Table Of ContentHARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
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THE PRAYER THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING is a registered trademark of
The Hawkins Children’s LLC. Harvest House Publishers, Inc., is the
exclusive licensee of the federally registered trademark THE PRAYER THAT
CHANGES EVERYTHING.
Cover by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photo © Hemera/Thinkstock
Back cover photo © Harry Langdon
THE PRAYER THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING®
Copyright © 2004 by Stormie Omartian
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the edition as follows:
ISBN 978-0-7369-4750-3 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4751-0 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Omartian, Stormie.
The prayer that changes everything / Stormie Omartian.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7369-1468-0
1. Prayer. I. Title.
BV210.3.O54 2004
248.3'2—dc22
2004012033
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This book is dedicated to You, Lord.
For without Your power and grace, I know I wouldn’t
be where I am today. You have spared my life so many
times when otherwise I surely would have died. You still
sustain me daily. I am increasingly aware of how I don’t
deserve the blessings You’ve given me. You’ve taught me
to have Your love and compassion for others and Your
heart for their greatest blessings, and yet into the midst of
that I interject my selfishness. You’ve given me strong
vision for the wonderful things You want to do, and even
do through me, but into that vision I sometimes impose my
fears, which threaten to derail it. You give me promises to
cling to, and they sustain me, yet even then I let doubt
sway me. Why You put up with me so much I’ll never
understand. That’s because I cannot comprehend the
depth of Your love. How You could come to earth to suffer
and die for me the way You did is incomprehensible,
especially when I’m not certain that I could bring myself to
do the same thing for You. I’d like to think I could, but
when I frequently pray for my precious brothers and
sisters in Christ throughout the world, who are being
tortured and even martyred because of their service to
You, I don’t know if I could go through what they do.
It amazes me that even though I don’t always do or
say the right thing, You have still allowed me to live and to
serve You. That You have given me the privilege of writing
this book is most humbling to me. While I am no expert on
anything, let alone praise and worship, one thing I do
know is that You are worthy of all praise, both now and
forever. My credibility lies in my experience and all that
You have taught me. The fact that You would allow the
praises of Your people to be to their own greatest blessing
is something only an amazing God of love would do. I pray
that You will give me the ability to communicate the
greatness of who You are and the reasons You are
deserving of praise, and also help people to remember to
praise You in all situations and at all times. Help me to
reveal the full extent of the blessings You have for us
when we focus on You in worship and praise.
Because You first loved me, I am now free to love
You. And I do.
Your devoted servant,
Stormie
Acknowledgments
With special thanks:
• To Christopher, Amanda, John, Rebecca, Stephanie, Derek,
Matt, Suzy, and Louie. Thank you for living. Your mere
existence gives me joy and strength. I praise God for you
every day of my life.
• To Michael. Thank you for being a faithful husband and
never giving me any reason to doubt that. I couldn’t do
this without your support.
• To Susan Martinez. Thank you for your prayers and love,
your diligence and organization, your ability to rise
beyond the call of duty, your kindness and graciousness
to answer calls, letters, e-mails, faxes, and doorbells, the
volume of which could have driven a lesser person crazy
long ago.
• To Roz Thompson. Thank you for being my faithful friend
and prayer partner all these years. You have been a
strength and an inspiration to me far more than I can ever
tell you.
• To Erik Sundin. Thank you for all your meticulous help on
this project. You are the best.
• To Patti and Tom Brussat, Michael and Terry Harriton, Bob
and Sally Anderson, Donna and Bruce Sudano. Thank
you for your prayers. I don’t see you often enough, but I
feel your prayers every day.
• To my pastors: Jack and Anna Hayford, Rice and Jody
Broocks, Tim and Le’Chelle Johnson, Stephen Mansfield,
Dale and Joan Evrist, Jim and Cathy Laffoon, John and
Maretta Rohr, Ray and Elizabeth McCollum. Your richness
in the things of God has made me rich in my spirit too. I
don’t know where I would be without all the great things
of the Lord you have taught me and the countless times
you have prayed for me.
• To my wonderful sisters in Christ and great women of God:
Joyce Meyer, Beth Moore, Lisa Bevere, Kay Arthur, and
Florence Littauer. Thank you for your love and kindness
to me, your wealth of knowledge of God’s Word, and your
work for the kingdom. It is with great humility, along with
love and respect for you and all that you do, that I count it
a great privilege to know you. You have each taught me
so much and have been such an inspiration and a strength
to me. You have given me encouragement beyond what
you can ever imagine.
• To my amazing family at Harvest House: especially to Bob
Hawkins Jr., Carolyn McCready, Julie McKinney, Teresa
Evenson, Terry Glaspey, John Constance, Mary Cooper,
LaRae Wiekert, Peggy Wright, Betty Fletcher, and Kim
Moore. Thank you for your love, patience, kindness,
graciousness, untiring work habits, and professionalism.
You make it all happen.
Contents
Acknowledgments
What Is the Prayer That Changes Everything?
Part I
Fifteen Reasons to Praise God Now
Why We Need to Know God Better
1. Because He Is My Creator
2. Because He Is My Heavenly Father
3. Because He Loves Me
4. Because He Laid Down His Life for Me
5. Because He Has Forgiven Me
6. Because He Has Given Me His Holy Spirit
7. Because He Gave Me His Word
8. Because He Is a Good God
9. Because He Is Holy
10. Because He Is All-Powerful
11. Because He Is with Me
12. Because He Has a Purpose for My Life
13. Because He Redeems All Things
14. Because He Is the Light of the World
15. Because He Is
Part II
Fifteen Times When Praise Is Crucial
When We Need to Praise God More
16. When I Am Troubled by Negative Thoughts and Emotions
17. When I Have Anxiety, Fear, and Discouragement
18. When I Become Sick, Weak, or Injured
19. When I Struggle with Doubt
20. When I Don’t See Answers to My Prayers
21. When I Have Problems in a Relationship
22. When I Need to Forgive
23. When I See Things Going Wrong and I Feel Powerless
24. When I Long to Know God’s Will
25. When I Seek Breakthrough, Deliverance, or Transformation
26. When I Need God’s Provision and Protection
27. When I Fight Temptation to Walk in the Flesh
28. When I Am Attacked by the Enemy
29. When I Suffer Great Loss, Disappointment, or Failure
30. When I Sense that All Is Well
Other Books by Stormie Omartian
Dear Reader
New Companion Worship Album
What
Is
the
Prayer
That
Changes Everything?
Proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light.
1 PETER 2:9
If you’re like me, you don’t want to live a lukewarm,
mediocre, “barely making it,” sad, lonely, hopeless,
miserable, frightened, frustrated, unfulfilled, meaningless,
ineffective, or fruitless existence. You don’t want to be
imprisoned by your circumstances or chained to your
limitations. You want to live an extraordinary life. A life of
peace, joy, fulfillment, hope, and purpose. A life where all
things are possible.
The kind of life I just described can only happen when
we enter into a close relationship with God.
I mean really close.
There are many people who believe in God. Some of
them live their lives with a sense of God in the back of
their mind. Others do religious things for God. Still others
love God and serve Him to the best of their ability, but they
