception and allow you to air your program on our network. First time in the history of that network they ever had any type of ministry program. Why did that happen? The favor of God. I want you to start thanking God every day that his light is shining down on you, that he's causing you to stand out in the crowd, that he's causing people to want to be good to you. Don't go around with that negative, weak, defeated mentality. Well, Joel, I tried. They told me no, it didn't work out. Now put your shoulders back. Hold your head up high. You are wearing a crown of favor. You need to carry yourself with confidence, not arrogance. Not thinking that you're better than somebody, but also not thinking that you're less than somebody. They may have more degrees, they may have more education, but the favor of God is cause you to shine above the rest. The favor of God can cause you to get promoted even though somebody else has more seniority. The favor of God can cause you to qualify for that new home you're wanting to buy, even though in the natural you shouldn't be able to. What I'm saying is God's favor will make up for what we're lacking in other areas. I talked to a young man a while back, and he was going for a job interview. He was in from out of town, and it was a very prestigious position. Executives were coming in from all over the country to interview. He Said, Joel, I really believe that this job is for me. I want it so badly, but I'm really not the most qualified. My resume doesn't look as good as everybody else's. I don't have as much experience. He went on and on, telling me all the reasons why it wasn't going to happen. And I told him what I'm telling you. You've got to get out of that limited mindset, believing that you have God's favor. I said, every day you need to speak favor over that situation. Just say, father, thank you, that your favor is causing me to stand out in the crowd. Your favor is causing this company to want to hire me. And he changed his mindset. He switched over and started expecting good things. Well, several months later, I saw him in the lobby, and he was beaming from ear to earth. I knew he had gotten a job. But he said, joel, it was the strangest thing when those executives called me in. They were scratching their heads. They said, we don't really know why we're hiring you. You are not the most talented. You don't have the best resume. We can't put our finger on it. There's just something about you that we really like. That's what happens when we walk in God's favor. It's like a light is shining down on us. It'll cause us many times to receive things that in the natural, we don't even deserve. Well, you say, joel, nobody goes out of their way to help me. I don't ever get any of these good breaks. Well, are you expecting good things? Do you go out each day with confidence, knowing that you're wearing your crown of favor? Or have you gotten passive and you just accept whatever life brings your way? No, we have to stay on the offensive. I know even in my own life when I get a little passive. And I'm not actively believing for favor. I'm not actively believing for good advantages. I don't see as many of them as I know that I could. That's why the scripture says, keep looking for more and more of God's favor. Don't have a day go by where you don't declare favor over your life, over your family, over your finances, over your business, if you're in real estate. Father, thank you that I have favor with my clients. Thank you that your light is shining down on my properties, causing them to sell. If you're a coach, a teacher. Father, thank you that I have favor with my students, some other kinds of sales. Father, thank you that I have favor with My customers. You're causing me to be at the right place at the right time. If you're going to have more of God's favor, you have to put your faith out there and become more favor minded. I know this couple that bought a new house. They had been looking and looking and finally this house came along and everything just fell into place. They were so excited about it, but now they needed to sell their other house and they debated about how much they should sell it for. After studying the neighborhood, they decided to put it at the high end of the market price. And they needed it to sell not only for a good price, but for it to sell quickly so this other deal would work out. I was talking to the owner about it and she said, joel, we've just decided to stretch our faith and believe for God's unprecedented favor. We're going to believe that it not only sells quickly, but we'll get close to what we're asking for. When she said that, it just took root deep down on the inside. Unprecedented favor. I like that. See, they put their faith out there. They dared to believe. Do you know, the first day they put the house on the market, a realtor brought a couple by and they fell in love with it. They said, if you'll take the house off the market today, we will write a contract. Not for the full price, but we'll pay you more than you've got this house listed for. They sold the house the first day for more than they were even asking. That's that far and beyond favor. That's God doing more than we can even ask or think. But some of you today are not believing for enough. You're not expecting good breaks, not expecting things to go your way. You have to get out of that limited mentality and start believing for this unusual, unprecedented, far and beyond favor. God is longing to be good to you. My question is, are you looking for God's goodness? Are you expecting advantages? Are you living favor minded? Let me challenge you. Every morning when you get up, no matter how you feel, no matter what didn't work out in the past through your eyes of faith. See that crown of favor on your head? Start the day in expectancy and then go out believing for good breaks, believing for doors to open, expecting people to want to be good to you not because of who you are, but because of whose you are. Remember, you come from the right family. You are a child of the most high God. And I believe today I'm looking at the most favored people around. You're going to have favor at home, favor at work, favor on the freeway, favor at the mall, favor at the grocery store, favor with your relatives, favor even with your enemies. This is going to be a great year of favor in your life. Why don't you get in agreement with God and start looking for more and more of his favor? Declare it every day. If you do that, God will do unusual and extraordinary things in your life. He will amaze you with his favor. You'll live that life of victory he has in store. Amen. Do you receive it today? Do you have God's favor? 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 you places that you've never dreamed of.
- [28:40]
Victoria Osteen
Each week I stand on this stage and remind you of what God says about you. Because it's easy to be defined by who people say we are or by our own negative thoughts that we're not talented or problems too big. The key is to go back to who God says you are. Now I'd love to send you my new book, 101 Great Things that God says About You. I'll help you discover your true identity. God says you're blessed. You're chosen, you're forgiven. You have seeds of greatness. Your future is bright. When you get in agreement with God and declare his promises, you'll rise higher and become all you were created to be.
- [29:20]
Joel Osteen
As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount this month we would like to send you a copy of Joel's brand new resource 101 Things God says about yout Faith Reminders when you need them most as you read and reflect the story of your life, the way you see yourself will radically change. It will become a reflection of God Himself and what he says about you. Use this resource to encourage your heart and remind you of who you are in Him. You are everything God says about you within these pages. So read it, experience it and believe it. As an added bonus, you can detach the beautiful poster at the back of the book to read and declare these reminders every day. Yes, you are who God says you are. Now is your time to start believing it. Be sure to request your copy of 101 Things God says about you. Visit jolostein.com or call 888-567 Joel as.
- [30:20]
Victoria Osteen
You dwell on what God says about you, you're going to see yourself for who you really are. Strong, talented, valuable, a victor, never a victim. Victoria and I want you to know that we love you and we pray for you every day. Thanks so much for your prayer and support. Your generosity is helping people around the world. Special thank you to our Champion of Hope partners for your monthly support. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. Remember, you can watch the services online every Sunday morning, download our daily podcast, listen on SiriusXM, watch our YouTube channel and the new Joel Osteen network streaming 24 hours a day until we meet again. May the Lord bless you and keep you.
- [31:05]
Joel Osteen
Be sure to request your copy of 101 Things God says About YouTube, visit jolosteen.com or call 888-567-joel for an additional donation. This month we are also offering 101 Great Things God says about yout Card Set. These cards can serve as daily reminders of who God says you are. Additionally, you can request the beautiful copy of the Passion Translation, Power Provision and Peace. This book brings fresh insight and deeper understanding to the early church's journey, Paul's teachings, and the practical application of faith in daily life. You can request these unique resources by calling 888-567-JOEL or logging on to Joel Osteen.com today. Call or click anytime 24 hours a day. Discover your true identity in Christ. Request your copies today.
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