118. Are Your Prayers Powerful? How to Pray Prayers God Answers—with Bestselling Author Steve Austin

Have you ever wondered why some prayers seem to move mountains while others feel like they never leave the room? In this episode of Curious for Christ, Alexandra sits down with Steve Austin — USA Today bestselling author, pastor at Lakewood Church, and president of Living Hope Chaplaincy — to explore how we can pray with power, confidence, and clarity.

Steve shares his remarkable journey from being an attorney in Houston to witnessing miracles across the world, and what inspired him to write his upcoming book, Power Prayers: Praying God’s Word for Breakthrough (available October 21). Together, they dive into what makes prayer effective, how to pray God’s Word back to Him, and why persistence and faith are the key to seeing real transformation.

If you’ve ever felt like your prayers weren’t being heard, this episode will renew your hope and remind you that God still hears, heals, and moves.

🔑 In This Episode You’ll Learn

• Why praying God’s Word is the most powerful way to pray
• The difference between “effective” and “ineffective” prayer
• How to pray the promise, not the problem
• The three keys to breakthrough prayer: Word, Faith, and Persistence
• How God uses waiting to build our spiritual strength
• Why healing is not only physical — but emotional and spiritual, too

🌿 Key Quotes

“Pray the promise, not the problem.” — Steve Austin“God is not bound by our words; He is bound by His Word.”“Persistence doesn’t convince God—it changes us.”

🙏 About Steve Austin

Steve Austin is a USA Today bestselling author and longtime pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. A former attorney, he has studied and taught God’s Word for over 30 years with a passion for ministering to the sick through Living Hope Chaplaincy, where he and his team serve thousands of patients and families at the Texas Medical Center.

Learn more at LivingHopeChaplaincy.com

and connect on social media @pastorsteveaustin.

📖 Resources Mentioned

• Book: Power Prayers: Praying God’s Word for Breakthrough — available October 21 wherever books are sold.
• Scripture References:
  • James 5:16 – “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
  • 1 John 5:14-15 – “If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
  • Psalm 42:11 – “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Put your hope in God.”
  • Luke 18:1 – “At all times we ought to pray and not give up.”

💛 Stay Connected

If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend who needs a reminder that God still hears, heals, and moves.

Subscribe to Curious for Christ for new episodes every Friday, and leave a review to help more people discover this space of faith, curiosity, and transformation.

Until next time, may you walk in peace, pray with boldness, and trust that God is always listening — especially when you pray with all your heart.

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Want to go deeper? Let's connect—set up a FREE Discovery Call today. See you next time!

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to Curious for Christ. I'm your host Alexandra, and today's episode is one that will strengthen your faith and renew your confidence in the power of prayer. That is my goal. My guest, Steve Austin, is a USA today bestselling author and pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, where he has served for over 20 years. Before that he was an attorney. And over the last three decades, he has studied and taught God's word with remarkable depth through his ministry, living Hope Chaplaincy, Steve has ministered to thousands of patients and families at the Texas Medical Center bringing comfort, healing, and the hope of Christ. In our conversation, we talk about his upcoming book, power Prayers, praying God's Word for Breakthrough, releasing October 21st. This book contains over 140 scripture based prayers covering every area of life, from faith and family to healing, finances and freedom. Steve shares his journey from law to ministry. What it means to pray. The promise not the problem, and why praying God's word back to him is the key to seeing real breakthrough. If you've ever wondered how to make your prayers. More effective, or if you felt like your prayers weren't being heard, this conversation will remind you that God still listens, still heals, and still moves when his word is spoken in faith. Let's dive in Welcome to Curious for Christ. Do you ever find yourself lying, awake at night wondering about God's plan for your life? Maybe you wake up with big dreams, but feel unsure where to start or what your next step should be. If you're curious about exploring your faith and finding purpose, then you've come to the right place. Hi, I'm Alexandra. I too felt lost and sure of the direction my life was taking. I yearned to understand my purpose and have someone guide me, but I kept telling myself I was too busy. The timing wasn't right, and my lack of clarity prevented me from being consistent until I found Christ. He brought peace into my life and revealed the way to find purpose by anchoring myself. In him. In this podcast, we'll journey together exploring the Bible to gain a deeper understanding of him and cultivate your own personal relationship with Christ. So open up your Bible, put in those earbuds and listen up because God is speaking to you. He's making everything new and you don't wanna miss it. Let's get started. steve, thank you for joining me on Curious For Christ. I really look forward to our conversation today. Me too. Thank you for having me. Yes, and as I always do, because I think it's so important to know where we're coming from and why we do what we do. I would love for you to share about your personal faith journey and what led you to write power prayers, praying God's word for breakthrough at this specific time. Yeah, thank you for the question. So I was an attorney for eight years in Houston. That's where I live. And just, was on a personal journey, getting closer to the Lord and I didn't know anything about, I didn't know much about prayer. I didn't know much about the supernatural. I didn't know much about healing, which I've written about. But I got invited by my brother-in-law to go to this fellowship of Christian Businessman's luncheon, and the speaker that day was a short term missionary who had healing crusades around the world. And he shared about all the miracles that took place at his crusades. I had never heard anything like that. I grew up in mainline denominational churches and, they didn't teach anything about that. I was real curious and I went up and introduced myself and I said, I'd love to go on one of your trips. And he said come on. I'm going to India in six weeks. Why don't you join me? I went on that first trip as a doubting Thomas. I'd never seen miracles. I wasn't taught anything about that. But I went on that trip and we had healing crusades in the morning and evening for 10 days. And we had about 10,000 people at each crusade. And I saw people with my own eyes get healed of blindness. Deafness paralysis, just, every kind of sickness and disease. So that really opened my eyes to how powerful our God is and just opened my eyes to the supernatural. And so that kind of. Launched me on the journey that I've been on for now over 25 years. Eventually led me to leave law and go into full-time ministry in January of 2000. So I've been I've been in full-time ministry for, since January of 2000 and serving as a pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston. And praying for the sick and hospitals and just been on this journey and growing for the past 25 years. And what led me to write power prayers? This is my third book. My first two books were on healing. But I just, the Lord really put it on my heart to write this book. I, I was gonna write another book and the Lord said, no, you're gonna write, you're gonna write this book. And he just really put it on my heart. I think people so many people that I come in contact with at least feel insecure about their prayers. They're not sure if they're praying effectively. And so I wanted to put out a book that would help people and help make it easy for people to pray the word of God. And I believe that's the most effective way that we can pray, is pray God's word back to him. And so this book contains 143 scripture based prayers. They're all based on scripture. Covering literally everything you can think of in your life. And and it's got some teaching on prayer at the beginning too but the real stars of this book are the 143 prayers. Prayers from the Bible. Yes. Yes, indeed. The title power prayers definitely suggest that there is an effective way of praying. So you mentioned praying the word of God. Yeah. But can you please just a little bit. Explain what makes a prayer effective and how does it differ from traditional prayer? How do we pray and how do we do it wrong? And how should we pray? Yeah, good question. James five 16. Pretty much all of us know that verse. It says, the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. That word effective in that verse means by implication that there's also ineffective prayer. If that wasn't the case, God wouldn't have put that word of the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man. He would've just said the prayer of a righteous man. Any prayer. Avails much. But there, there is, there's an effective way to pray and there's an ineffective way to pray. What makes a difference? What is an effective So the di the difference is, most people bring their list of complaints to God. God, I'm going through this, God help me. And it a lot of people pray whiny complainy prayers. God already knows your situation. It's not like you have to tell God, God, I'm going through this. He knows everything. He sees everything. He already knows what you're going through. What, and that doesn't move. God. God cares about our situation. I'm not saying that God is uncaring, but what moves God. Is praying his word back to him in faith. That's what really moves God. Yes. And that's what makes an effective prayer is, praying his word back to him first. John five 14 through 15 says, this is the confidence we have. If we ask anything according to his will, we know that he hears us. And if he hears us, we know that we have the petitions. That we've asked him hi of him. So it tells us that we can have confidence when we pray according to God's will. How do we know we're praying according to God's? Will we pray the word because his word is written. Word is his will. In black and white. And so when we pray God's word back to him, we can be sure that we are praying according to God's will. God's word is his covenant with us. It's his contract with us, and he's not bound to anything else but his word. He's not bound by our words. He's bound by his word, right? That's the most effective way to pray is to pray. Pray the word. Always tell people pray the promise not the problem. Yes. Yes. Many of our listeners deal with anxiety. Yeah. And a sense of being disconnected with God. So their faith may be weaker. And so how do we and yet what makes a prayer effective is our faith. Jesus was moved by. The woman who poured perfume on her face, she, he was moved by people's face. Yeah. So how can the principles in your book help them feel more grounded and more confident in their conversations with God so that they can. Pray a more effective prayer. Yeah. Is it our understanding of God's will versus our own will? How can they be grounded so that when they come to God they are, they have that assurance of what they pray for. Yeah. That's the thing I love about this book because all, every prayer in this book, all 143 prayers. And there's prayers covering literally everything. You mentioned anxiety. I've got a prayer in there about anxiety finances, relationships, health, not only physical health, but the health of your soul. Your career, just everything but. The reason you can be confident praying the prayers in this book is because they're all based on the word of God. And God's word never fails. The Bible says that he watches over his word to perform it. He doesn't watch over our word to perform it. He watches over his own word to perform it. And it also says that his word will not return unto him void. But we'll accomplish every purpose for which it was sent. So when we pray the word of God, we can be confident that he is watching over his word to perform it, that it won't return unto him void. We can also be confident that we are praying according to God's will because that's his word and his will in black and white. And I, I just I love that God, gave me the concept of this book and really laid it on my heart to write it. And I believe it's gonna help a lot of people. Another thing I wanted to mention is that, when I was editing the book, I would read several prayers at a time, editing them. And it was really amazing because they're all the word of God. And so it's like a divo. Each prayer is like you are downloading your mind with what the word of God says about each topic. And after I would read or pray five or six of them. It was like this supernatural peace and just feeling of God's presence would just wash over me because I was just, I was praying his word back to him. And renewing my mind with his word. And I think yeah. And connecting it while you're praying with your situation or whatever it is, it has to be something personal where we are personally invested. Yes. It is a maybe a, a. It's a hard shift or a hard posture as we pray. Yeah. Would you say that and could you could you share a few examples of those devotional or those prayers? A prayer about per, perhaps anxiety or, yeah. Situations that hasn't changed and then someone, what would you say to someone who has been praying for a long time that feels like. Their prayers aren't being heard or answered. How can your book help them move past? Yeah. So in, in the first chapter of the book, I talk about three criteria for, or three keys for effective prayer. The first being, praying the word of God, praying the promise, not the problem. Number two is praying with faith. Because the Bible says, in, in James chapter one, it says. If we don't pray in faith, we can't expect to receive anything from God. So faith is the currency of heaven. And then we cannot peace God without faith. Yeah. And then the third key is persistence. Jesus taught his disciples not one, but two parables. The parable of the persistent widow and the parable of the persistent friend about he taught them two parables to teach them that we should. Pray with persistence and never give up. In fact, that is let me read you his exact words. It says, hang on, let me find it here. In Luke 18, one in the Amplified, Jesus said at all times, we ought to pray and not give up and lose heart. Persistence is one of the keys. And often people give up right before their breakthrough. They start out strong. They, when they're going through a trial, a health challenge, whatever, they start out strong and they start with faith and they believe God, but the longer they go without seeing their situation change. They start to lose hope and they start to give up. And so we have to just keep ourselves stirred up, pray with persistence. And I always tell people the persistence is not for God. It's not because God is like an angry old man sitting up in heaven with his arms folded. Just ask me another thousand times and maybe I'll do it. No it's, the persistence is not so we can pray a thousand more times and hopefully convince God the persistence is for us. Because God is trying to develop our our persistence, our character, our spiritual muscles. It's like an eagle. An eagle that's coming out of the shell. Yeah. The they have found that when the mother tried to, tries to help the eaglet, and removes the shell, the eaglet dies. They have to like, push through and develop their wings and break open that shell and, it's a battle, but it's for their own good. Yes. It's this readiness. I apologize. It's this readiness that we need sometimes to continue to walk with God even as breakthrough comes and not just reverse back to being independent, doing it in our own way. We do need God for even walking through the breakthrough. Yeah. Be stronger. I had this I sent a, one of my newsletter mentioned the butterfly comparison, who also wrestling. It actually brings blood to the newly formed wings that will allow the butterfly to fly. Otherwise it wouldn't. So there is this wrestling and that is that spiritual battle that we are in. Yeah. And and we can bring God in that battle, asking for renewal, asking for strengths to persevere. Yes. We can ask for all of those things. A different angle. God is there? Yeah. And it reminds me of the Psalms with David who started. Praying to God, where are you? And yeah, just wrestling with the faith and ending that same psalm with you are, my God, you are my stronghold. Yes. And he was called the Man after God's own heart. Amen. Amen. We gotta fight for this heart to remain alive in Christ. Amen. That's so good, Alexandra. And I'm glad you brought that up about David and the Psalms because every time I'm going through a trial, I love to read the Psalms. That's one of my favorite things to read when I'm going through a difficult trial because. I can, all of us can relate to David. David said, where are you? God, have you forgotten me? And, we all feel that way. Even Jesus, when he hung on the cross, he said, my God, why have you forsaken me in his humanity? And so we all go through that. We all feel those feels. But I love what David said also. He said he would speak to his soul, he would speak to himself, and he would say, why are you so downcast? Oh my soul, trust in the Lord. He talked to himself and he, and a lot of the psalms was really declarations, just positive declarations, my God will deliver me. My God will come through. And he would talk to himself and even. The Battle of Ziklag, where where they burned down all of it, all of David and his men's houses, and took their wives and children, and his men were so angry they wanted to kill him. And it says that David encouraged himself in the Lord. And and not only did he get back all the wives and the children and everything, but it says that they plundered the enemy. And so if we just don't give up, if we just keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep trusting God. Keep praying, believing. Ephesians chapter six says, having done all stand just keep standing. Keep believing, keep praying, keep declaring your breakthrough is going to come. Thank you so much for sharing that. It's so true. In your previous book called God Heals, you wrote about how prayer can be a tool for healing and recovery. Can we talk about that and how can a practice of powerful prayer help someone who is in a journey to heal from past trauma or real illness or physical illness like you've encountered in India? Yeah, absolutely. In Exodus 1526, the second book in the Bible, God said. About himself. In Exodus 1526, he said, I am the God who heals you. He called himself Jehovah Rafa, the God who heals us. He connected his very name, his very identity to healing. He didn't just say I heal, he said, I am. I am the God who heals you. I am your healer. And he not only heals our physical body, but he heals our soul. And that's really important because all of us need healing in our soul. Just living in this crazy world, all the world with wickedness all around us and everything, we're gonna get hurt. We're gonna get betrayed, rejected. We're gonna go through trials, and all of us need healing in our soul. Yes. And David said in Psalm 23, verse three, he restores my soul. God will restore your soul, he'll restore your body. And it's all through. Prayer, believing for it. I believe that all of God's promises in his word are yes and amen through Christ Jesus. They're all of his promises are for us, but they are birthed through prayer, through fil prayer. And just like you would your finances, just like you would in your marriage. For your children, for anything that you're encountering in your life. You pray God's promises with faith and you pray them persistently and that's how you're going to get your healing. That's how you're gonna get your financial breakthrough or whatever kind of breakthrough you need. Thank you. So as we close, sadly, we. We are getting to, to the end of this interview and I loved everything that you've shared and I will ask her if you could, we could end with a prayer. Sure. After this interview is over, that would be fantastic. You could leave us in prayer, but what final words of encouragement would you like to give our listeners today? Is there anything that you'd, like a final word? Yeah. I wanna remind your listeners that God loves you so much. He sent his only son, Jesus to die for you. He gave his very best, his only son for you. So Romans 8 32 says that if he did that, if he did not withhold his only son from you, how much more will you wi will he with him, with Jesus freely give you all things? Not begrudgingly, not reluctantly, but freely give you all things. God is not withholding from you. God loves you. He wants to bless you, but he also wants us to grow up and he wants us to mature and he wants us to develop our spiritual muscles, our faith. Our character, and that's why he doesn't do everything instantly. When we pray, it's not just like a magic wand that he just does everything instantly because he's trying to grow us up and mature us and, it's like going to the gym. You have to go to the gym and push, push against some resistance to develop your muscles. And it's the same thing God is trying to do with our spiritual muscles. So keep persevering, keep believing God loves you. God has great plans for your life and I believe and declare your best days are ahead of you in Jesus' name. Thank you. Thank you. I am very certain our listeners will wanna connect with you. Where could they find you and purchase your book? That's coming up October 21st, power prayers. Please share all the links. I'll share everything in the show notes. Let us know how we can connect with you. Yes. So yeah, so the books all three of my books are available on Amazon. They can also go to pastor steve austin.com. And yeah they're pretty much available everywhere books are sold, and bookstores across the nation. I just pray that the. The book blesses you. And and revolutionizes your prayer life and helps you take your prayer life to a whole nother level. Thank you. So we can have effective prayers and grow closer to God, which is ultimately the goal. I, yes. You with God. Please close us. Yes, pray whatever it is that you wish to pray for us. Thank you so much. Absolutely. Heavenly Father, I just thank you for every person listening to this podcast. Thank you, Lord, that they're your precious children. Lord, your word says you knew them before. You knit them together in their mother's womb. Lord, you knew their. Unformed substance before you even created their physical substance in their mother's womb. Father, I thank you, Lord that you created each one as a masterpiece created in your image and likeness with your. DNA on the inside of them. Father, I thank you that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, that you love them with an everlasting love that your word says in Jeremiah 29 11, you know the plans you have for them, and those plans are good to give them hope in a future. Lord, I just ask you to bless every person under the sound of my voice. Help them to get breakthrough in whatever area of their lives they need. Breakthrough. Father Lord, I thank you that you are. Jehovah Baum. That's what David called you and second Samuel, the god of the breakthrough. He said, you are breaking through my enemies like the breakthrough of many waters, Lord and Micah, you are called the breaker. It says The breaker goes before us. They are breaking out. They're going forth. God, we thank you that you are the breaker, the God of the breakthrough. You are fighting our battles for us. In all things, we're more than conquers. You always cause us to triumph in Christ Jesus. So Lord, I pray for breakthrough in people's health, finances, relationships, careers, whatever they need, breakthrough in. Father, I ask for supernatural miracles and breakthrough. Lord bless your people. I pray all these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much, Steve. This was incredible. I wish you the best and our prayers get the book. Amen. Thank you so much for having me, Alexandra. Thank you. God bless. Wow, what a powerful conversation. I hope you could feel what I felt during this interview, that quiet stirring in your spirit when truth meets faith. Steve words reminded me that prayer is not about striving harder. It really is about aligning deeper with God's heart, his word, and his promises. As we close, here are a few key takeaways that really stood out to me from today's episode. Number one, God's word is His will. The most powerful way to pray scripture because when we speak his word, we align with his promises and he watches over his word to perform it. Number two, pray the promise not the problem. Instead of bringing a list of complaints to God, declare his truth over your situation. Faith filled words, move mountains fearful words, keep them standing. Number three, faith and persistence bring breakthrough like the widow who wouldn't stop knocking. Effective prayer requires perseverance. Persistent doesn't convince God, but it strengthens us instead. Number four, healing is for the whole person. God is Jehovah Rafa, the God who heals not only our bodies, but also our souls. He restores what life has broken. Number five, breakthrough is coming. Delays are not denials every season of waiting. Build spiritual muscle, keep praying. Keep believing your best days are still ahead. I love that. If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend who might need a reminder that God still hears, heals, and move. You can connect with steveAustin@livinghopechaplaincy.com. You'll find the link in the show notes and also get his book, his new book, power Prayers, praying God's Word for Breakthrough. Available October 21st, wherever books are sold. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review. And join me next Friday on Curious For Christ for Another conversation that invites us to see God's heart. More clearly. Until then, may you walk in peace, pray with boldness and trust that God is always listening, especially when you pray with all your hearts. See you next time. Hi, I hope you enjoy today's episode. If so, would you like to take 30 seconds and share it with a friend who may also struggle with knowing God and his purpose for their life? Also, leave a review on Apple. Podcast and let me know what topics you'd like to hear about in the future. Your voice matters. I'll meet you back next Friday for another episode.