Happiness Habit: Say Thanks for Answered Prayer
By Rick Warren

“O Lord, now I have heard your report, and I worship you in awe.” (Habakkuk 3:2a LB)

If you want to hear God speak, then worship God.

In other words, thank him for being a part of your life and for being interested in the details of your life. Thank him for answering your prayers: “O Lord, now I have heard your report, and I worship you in awe” (Habakkuk 3:2a LB). God gives you a vision. God gives you a dream. You know what God wants you to do, so now you thank him for answering your prayer. That’s part of worshiping God.

What I want you to do is to stop seeing your prayers as a monologue and start seeing them for what they truly are: a dialogue. Prayer is a conversation with God. God hears you when you pray, and he answers you when you ask questions. He wants to talk to you every day. If you will faithfully talk to God every day throughout the day, it will revolutionize your life.

Now, you can't hear God until you know God, and there are three levels of knowing God: recognition, acquaintance, and friendship. You may be at the recognition level; you know God is there, but you don't really know him. Or, you may be at the acquaintance level; you know God a little bit, but you don't know him very well. 

God wants you to live at the friendship level. He wants to be your friend, and he wants you to be his friend. God wants you to talk with him all the time.

Talk It Over

Pray this prayer today: “Dear God, I'm amazed that you would want me for a friend. I really want to learn to have conversations with you. Help me to spend time with you every day. Thank you that you care about every detail of my life. Jesus, I want to know you more and more every day, and I want to depend on you for guidance in my job, my family, my future, and in every other area of my life. I invite you to be the manager of my life, my Lord and Savior, as I follow you and trust you. In your name I pray. Amen.”

For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit rickwarren.org

Habits of Happiness Study Kit

Now—more than ever—people are yearning for true happiness. In this brand new 6-session DVD study kit study called “The Habits Of Happiness” Pastor Rick Warren will teach you “exercises for a happy heart”, and offer biblically based ways to develop a perspective of contentment. Through this study, you’ll learn how to cultivate the transformational habits of gratitude, forgiveness, humility, and contentment, Relieve stress and conflict by staying focused on your God-given purpose. Stop comparing yourself to others. Release the pain of your past hurts. And grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus.

This devotional © 2016 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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